Suriyani Malayalam


Suriyani Malayalam, also known as Karshoni or Syriac Malayalam, is a version of Malayalam written in a variant form of the Syriac alphabet which was popular among the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala in India. It uses Malayalam grammar, the Maḏnḥāyā or "Eastern" Syriac script with special orthographic features, and vocabulary from Malayalam and East Syriac. This originated in the South Indian region of the Malabar Coast. Until the 19th century, the script was widely used by Syrian Christians in Kerala.

Writing

There were numerous problems in writing Malayalam using the Syriac alphabet, which was designed for a Semitic language. Only 22 letters were available from East Syriac orthography to render over 53 phonemes of Malayalam. Both the languages are not related to one another in any way except for religious causes. These problems were overcome by creating additional letters.
Basic Syriac ʾĀlap̄ Bēṯ based on form with corresponding Malayalam letters
ܕܓܒܐ
ദ്ഗ്ബ്, വ്അ
ܚܙܘܗ
ഹ്സ്വ്ഹ്
ܠܟܝܛ
ല്ക്, ക്ക്യ്ത്
ܥܣܢܡ
അസ്ന്മ്
ܪܩܨܦ
റ്ഖ്സ്പ്, വ്
ܬܫ
ത്, സ്ശ്

Additional Malayalam letters
ട്ഞ്ജ്ങ്
ര്ഭ്ഩ*ണ്
-
ഷ്ഴ്ള്-

Vowels
ܘܹܸ݁ܘ݂ܝ݂ܵܲ
ഒ, ഓഏഎഉ, ഊഇ, ഈആഅ
ܟܘ݁ܟܹܟܸܟܘ݂ܟܝ݂ܟܵܟܲ
കൊ, കോകേകെകു, കൂകി, കീകാക

Unicode

The Syriac alphabet was added to the Unicode Standard in September, 1999 with the release of version 3.0.
Additional letters for Suriyani Malayalam were added in June, 2017 with the release of version 10.0.

Blocks

The Unicode block for Syriac is U+0700-U+074F:
The Syriac Abbreviation can be represented with a special control character called the Syriac Abbreviation Mark.
The Unicode block for Suriyani Malayalam specific letters is called the Syriac Supplement block and is U+0860–U+086F:

Loanwords

Over the centuries, Malayalam borrowed Eastern Syriac words. A few of them are given below:
Original SyriacSuriyani MalayalamMeaning
EmmaAmma - This word would've also originated from the Malayalam word Amma-chi.Mother
AbaAppan - The word would've also originated from the Malayalam word Appa-cha.Father
Nasraya, NasraniNasraniChristian
Knā'nāyaKnānāyaCanaanite
PesħaPesahaPassover
MalakhaMalakhaAngel
QudashaKudashaSacrament
MamodithaMamodisaBaptism
SlivaSliva/SleebaCross
Isho'IshoJesus
QurbanaQurbanaSacrifice/Peace Offering
M'shiħaMishihaAnointed
DukhranaDukranaRemembrance
QasishaKathanar/KasnarSyrian priest
MarMarLord, Saint
RuħaRuhaHoly Spirit
ShliħaShlihaApostle

Literature

Vedatharkam written by Kariattil Mar Ousep is one of the famous books written in Suriyani Malayalam. Large number of documents written in Suriyani Malayalam are found among the Saint Thomas Christians or Nasranis of Kerala. These documents include an alternate set of the Canons of the Synod of Diamper.