Kerala's endangered tribal languages get a lifeline through dictionary project

The Mavila and Malaveduvan languages, spoken by tribal communities in north Kerala, are being documented in two separate dictionaries to prevent their disappearance. The project, led by writer and Sir Syed College faculty member Dr. Mohanan V.T.V. and tribal writer O.K. Prabhakaran Vattamathatta, aims to preserve the linguistic heritage of communities numbering around 60,000 people across Kannur and Kasaragod districts.

The Mavila dictionary has been completed and is scheduled for publication in the first week of August. Work on the Malaveduvan dictionary is currently underway. Together, the volumes will document more than 5,000 words collected through extensive fieldwork in tribal settlements.

Speaking about the initiative, Dr. Mohanan said it was driven entirely by personal commitment. "This is entirely an effort born out of personal interest. We realised these languages are slowly vanishing, and unless they are documented now, future generations may lose them forever," he said.

The project builds on Dr. Mohanan's earlier Malayala Bhashabheda Nighandu (Malayalam dialect dictionary), published by the Kerala Bhasha Institute. Mr. Prabhakaran's research, titled Iyyama Jovv, traces the history of the tribal communities' struggle for rights.

According to Dr. Mohanan, migration, formal education and increasing interaction with mainstream society have accelerated language loss, particularly among Mavila families who migrated from Kasaragod to Kannur. Many have already lost the ability to speak their mother tongue. He recounted an incident during fieldwork: "An 84-year-old man residing in Naduvil in Kannur told me that his father knew the language, but he himself could no longer speak it. That shows how rapidly it has disappeared."

The researchers faced significant challenges in documenting the languages, as community members were reluctant to trust outsiders. Dr. Mohanan said he initially visited settlements alone, but his efforts were met with suspicion despite repeated visits and long stays. "No matter how much effort I put in, they remained hesitant. Eventually, I realised that this approach would not succeed," he said.

He later identified a trusted member from within the community to continue the documentation work, which greatly improved acceptance. However, some members still stayed away from community meetings. It took nearly three years to establish an effective process for documenting the language.

Dr. Mohanan noted that language shift begins early, with children adopting Malayalam, Kannada and other dominant languages after joining schools or moving outside their settlements. Adults working in offices or across the Kerala-Karnataka border also gradually abandon their native language, accelerating its decline.

He criticised the institutions created for the welfare of these communities, saying they have failed to provide adequate employment opportunities to tribal members. "An institution meant for their development does not even employ people from the community," he said, calling it a major setback to language preservation. Fluent speakers are now found mainly in tribal settlements around Neeleswaram and nearby areas of Kasaragod district.

The Mavila language, meaning "the language of those who produce food," is also known in some places as Markoli Tulu. The Malaveduvan community speaks the Malaveduvan language. Both languages show strong influences of Tulu and Kannada, with Malayalam words entering later through migration and education.

The dictionaries also reveal distinctive linguistic and cultural features. The communities traditionally have no separate words corresponding to the Malayalam concepts of happiness and sorrow, reflecting a unique worldview. The documentation of such terms is crucial to understanding the communities' cultural identity and their relationship with the world.

The publication of the Mavila dictionary is expected to be followed by the Malaveduvan volume. The project underscores the urgency of documenting endangered languages while fluent speakers are still available. As Dr. Mohanan emphasised, the loss of a language is not just the loss of words, but of an entire way of understanding life.