The Muthuvan tribal community of Edamalakkudy, the first tribal grama panchayat in the State, has come out with a dictionary, Malayalam Muthuvan Bhasha Nikhandu. Muthuvans speak a different dialect of Malayalam, but they have a language of their own, used exclusively within the community. This language is Greek to Malayalis.
It was with an aim of keeping the Muthuvan language alive that a dictionary was brought out after prolonged research.
Around 2,500 exclusive words used by the Muthuvan community find a place in the dictionary, released under the auspices of the Government Tribal Lower Primary School, Edamalakkudy.
Language barrier
The dictionary was prepared by a team led by a Kozhikode resident and teacher Sudheesh V. The publishers say the effort was made to overcome the community’s language barrier and help them with their education.
Beneficiaries
Teachers at the lower primary school have been finding it hard to communicate with the children who learn Malayalam only when they join school. Also, in 2018-19, the textbook of Class 1 was completely switched to the tribal language. Many teachers opted to go on leave when posted in Edamalakkudy. The language posed a problem for the newly transferred officials too. The new dictionary is expected to solve such problems to a large extent.
Georgekutty, who had served for long at the Edamalakkudy grama panchayat and is familiar with the tribal language, said the dictionary would help tribespeople to be proficient in their own language. It would not only serve the Muthuvans of Edamalakkudy but also those in other forest settlements spread over the Munnar region of the Western Ghats.
