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Tamil vs Malayalam


Malayalam vs Tamil


Countries

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

Total No. Of Countries
6  
9
3  
12

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

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

Speaking Continents
Asia  
Asia  

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

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

Interesting Facts
  • 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.
    •   
  • 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.
  

Similar To
Malayalam  
Tamil and Sanskrit Languages  

Derived From
-  
Sanskrit Language  

Alphabets

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

Alphabets
247  
99+
53  
32

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
12  
9
15  
12

How Many Consonants
18  
8
41  
30

Scripts
Tamil  
Brahmic family and derivatives  

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

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3  
2
2  
1

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks  
17
44 weeks  
17

Greetings

Hello
வணக்கம் (Vanakkam)  
ഹലോ (halēā)  

Thank You
நன்றி (Naṉṟi)  
നന്ദി (nandi)  

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

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

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

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

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

Please
தயவு (Tayavu)  
ദയവായി (dayavāyi)  

Sorry
மன்னிக்கவும் (Maṉṉikkavum)  
ക്ഷമിക്കണം (kṣamikkaṇaṁ)  

Bye
சென்று வருகிறேன் (Sendru Varukiren)  
വിട (viṭa)  

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

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

Dialects

Dialect 1
Kongu  
Judeo-Malayalam  

Where They Speak
Kongu  
Israel, kerala  

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

Dialect 2
Madurai Tamil  
Mappila  

Where They Speak
Madurai, South Tamil Nadu  
India  

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

Dialect 3
Tirunelveli Tamil  
Pandy Malayalam  

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

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

Total No. Of Dialects
10  
10
3  
3

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
78.00 million  
21
38.00 million  
33

Speaking Population
1.06 %  
20
0.57 %  
29

Native Speakers
70.00 million  
15
38.00 million  
26

Second Language Speakers
8.00 million  
99+
38.00 million  
23

Native Name
தமிழ்  
മലയാളം (malayāḷam)  

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

French Name
tamoul  
malayalam  

German Name
Tamil  
Malayalam  

Pronunciation
[t̪ɐmɨɻ]  
[mɐləjaːɭɐm]  

Ethnicity
Tamil people or Tamilans  
Malayali  

History

Origin
300 BC  
9th Century  

Language Family
Dravidian Family  
Dravidian Family  

Subgroup
-  
-  

Branch
-  
-  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
Old Tamil and Middle Tamil  
No early form  

Standard Forms
Modern Tamil  
Malayalam  

Language Position
18  
16
29  
27

Signed Forms
Signed Tamil  
Signed Malayalam  

Scope
Individual  
Individual  

Code

ISO 639 1
ta  
ml  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
tam  
mal  

ISO 639 2/B
tam  
mal  

ISO 639 3
tam  
mal  

ISO 639 6
tam  
mal  

Glottocode
tami1289, oldt1248  
mala1464  

Linguasphere
tami1289  
No data available  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
Living  

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Object-Verb  
-  

Language Morphological Typology
-  
Synthetic  

Countries >>
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Tamil and Malayalam Language History

Comparison of Tamil vs Malayalam language history gives us differences between origin of Tamil and Malayalam language. History of Tamil language states that this language originated in 300 BC whereas history of Malayalam language states that this language originated in 9th Century. 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 Tamil and Malayalam Language History.

Compare Most Spoken Languages

Tamil and Malayalam 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 Tamil and Malayalam greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Tamil and Malayalam language. Tamil word for "Hello" is வணக்கம் (Vanakkam) or Malayalam word for "Thank You" is നന്ദി (nandi). Find more of such common Tamil Greetings and Malayalam Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Tamil vs Malayalam Difficulty

The Tamil vs Malayalam difficulty level basically depends on the number of Tamil Alphabets and Malayalam 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 Tamil and Malayalam are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Tamil and Malayalam, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Tamil is 44 weeks while to learn Malayalam time required is 44 weeks.

Most Spoken Languages

Most Spoken Languages

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Compare Most Spoken Languages

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