PREFACE.
The language, (the grammatical construction of which
is the subject of the following pages,) is spoken in that
part of Southern India which extends from Mount Dilly
to Cape Comorin, and from the Western Ghauts to the
Sea.
The greater part of this extent of territory, now desig-
nated Malayala, would appear to have been originally
under the government of Brahmins who came from the
North. At present, it includes the independent states
of Travancore and Cochin; and the Collectorates of
Malabar and Canara.
The language of this country is said, by some, to have
been derived from Sanscrit; by others, it is supposed to
be a mere dialect of the Tamul.
Such opinions are entertained by those only, who have
acquired a knowledge of Malayalim through the medi-
um of Books written by learned Natives.
It remains however to be shown that the vernacular
language has always been considered beneath the notice
of the learned; it has never been cultivated or used by
them, but for ordinary purposes; no Native Grammar has
ever been written; nor would it be perhaps possible to
find a native scholar acquainted with the principles of
his own language.
On these accounts it is that most Native Works are
written in Sanscrit,* and the few Books that may be term-
* This has been termed Grandonica Malabarica, but improperly; for the
only connexion it has with the vernacular language is, that it is written
in the Malayalim Character.
