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Malayalam vs Tamil


Tamil vs Malayalam


Countries

Countries
India, Lakshadweep, Puducherry  
Malaysia, Mauritius, Puducherry, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu  

Total No. Of Countries
3  
12
6  
9

National Language
Kerala, India, Lakshadweep, Puducherry  
Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu  

Second Language
Not spoken in any of the countries  
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, kerala, Puducherry  

Speaking Continents
Asia  
Asia  

Minority Language
Andaman and Nicobar Islands  
Canada, Malaysia, Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles  

Regulated By
Academy for Malayalam literature, Government of Kerala  
Official language Commission of Government of Tamil Nadu, Thanjavur Tamil University  

Interesting Facts
  • Malayalam language has 54 literals. Same sounds have different versions to it.
  • Malayalam script is reffered as "Rod Script" and it is derived from the Grantha script, which was developed from Indic script of Brahmi.
  
  • Tamil is the oldest language in the world. Tamil was spoken in South India more than 5000 years ago.
  • The first legally recognized Classical Language of India is Tamil.
    •   

Similar To
Tamil and Sanskrit Languages  
Malayalam  

Derived From
Sanskrit Language  
-  

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Malayalam-Alphabets.jpg#200  
Tamil-Alphabets.jpg#200  

Alphabets
53  
32
247  
99+

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
15  
12
12  
9

How Many Consonants
41  
30
18  
8

Scripts
Brahmic family and derivatives  
Tamil  

Writing Direction
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
2  
1
3  
2

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks  
17
44 weeks  
17

Greetings

Hello
ഹലോ (halēā)  
வணக்கம் (Vanakkam)  

Thank You
നന്ദി (nandi)  
நன்றி (Naṉṟi)  

How Are You?
സുഖമാണോ? (sukhamāṇēā?)  
நீங்கள் எப்படி இருக்கிறீர்கள்? (Nīṅkaḷ eppaṭi irukkiṟīrkaḷ?)  

Good Night
ശുഭ രാത്രി (śubha rātri)  
நல்ல இரவு (Good night) / irravu vanakkam (Good night)  

Good Evening
ഗുഡ് ഈവനിംഗ് (guḍ īvaniṅg)  
நல்ல மாலை (Nalla mālai)/ மாலை (irravu vanakkam)  

Good Afternoon
ഗുഡ് ആഫ്റ്റർനൂൺ (guḍ āphṟṟarnūṇ)  
பிற்பகல் வணக்கம் (perpagal vanakkam)  

Good Morning
രാവിലെ (rāvile)  
காலை வணக்கம் (Kaalai Vanakkam)  

Please
ദയവായി (dayavāyi)  
தயவு (Tayavu)  

Sorry
ക്ഷമിക്കണം (kṣamikkaṇaṁ)  
மன்னிக்கவும் (Maṉṉikkavum)  

Bye
വിട (viṭa)  
சென்று வருகிறேன் (Sendru Varukiren)  

I Love You
ഞാൻ നിന്നെ സ്നേഹിക്കുന്നു (ñān ninne snēhikkunnu)  
நான் உன்னை காதலிக்கிறேன் (Naan Unnai Kadalikiren)  

Excuse Me
എക്സ്ക്യൂസ് മീ (ekskyūs mī)  
என்னை மன்னியுங்கள் (Eṉṉai maṉṉiyuṅkaḷ)  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Judeo-Malayalam  
Kongu  

Where They Speak
Israel, kerala  
Kongu  

How Many People Speak
38,000,000.00  
19
77,000,000.00  
10

Dialect 2
Mappila  
Madurai Tamil  

Where They Speak
India  
Madurai, South Tamil Nadu  

How Many People Speak
38,000,000.00  
17
77,000,000.00  
8

Dialect 3
Pandy Malayalam  
Tirunelveli Tamil  

Where They Speak
France, kerala  
South Tamil Nadu, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli  

How Many People Speak
38,000,000.00  
16
77,000,000.00  
7

Total No. Of Dialects
3  
3
10  
10

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
38.00 million  
33
78.00 million  
21

Speaking Population
0.57 %  
29
1.06 %  
20

Native Speakers
38.00 million  
26
70.00 million  
15

Second Language Speakers
38.00 million  
23
8.00 million  
99+

Native Name
മലയാളം (malayāḷam)  
தமிழ்  

Alternative Names
Alealum, Malayalani, Malayali, Malean, Maliyad, Mallealle, Mopla  
Damulian, Tamal, Tamalsan, Tambul, Tamili  

French Name
malayalam  
tamoul  

German Name
Malayalam  
Tamil  

Pronunciation
[mɐləjaːɭɐm]  
[t̪ɐmɨɻ]  

Ethnicity
Malayali  
Tamil people or Tamilans  

History

Origin
9th Century  
300 BC  

Language Family
Dravidian Family  
Dravidian Family  

Subgroup
-  
-  

Branch
-  
-  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
No early form  
Old Tamil and Middle Tamil  

Standard Forms
Malayalam  
Modern Tamil  

Language Position
29  
27
18  
16

Signed Forms
Signed Malayalam  
Signed Tamil  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
ml  
ta  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
mal  
tam  

ISO 639 2/B
mal  
tam  

ISO 639 3
mal  
tam  

ISO 639 6
mal  
tam  

Glottocode
mala1464  
tami1289, oldt1248  

Linguasphere
No data available  
tami1289  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
-  
Subject-Object-Verb  

Language Morphological Typology
Synthetic  
-  

Countries >>
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Malayalam and Tamil Language History

Comparison of Malayalam vs Tamil language history gives us differences between origin of Malayalam and Tamil language. History of Malayalam language states that this language originated in 9th Century whereas history of Tamil language states that this language originated in 300 BC. Family of the language also forms a part of history of that language. More on language families of these languages can be found out on Malayalam and Tamil Language History.

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Malayalam and Tamil Greetings

People around the world use different languages to interact with each other. Even if we cannot communicate fluently in any language, it will always be beneficial to know about some of the common greetings or phrases from that language. This is where Malayalam and Tamil greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Malayalam and Tamil language. Malayalam word for "Hello" is ഹലോ (halēā) or Tamil word for "Thank You" is நன்றி (Naṉṟi). Find more of such common Malayalam Greetings and Tamil Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Malayalam vs Tamil Difficulty

The Malayalam vs Tamil difficulty level basically depends on the number of Malayalam Alphabets and Tamil Alphabets. Also the number of vowels and consonants in the language plays an important role in deciding the difficulty level of that language. The important points to be considered when we compare Malayalam and Tamil are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Malayalam and Tamil, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Malayalam is 44 weeks while to learn Tamil time required is 44 weeks.

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