Lably
Skip to content

Arabi Malayalam

Dialect of Malayalam used by Mappila Muslims

  • 1 min read
  • 2 chapters

Related on Lably

Through Kerala

The Mappila form shows some lexical admixture from Arabic and Persian.

The variety Arabi Malayalam is also used by lower castes non-Muslims in northern Kerala, Muslims in Dakshina Kannada, and different Mappila migrant communities in South East Asia.

Writing system

The Arabi Malayalam script is an Abjad. The script is also known as Khatafunnani or Ponnani script. It is also used to write several minority languages such as Eranadan and Jesri.

Arabi Malayalam came into being as Malayalam written in the Arabic script. The Malayalam language was mainly used to spread the ideas and practices of Islam in Kerala. Creating Arabi Malayalam made it easier for the Arabs who migrated to Kerala to spread the religion without a language barrier getting in the way.

Sign in to keep reading

One more chapter is free with a Lably account.

More in India

MuslimsAdherents of IslamPresidencies and provinces of British India1612–1947 British directly-ruled administrative divisions in IndiaStates and union territories of IndiaIndia is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 sSikhsReligious groupInternational Alphabet of Sanskrit TransliterationTransliteration scheme for Indic scriptsPrime Minister of IndiaHead of government