3 Etymological Principles and Language Naturalization
To provide a “faithful picture of the whole Malayālam tongue,” Gundert meticulously documented the foreign influences that have become integral to the language. Centuries of trade, religious expansion, and administrative changes introduced Arabic, Persian, Hindustani, Portuguese, and English terms. Gundert argued that these words have been “domiciled”—naturalized into the native stock—and thus cannot be ignored by the linguistic purist.
Gundert’s approach stood in contrast to that of his predecessor, Rev. Mr. Bailey. His critique of Bailey’s work includes:
- Lack of Discrimination: Bailey failed to distinguish between genuine Malayalam terms and Sanskrit synonyms.
- Etymological Obscurity: Bailey left students “completely in the dark” regarding the origin and proportional importance of words.
- Inclusion of Useless Terms: Bailey included an “enormous mass of mythological and botanical names” that were often doubtful or useless in a general lexicon.
- Neglect of Native Stock: Bailey devoted less space to genuine native idioms than to obscure Sanskrit terms.
Examples of Foreign Word Domiciliation
- അനനാസ് — ananās — Portuguese origin
- അള്ള — aḷḷa — Arabic origin
- അമീർ — amīr — Arabic origin (Spelled as അമീർ in source §5)
- അങ്കാടി — aṅgāḍi — Persian origin
- അമ്പാരി — ambāri — Hindustani origin
- അഫീൽ — afīl — English origin (Appeal)
The Dravidian Element in Sanskrit A vital scholarly insight provided by the publisher is the “Dravidian element in Sanskrit.” Rather than Malayalam being a mere derivative of Sanskrit, evidence shows many words are actually “sanscritized Dravidian words.” Words such as kēyūram (bracelet), putraṅ, and specifically puttaɤam (book) represent a period where Dravidian roots were adopted and modified by Sanskrit speakers, proving a flourishing literary exchange in the ancient Deccan.
The naturalization of words dictates their functional application within Malayalam’s grammatical structure.
