1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Malayalam

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Malatia

1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 17

Malayalam

Malay Archipelago

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26776011911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 17 — Malayalam

MALAYALAM, a language of the Dravidian family, spoken on the west coast of southern India. It is believed to have developed out of Tamil as recently as the 9th century. It possesses a large literature, in which words borrowed from Sanskrit are conspicuous. In 1901 the total number of speakers of Malayalam in all India was just about six millions.