fying the prima facie conclusion that the one
has borrowed from the other. Further, words
commonly taken as Dravidian, will be found to
have been imported; doubts regarding the origin
of others are still entertained. The study and
comparison of the Dravidian tongues, though at
present carried on by a very few only, will, it is
hoped, result in throwing more light on this in-
teresting subject.
4. In the arrangement of the Al-
phabet a slight but rational deviation, affecting
the sequence of 2 letters, has been found necessary,
viz: a) ക്ഷ, being a compound letter (= ക+ഷ)
and consequently akin to ക്ര etc., has been plac-
ed under and at the end of ക. –b) റ follows
half r (1), which partakes of the ര & റ sounds,
comp. വേർതിരിക്ക, വേൎത്തിരിക്ക, വേറുത്തിരിക്ക.
5. The long vowels ē (േ) and ō (േ-ാ)
have been used consistently throughout the
Dictionary in order to put an end to doubt and
vagueness. Their general introduction into
writing and printing is highly desirable.
6. Regarding the doubling of con-
sonants in Malayāḷam composition, some diffi-
culties were experienced.
a) In Malayāḷam Compound Nouns, as a rule,
the consonant is doubled after the long
vowels ā, ī, ū, ē, ei, palatal a, i, full u,
the final consonants r, l, ḷ,ḻ , after m dropped
in Mal. or Sanscr, Nouns (മരത്തോപ്പു M.,
ഭസ്മക്കൊട്ട S. and M.). It occurs often
after short pure a, seldom after ụ, fluctuates
with i, e.g. വഴിക്കേടു and വഴികേടു (മുനി
പ്പെരുമാൾ, ബുദ്ധിതിരക്കു S. and M.) even
after dropped m, e.g. അകതാർ, is often
optional after final consonants, e.g. തട്ടി
ന്മേൽ കളി, മുൾചെടി etc., not observed in
കൈകാൎയ്യം etc.
b) In Compounds of Nouns and verbs, e.g.
മതിപോരുക, കൈതൊഴുക, reduplication
is not required; it may however occur after
Accusatives; with some adverbial participles
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as e.g. തങ്ങളെക്കൊണ്ടു, എന്നെച്ചൊല്ലി etc.
it cannot be spared.
c) In Compounds of Verbs with Verbs redu-
plication is necessary after the Infinitive, e.g.
വെളുക്കത്തേച്ചു and the past tense in i, e.g.
തിക്കിത്തിരക്കി etc. In the case of ആയി the
metre decides it, e.g. p. 127 ഉണ്ണിത്വമായിക്ക
ഴിയും, p. 153 ഊഴരായിചെന്നു (=യ്. യ്ച) etc.
These rules and their exceptions, as set forth
by the author of this Dictionary in his Malayā-
ḷam Grammar (see Sandhi § 87, Samāsarūpam
§§ 162 - 169) and sanctioned by the language,
have, in all doubtful cases, been the guides of
the readers of the proofs who are acquainted
with North & South Malayāḷam.
7. A complete list of Abbreviations of
grammatical and technical terms, works of re-
ference, etc. is given separately. Besides these
recourse has been had to 4 modes of shortening
words in quotations, viz:
a) A fullstop after the first syllable implies
the whole word which, in this case, is not
affected by affixes, Sandhi, etc., e.g. ബുദ്ധി
മോ.(ശം), ന.(ടപ്പു)കടിയാന്മാർ, ശ.(ക്തി)ക്ക
ടുത്ത, വാ.(യു)വിന്റെ, വ.(ടിവു)മാനാൻ,
വി.(രുതു)ം, വി.(രുതു)ടയ, വ.(രിക)യില്ല etc.
b) An apostrophe (') after the first syllable
points to the omission of one or more letters
in the body of the word, e.g. മോ'(ക്ഷ)
ത്തെ, മോ'(ക്ഷ)ങ്ങൾ, അ'(ഭ്യാസ)വും, വി'
(ശ്രമി)ച്ചാൻ, വീ'(ളു)വാൻ, വേ'(ർവിടു)ന്നി
ല്ല, വി'(ശ്വൈക)നാഥൻ etc.
c) The dash(—) marks the omission of either
the first member of a compound, e.g. പ
ഞ്ഞി: –ക്കുരു = പഞ്ഞിക്കുരു, or of the last
one, e.g. പാല: ദേവ – = ദേവപാല etc.
d) A dash (—), hyphen (-) or ellipsis (...)
in a quotation shows that a word or words
have been omitted.
8. The virāma (˘) indicates:
a) That the consonant over which it is plac-
ed is to be pronounced without any vowel
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