Laurie Bauer - WordPress.com — Get a Free Blog Here

THE LINGUISTICS STUDENT’S HANDBOOK 300
Language name Malayalam m�lə�jɑ�ləm
Language name Malay mə�lei
Autonym (if known and different)
Autonym (if known and different)
Language family Dravidian
Language family Austronesian Western
Austronesian
Spoken in Kerala (India)
Spoken in Malaysia
Approximate number of speakers 30m
Approximate number of speakers 10m
Writing system a form of Devanagari
Writing system Jawi, Roman
Phonetics/phonology
Phonetics/phonology
Stress quantity-sensitive, but largely word-initial
Stress word-penultimate
Contains following rare retroflex
consonant (types)
Contains following rare
consonant (types)
Said to have how many vowels? 5�length
Said to have how many vowels? 6�length�3 diphthongs
Marked vowel types
Marked vowel types
Tone none
Tone none
Rhythm some tendency to stress timing
Rhythm syllable-timing
Vowel harmony none
Vowel harmony none
Morphology agglutinative word-based
Particular formation types dvandva; incorporation; suffix
Morphology isolating and word-based
agglutinative
Syntax
Particular formation types dvandva; prefix; full reduplication; suffix; synaffix
Word order SOV AN postpositions
PossN
Particular syntactic phenomena gender; inclusive / exclusive 1st plural; morphological
aspect; nominative / accusative marking
Syntax
Word order SVO NA prepositions
NPoss
Particular syntactic phenomena classifiers; inclusive / exclusive 1st plural; noun classes
Points of interest
Points of interest
Sources Asher & Kumari (1997), Baker (1988), Campbell (1991),
Katzner (1977), Maddieson (1984), Ruhlen (1976)
Sources Katzner (1977), Maddieson (1984), Mintz (1994),
Ruhlen (1976), Wälchli (2005)