1

CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION

MALAYALAM

Spoken In - Kerala
Language Family - Dravidian
Writing System - Malayalam Script

Malayalam is one of the four major Dravidian languages of

South India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official
language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of
Lakshadweep and Mahé. Possessing an independent script, it also has a
rich modern literature. The first literary work is Ramacharitam(12th
century).
The word "Malayalam" means mountainous country where “mala”
means “the mountain” and “alam” means “the place”. Malayalam belongs
to the southern group of Dravidian languages along with Tamil, Tulu ,
Kodagu and Kannada. It has high affinity towards Tamil. The origin of
Malayalam as a distinct language may be traced to the last quarter of 9th
Century. A.D. Robert Caldwell, in his book A Comparative Grammar of
the Dravidian or South-Indian Languages states that Malayalam branched
from classical Tamil that over time gained a large amount of Sanskrit
vocabulary and lost the personal terminations of verbs. Unlike Tamil,
Kannada and Telugu Malayalam has borrowed liberally from Sanskrit
not only words but even inflected words and phrases. It is Sanskrit which
is the source of voiced and aspirated stops in the sound system of
Malayalam.
Malayalam language script consists of fifty-three letters including
sixteen vowels and thirty-seven consonants. Variation in intonation
 2

patterns, vocabulary and distribution of grammatical and phonological

elements are observable along the parameters of region, community,
religion, etc. Malayalam language is considered as “the phonologist’s
paradise” because of its fascinating complexity and its elegant
symmetries. There are three main regional dialects (SOUTH,
CENTRAL and NORTH) and a number of communal dialects for
Malayalam.

THE SOUND SYSTEM OF MALAYALAM

VOWELS

FRONT MIDDLE BACK

SHORT LONG SHORT LONG SHORT LONG

HIGH u u:
i i:

MID e e: o o:

(æ) a a:
LOW

DIPHTHONGS

/ai/ and /au/

 3

CONSONANTS

Labial Denta Alveol Retrofl Palat Velar Glotta

l ar ex al l
Voiceless Stop p t̪̪ t ʈ c k

Voiceless pʰ t̪ʰ ʈʰ cʰ kʰ
Aspirated

Voiced Stop b d̪ ɖ Ɉ g

Voiceless bʰ d̪ʰ ɖʰ Ɉʰ gʰ
Aspirated

Fricative (f) s ʂ ʃ h

Nasal m n̪ n ɳ ɲ ŋ

Liquid

Tap/Trill r

Lateral l ɭ
Approximant
ɻ
Glide
v y
 4

ENGLISH
Spoken In - All over the world
Language Family - Indo European

English is an Indo-European language of the Germanic branch.

The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three
Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These
tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from
what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the
inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic
speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders - mainly into what
is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from England and
their language was called Englisc - from which the words England and
English are derived.
Old English (450-1100 AD)
The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in
Britain developed into what we now call Old English. Old English did not
sound or look like English today. Native English speakers now would
have great difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless, about half
of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English
roots. The words be, strong and water, for example, derive from Old
English. Old English was spoken until around 1100.
Middle English (1100-1500)
In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy (part of
modern France), invaded and conquered England. The new conquerors
(called the Normans) brought with them a kind of French, which became
the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. For
 5

a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower
classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. In the 14th
century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French
words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language
of the great poet Chaucer (c1340-1400), but it would still be difficult for
native English speakers to understand today.
Modern English
Early Modern English (1500-1800)
Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change
in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being
pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had
contact with many peoples from around the world. This, and the
Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and
phrases entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that
there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper and
more people learned to read. Printing also brought standardization to
English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London,
where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the
first English dictionary was published.
Late Modern English (1800-Present)
The main difference between Early Modern English and Late
Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more
words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial
Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the
British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and
the English.
 6

Varieties of English
There are many varieties of English around the world, including,
for example , Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian
English, South African English, Indian English and Caribbean English.
There are a number of dialects of the same language. Just like the
Tamil spoken in India differs from the Tamil spoken in Srilanka, the
English spoken in England differs a great deal from the English spoken in
the USA. Even within the country one can see this difference in
pronunciation. India was under the British rule for a long time. So we are
exposed to British English than to American, Australian etc. Thus our
choice is one of the many varieties of British English called Educated
Southern British English or Received Pronunciation (RP). The word
‘Received’ itself shows that this is a social rather than a regional dialect.
In RP there are 20 distinctive vowel sounds made up of 12 pure vowels
or monophthongs and 8 diphthongs. There are 24 distinctive consonants
in English.

THE SOUND SYSTEM OF ENGLISH

VOWELS
 7

DIPHTHONGS
 8

CONSONANTS

Lab Alv Pos pala ve glo

Bilabi io- Dental eolar t- Palato- tal lar ttal
al dental alveol alveolar
ar
Plosive p b t d k
ɡ
Nasals m n ŋ
Affricat ʧ
es ʤ
Fricativ f v θ δ s z ʃ ʒ h
es
Lateral l
Approx w r j
imants

INFLUENCE OF L1 ON L2

LI
First language, Mother tongue, Native language, and Primary
language are synonymous set of terms that represent languages which are
acquired during early childhood.

L2
Second language is an officially or societally dominant language
needed for education, employment and other basic purposes.

SIMULTANEOUS & SEQUENTIAL MULTILINGUALISM

 9

Acquisition of more than one language during early childhood is

called simultaneous multilingualism which results in more than one
native language for an individual. Learning additional languages after L1
has already been established is known as sequential multilingualism.
Influence of L1 will be quite common in this.

The term ‘Mother tongue influence’ indicate the cross linguistic

influence or transfer of prior knowledge from L1 to L2. L2 learners
Posses real world knowledge in their initial state for language acquisition
which young children lack when they learn L1.The initial stage of L1
acquisition composed of an innate capacity(Chomsky) , which may or
may not continue to be available for L2. Since L2 acquisition follows L1
acquisition , a major component of the initial state for learning will be
prior knowledge of L1. This is responsible for the transfer from L1 to L2
during second language development. There are two types of transfer –
positive and negative.
1 .POSITIVE TRANSFER
When the relevant unit or structure of both languages is the same,
linguistic interference will result in correct language production called
positive transfer.
Ex.- Use of cognates
Cross linguistic influence occurs in all levels including vocabulary,
pronunciation, grammar and all other aspects of language structure and
use. Positive transfer facilitates L2 learning. An L1 structure or rule that
also works for L2 means that a new one doesn’t have to be learned. For
example , a word that has essentially the same form and meaning in both
languages can transfer appropriately from L1 to L2.
2.NEGATIVE TRANSFER
 10

Language interference is most often discussed as a source of errors

known as negative transfer. It happens when speakers and writers
transfer items and structures that are not the same in both languages.
Learners of English language may make utterances like ‘I went to home’,
‘Can I assist to your class?’ etc. which a native speaker of English would
not produce. The most common and most easily recognized aspect of L1
influence is the inappropriate transfer of L1 pronunciation to L2.
AIM AND OBJECTIVE
The aim and objective of this thesis is to identify the influence of
Malayalam on the English speech of Malayalees. My focus is the
influence of Malayalam on segmental features of English.
METHODOLOGY
Analytical linguistic and comparative methods are used in this
work. The informants are the students of the University of Hyderabad,
coming from various parts of Kerala, who have learned and used
Malayalam since their childhood and have never been to an English
Speaking country. By observing their English speech, I have transcribed
300 words which contains a variety of English sounds and sound
sequences, and compared it with the Received Pronunciation(RP). After
that, I tried to identify the consonant sounds and the vowel sounds that
were pronounced incorrectly by the informants.
PRESENTATION
This dissertation contains four chapters. The first chapter deals
with the introduction to Malayalam, English and influence of L1 on L2 in
general. The second chapter contains the data which consists of 300
words. The third chapter contains analysis which describes the patterns of
influence than can be observed from the collected data. Conclusion is
included in the forth chapter.
CHAPTER 2; DATA
 11

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

1 COTTON koʈʈaɳ kͻtn

2 SUBTLE sabʈʈl sʌtl

3 MUTTON
maʈʈaɳ mʌtn

4 SCHOOL i/uskuːɭ skuːl

5 APPLE aːppɭ ӕpl

6 CAR kaːr kɑː

7 FINGER fiŋɡər fiŋɡə

8 MEASURE meʃər meʒə

9 GARAGE ɡeːreːɈ ɡəræʒ

1O COLLEGE koɭeːɈ kɔliɈ

11 CHURCH carc(ə) ʧɜːʧ

12 BUS bas(ə) bʌs

13 PATH paːt(ə)
̪ pɑːθ

14 BAG beːʸɡ(ə) bæɡ

12
 13

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

ʈiː tiː
15 TEA

pronauɳs prənauns
16 PRONOUNCE

kyaːptan kæptin
17 CAPTAIN

rileːʃən rileiʃn
18 RELATION

ʈiːccar tiːʧə
19 TEACHER

eɡsaːmineːʃn iɡzæmineiʃn
20 EXAMINATION

ɡo ɡəu
21 GO

oː əu
22 OH !

aɳɖer ʌndə
23 UNDER

poʈʈeːto pəteito
24 POTATO

kam kʌm
25 COME

steːt(ə) Steit
26 STATE

pɭeːyər pleiə
27 PLAYER

preyər preiə
28 PRAYER

vaːc(ə) wɔʧ
29 WATCH

smoːk sməuk
30 SMOKE
 14

No. ENGLISH WORDS

WORDS
ENGLISH MP
MP RP
ʃrabbər
arʈ ʃɜː
rəbət
46 SHIRT
RUBBER
31
ert̪
breʃ ɜː θ
brʌʃ
47 EARTH
BRUSH
32

bɭeɖːn(ə)
kyu blʌdːn
kwi
48
33 QUEEN
BLOOD

eva ːʈʈ
̪ ər
ːstetik ɔtə
iwːsθetik
34 WATER
AESTHETIC
49

fuɖ̪ (ə)
aitər ifu ːd
ːθə
35 FOOD
EITHER
50
beluːɳ
̪
naitər bʌːlu
ni θəːn
36 BALOON
51 NEITHER

stomak stʌmək
37 STOMACH ̪
bradər brʌð
52 BROTHER
ʈaːrɈet tɑːɡet
38 TARGET kamposər kəmpəuzə
53 COMPOSER
peʈroːɭ ptrəl
39 PETROL froːseɳ frɔːzn
54 FROZEN
fɭavər flauə
FLOWER
40 ɡeːt(ə) ɡeit
55 GATE
vavəl vauəl
41 VOWEL
juːɳit juːnit
56 UNIT
saːr sə
42 SIR
eː r ɛə
57 AIR
ʈauvəl tauəl
43 TOWEL
boːy bɔi
58 BOY
kvaːɳɖiti kwɔntiti
44 QUANTITY
oːyil ɔil
59 OIL boːɳ bɔːn
45 BONE
 15

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

he:r hɛə
60 HAIR

karʈən kəːtn
61 CURTAIN

ʈoːmb(ə) ʈuːm
62 TOMB

yaːc jɑːt
63 YACHT

villeːɟ viliʤ
64 VILLAGE

eː bɭ Eibl
65 ABLE

bɔːdər
̪ brʌδə
66 BOTHER

ɡɭaːs ɡlɑːs
67 GLASS

ɖ eː Dei
68 DAY

eroːs ərəus
69 AROSE

aro̻ ː ̻
ærəu
70 ARROW

aːrʈ ɑːt
71 ART

aːrʈʈikʸuleːt ɑːtikjulət
72 ARTICULATE

̪
atlət æθliːt
73 ATHLETE
 16

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

əttoːrɳi ətɜːni
74 ATTORNEY

oːɖiyo ɔːdiəu
75 AUDIO

boːmb(ə) bɔːm
76 BOMB

ɖ eːt Deit
77 DATE

kloːt(ə)
̪ kɭɔːθ
78 CLOTH

boːrɖ(ə) bɔːd
79 BOARD

beːkap bækəp
80 BACUP

kaːrʈ kɑːt
81 CART

baːɭɖ bɔːld
82 BALD

beːr beə
83 BARE

̪ ɡ(ə)
tiŋ Θiŋk
84 THINK

biʈroːtal
̪ bitrəuθəl
85 BETROTHAL

maɳi mʌni
86 MONEY

baːrbeːriyən bɑːbeəriən
87 BARBARIAN
 17

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

baːrɡeyn bɑːɡən
88 BARGAIN

baːt(ə)
̪ bɑːθ
89 BATH

basaːr bəzɑː
90 BAZAAR

ceər ʧeə
91 CHAIR

bɜːt̪ɖeː bɜːθdei
92 BIRTHDAY

bɭɑːŋɡet blæŋkit
93 BLANKET

boːʈ bəut
94 BOAT

pɭeːt Pleit
95 PLATE

lɜːrɳiŋ lɜːniŋ
96 LEARNING

broːk brəuk
97 BROKE

buɭɭettin buletin
98 BULLETIN

bamb bʌmp
99 BUMP

byuːroː bjuːrəu
10 BUREAU
0
reːn Rein
10 RAIN
1
 18

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

fast fɜːst
10 FIRST
2
kinɖərɡaːrɖən kindəɡɑːtən
10 KINDERGARTEN
3
bisinəs Biznis
10 BUSINESS
4
saikɭ Saikl
10 CYCLE
5
soːʃyəl səuʃəl
10 SOCIAL
6
viʃyəs viʃəs
10 VICIOUS
7
inɖimeːt intimeit
10 INTIMATE
8
inɖoɳeːʃən intɔneiʃn
10 INTONATION
9
ʈaŋ ʈʌŋ
11 TONGUE
0
kaːrɡo kɑːɡəu
11 CARGO
1
̻ ːɭ
karo ̻
kærəl
11 CAROLE
2
vaːk wɔk
11 WALK
3
ʈembɭ Templ
11 TEMPLE
4
sammar sʌmə
11 SUMMER
5
 19

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

keːnɖiːn kæntin
11 CANTEEN
6
koɭaːʃ kɔlɑːʒ
11 COLLAGE
7
beɲc(ə) benʧ
11 BENCH
8
kamenɖ kɔment
11 COMMENT
9
kammyuːɳəl kɔmjuːnəl
12 COMMUNAL
0
kaɳɡraːʤulet kənɡræʧleit
12 CONGRATULATE
1
koːɳkwər kɔ:ŋkə
12 CONQUER
2
kaːlkʸuleːt Kælkjəleit
12 CALCULATE
3
kyaːmara kæmərə
12 CAMERA
4
kyaːst kɑːst
12 CAST
5
prosiʤjər prəusiːʤə
12 PROCEDURE
6
ɖaːrk dɑːk
12 DARK
7
lettər letə
12 LETTER
8
ɖaːrɭiŋ dɑːliŋ
12 DARLING
9
 20

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

staːtas steitʌs
13 STATUS
0
staːtjuːʈari stӕtjuːtʌri
13 STATUTORY
1

ɖemonsʈeːt demɔnstreit
13 DEMONSTRATE
2
ɟənər ʒӕnə
13 GNRE
3
eksʈraːoɖinari ikstrəɔdinəri
13 EXTRAORDINARY
4
enviroːɳment invaiənmənt
13 ENVIRONMENT
5
kambjuːʈʈər kʌmpjuːtə
13 COMPUTER
6
ɖispoːs dispəus
13 DISPOSE
7
oːra ɔːrə
13 AURA
8
halo heləu
13 HELLO
9
aːvereːʤ ӕveriʤ
14 AVERAGE
0
ʃaːɭ ʃɔːl
14 SHAWL
1
envelap inveləp
14 ENVELOP
2
ʤest ʤʌst
14 JUST
3
 21

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

oːɳest ɔnist
14 HONEST
4
ʈuːr tuə
14 TOUR
5
kʸuər kjuə
14 CURE
6
voyeːɟ wɔyæʒ
14 VOYAGE
7
̪
beit(ə) Beiδ
14 BATHE
8
kaf kɔf
14 COUGH
9
pɭeʃər pləʒə
15 PLEASURE
0
liŋɡustiks liŋɡwistiks
15 LINGUISTIC
1
namber nʌmbə
15 NUMBER
2
filim Film
15 FILM
3
sinima sinəma
15 CINEMA
4
se:rkyu:ʈ se:kit
15 CIRCUIT
5
naɳsə nʌnz
15 NUNS
6
be:ʸgsə bӕgz
15 BAGS
7
 22

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

be:ŋkə bӕnk
15 BANK
8
buɭs Bulz
15 BULLS
9
pa:səs pa:siz
16 PASSES
0
rosəs rəuziz
16 ROSES
1
buʃəs buʃiz
16 BUSHES
2
carcəs ʧɜ:ʧiz
16 CHURCHES
3
kukkəɖə Kukt
16 COOKED
4
̪
ta:ccəɖ θӕʧt
16 THATCHED
5
la:fɖ la:ft
16 LAUGHED
6
rabbəɖə Bubd
16 RUBBED
7
basɖ bʌzd
16 BUZZED
8
va:nʈəɖ wɔntid
16 WANTED
9
menɖəɖ mendid
17 MENDED
0
leʃər liʒə
17 LEISURE
1
 23

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

do:ʈʈər dəutə
17 DAUGHTER
2
no:ʈʈifike:ʃən nəutifikeiʃn
17 NOTIFICATION
3
ke:kʸə Keik
17 CAKE
4
baikʸə Baik
17 BIKE
5
ʈe:ppər teipə
17 TAPER
6
staɳ stʌn
17 STUN
7
prais Praiz
17 PRIZE
8
spɭi:n spli:n
17 SPLEEN
9
interpole:ʃən intəpəleiʃn
18 INTERPOLATION
0
a:bsent ӕbsent
18 ABSENT
1
kaɳvikt kɔnvikt
18 CONVICT (N)
2
perfekt pəfikt
18 PERFECT
3
ebro:ɖ əbrɔ:d
18 ABROAD
4
be:k(ə) bӕk
18 BACK
5
 24

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

bini:t̪ bini:θ
18 BENEATH
6
ɖa:ɖi dӕdi
18 DADDY
7
baʈ bʌt
18 BUT
8
be:kəri beikəri
18 BAKERY
9
ka:tərpiller kӕtəpilə
19 CATERPILLER
0
a:rke:yk a:keik
19 ARCHAIC
1
ba:mbu: bӕmbu:
19 BAMBOO
2
piccer pikʧə
19 PICTURE
3
ʈikket Tikit
19 TICKET
4
ʈra:fik trӕfik
19 TRAFFIC
5
reɖi rədi
19 READY
6
ho:ɭɖ həuld
19 HOLD
7
ma:ne:ɟər mӕniʤə
19 MANAGER
8
pillər pilə
19 PILLER
9
 25

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

ne:ms Neimz
20 NAMES
0
normal nɔməl
20 NORMAL
1
pɭe:ʸgə Pleig
20 PLAGUE
2
lavs lʌvz
20 LOVES
3
edɟəs edʤiz
20 EDGES
4
si:bra zi:brə
20 ZEBRA
5
̪
da:t δӕt
20 THAT
6
bas bʌz
20 BUZZ
7
kapp(ə) kʌp
20 CUP
8
cayilɖ ʧaild
20 CHILD
9
ɟa:m ʤӕm
21 JAM
0
kyus Kwiz
21 QUIZ
1
pɭamber plumə
21 PLUMBER
2
faiyar faiə
21 FIRE
3
 26

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

ko:ɖə kəud
21 CODE
4
enveləp inveləp
21 ENVELOP
5
kaɳsɜ:ʈ kɔnsɜ:t
21 CONCERT
6
ɖa:ta dӕta
21 DATA
7
ekspӕnɖ ikspӕnd
21 EXPAND
8
filti̪ Filθi
21 FILTHY
9
herbal hɜ:bəl
22 HERBAL
0
̪
mitikal Miθikəl
22 MYTHICAL
1
ne:kkəɖ neikəd
22 NAKED
2
ne:ʃan neiʃən
22 NATION
3
noyisi Noizi
22 NOISY
4
o:tə̪ əuθ
22 OATH
5
oɳɭi əunli
22 ONLY
6
oppo:s əpəuz
22 OPPOSE
7
 27

No.
No. ENGLISHWORDS
ENGLISH WORDS MP RP
MP RP
vu:ɳɖ
̪
adar wu:nd
ʌδə
242 WOUND
22 OTHER
8
pklauɖ
ɭeg Klaud
plʌg
243
22 PLUG
CLOUD
9
ʈab ʈri
po:ye ʌb
tpəuətri
23 POETRY
244 TUB
0
po:ɭiʃ
be:bi pɔliʃ
Beibi
23 POLISH
245 BABY
1
re:ɖiyo
a:rmi reidiəu
a:mi
23 RADIO
246 ARMY
2
re:yinbo
kɭarkə creinbəu
ɭɑːk
23 RAINBOW
247 CLERK
4
simbiɭ
klo:sə Simpl
cləuz
23 SIMPLE
248 CLOSE
5
ɖɭeko:ram
so em sɔlm
dic ɔːrəm
23 SOLEMN
249 DECORUM
6

23 UPPERMOST
apparmo:st
faɳɳi fʌʌpəməust
ni
250 FUNNY
7
vayalet vaiəlet
23 VIOLET sarkəɭ sɜːkl
251 CIRCLE
8
voyisɖ
skvyər vɔist
skweə
23 VOICED
252 SQUARE
9
SQUIRREL va:ɳiŋ̻
skviril Skwirl
wɔniŋ
253
24 WARNING
0 sofistikeːt səfistikeit
254 SOPHISTICATE vinnar winə
24 WINNER
1
raːbis reibiːz
255 RABIES
 28

hoɭokoːst hɔləkɔːst
256 HOLOCAUST

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

ɡaɭp ɡʌlp
257 GULP

ferʈail fɜːtail
258 FERTILE

juːroːp juərəp
259 EUROPE

suː zuː
260 ZOO

jello jeləu
261 YELLOW

no:bɭ nəubl
262 NOBLE

pro:ɟekt prɔʤekt
263 PROJECT(N)

ɖifikkelti difikəlti
264 DIFFICULTY

ɖeliɡeːt deliɡət
265 DELEGATE(N)

ɖriŋg(ə) Driŋk
266 DRINK

embati̪ empəθi
267 EMPATHY

emfaːtik imfӕtik
268 EMPHATIC

feːrvel feəwel
269 FAREWELL

impjor Impjuə
27 IMPURE
0
 29

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

kaŋɡaːru̻ ː kӕŋɡru̻ ː
271 KANGAROO

loːrel lɔrl
272 LAUREL

renɖevuː rɔndivuː
273 RENDEZVOUS

maiser maizə
274 MISER

viɖo widəu
275 WIDOW

baʈʈərflai bʌtəflai
276 BUTTERFLY

keːp Keip
277 CAPE

koːsi kəuzi
278 COSY

ɖaiyamaɳɖ daiəmənd
279 DIAMOND

̪ ːɡraːfi
etno eθnɔɡrəfi
280 ETHNOGRAPHY

fjuːɟitiɟːv fjuːʤətiv
281 FUGITIVE

ɟijoːparɖi ʤepədy
282 JEOPARDY

oːʃjen əuʃn
283 OCEAN

okkar əKɜː
28 OCCUR
4
 30

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

perhaːps pəhӕps
285 PERHAPS

refjuːsal rifjuːzl
286 REFUSAL

venesɖeː wenzdei
287 WEDNESDAY

ʈuːɭ tuːl
288 TOOL

ʈemar tremə
289 TREMOR

hoːɳest ɔnist
290 HONEST

hӕŋɡər hӕŋə
291 HANGER

ɖraŋɡaːɖ drʌŋkəd
292 DRUNKARD

enerɟi inəʤi
293 ENERGY

si:ɖə si:d
294 SEED

vimaɳ Wimin
295 WOMEN

iŋgɭiʃ iŋgliʃ
296 ENGLISH

gaɭf gʌlf
297 GULF

̪
feder feδə
29 FEATHER
8
 31

No. ENGLISH WORDS MP RP

299 EIGHT e:t Eit

ONIONS
300 oɳiyan ʌnjən
 32

CHAPTER 3
ANALYSIS
INFLUENCE OF MALAYALAM ON THE ENGLISH SPEECH OF MALAYALEES

Most Malayalees learn Malayalam before they are exposed to

English .Thus they have in them, very strongly formed linguistic habits.
When they attempt to learn English these linguistic habits are bound to
interfere with their learning of English. The phonological system of
Malayalam will have an influence on the phonology of English. The
below listed patterns of influence can be observed from the data
collected.
VOWELS
FRONT VOWELS
• [i]˃[e]
[i] sound in the initial syllables of English words
‘examination’, ‘environment’, ‘envelop’ etc. are pronounced
as [e].Similar change in pronunciation is visilble in the final
syllable of ‘honest’
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 eɡsaːmineːʂn Iɡzæmineiʃn
EXAMINATION

2 eksʈraːoɖinari ikstrəɔdinəri
EXTRAORDINARY
3 enveləp inveləp
ENVELOP
4 oːɳest ɔnist
HONEST
 33

• [i]>[ə]
The vowel in the past tense marker /-id/, and the plural suffix /-iz/
is pronounced as [ə].
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 edɟəs edʤiz
EDGES
2 rosəs rəuziz
ROSES
3 menɖəɖ mendid
MENDED
4 va:nʈəɖ wɔntid
WANTED

• [i]>[e:]
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1
COLLEGE koɭeːɈ kɔliɈ
2 villeːɟ viliʤ
VILLAGE

• [i:]>[ai]
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 ̪
aitər iːθə
EITHER
2 ̪
naitər niːθə
NEITHER

• [ӕ] > [a:] / [e:]

 34

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 aːppɭ Æpl
APPLE
2 kaɳɡraːʤulet kənɡræʧleit
CONGRATULATE
3
BAG beːʸɡ bæɡ
4
GARAGE ɡeːreːɈ ɡəræʒ

CENTRAL VOWELS
• [ʌ] > [a]
• Use of front half-open unrounded vowel [a] instead of central half
open unrounded vowel.
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1
SUBTLE sabʈʈl sʌtl
2
BUS bas(ə) bʌs
3 aɳɖer ʌndə
UNDER

4 kam kʌm
COME
 35

• [ʌ] > [e]

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 breʂ brʌʃ
BRUSH

2 bɭeɖ(ə) blʌd
BLOOD

• [ʌ] > [o]

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 STOMACH stomak stʌmək

• Use of [ə]
• Malayalees tend to use [ə] frequently in word final positions in
English. In Malayalam all stops, fricatives and the nasals [ɲ]and
[ŋ] cant occur word finally in words. So this will be followed by
[ə]. This influence is quite visible in their English pronunciation.
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 fuɖ(ə) fuːd
FOOD

2 ʈoːmb(ə) ʈuːm
TOMB
3 ɡeːt(ə) ɡeit
GATE
4 ̪ ɡ(ə)
tiŋ Θiŋk
THINK

• [ə]>[e]
 36

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 perfekt pəfikt
PERFECT
2 ebro:ɖ əbrɔ:d
ABROAD

BACK VOWELS
• [o] >[ɔ]

• [o:]>[ɔ:]
• Malayalees use [o] instead of English [ɔ] and [o:] instead of
English [ɔ:].
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 koɭaːȿ kɔlɑːʒ
COLLAGE
2 koɭeːɈ kɔliɈ
COLLEGE
3 koːɳkwər kɔ:ŋkə
CONQUER
4 kloːt(ə)
̪ kɭɔːθ
CLOTH

• [ɔ]>[a:]
 37

• The back rounded vowel [ɔ] is pronounced as [a:] which is a front

long unrounded vowel.
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 vaːc(ə) wɔʧ
WATCH

2 vaːʈʈər wɔtə
WATER

• [ɔ]>[a]
• The back rounded vowel [ɔ] is pronounced as [a] which is a front
short unrounded vowel.
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 CONVICT (N) kaɳvikt kɔnvikt
2 CONCERT kaɳsɜ:ʈ kɔnsɜ:t
3 COUGH kaf kɔf

DIPHTHONGS
• [ei] >[e:]
• Instead of English diphthong [ei] malayalees use [e:].
No. ENGLISH MP RP
 38

WORDS
1 sofistikeːt səfistikeit
SOPHISTICATE
2 ne:kkəɖ neikəd
NAKED
3 pɭe:gə Pleig
PLAGUE

• [əu] > [o:]

• Malayalees pronounce [əu] in ‘go’, ‘smoke’, ‘audio’ etc as [o:]
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 GO ɡo ɡəu
2 oːɖiyo ɔːdiəu
AUDIO
3 smoːk sməuk
SMOKE

• [ei] > [a:]

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 STATUS staːtas steitʌs

• [uə]> [u:]
• Malayalees pronounce the diphthong [uə] in tour as [u:].
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 ʈuːr tuə
TOUR
 39

• [ɛə] > [e:]

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 eː r ɛə
AIR
2 he:r hɛə
HAIR

TRIPHTHONGS
Triphthongs / three vowel sequences , composed of one diphthong
and a schwa [ə] are quite common in English. But malayalees insert a
consonant in order to break the vowel cluster.
• auə > auva
• aiə > aiyə
• əuə > əuyə
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 TOWEL ʈauvəl tauəl
2 faiyar faiə
FIRE
3 po:yeʈri pəuətri
POETRY

CONSONANTS

PLOSIVES
 40

• In English the voiced bilabial plosive [b] is not always pronounced.

Malayalees tend to pronounce it.
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 SUBTLE sabʈʈl sʌtl
2 ʈoːmb(ə) ʈuːm
TOMB

• [p] >[b]
• [t] > [ɖ]
• [k] >[ɡ]
• Most malayalees pronounce [p] in temple, complete etc as [b] ,the
[t] in canteen as [d] and the [k] in uncle as [g]. ie. Voiceless sounds
become voiced in their speech.
•
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 SIMPLE simbiɭ Simpl
2 QUANTITY kvaːɳɖiti kwɔntiti
3 ɖraŋɡaːɖ drʌŋkəd
DRUNKARD

• [t] > [ʈ]

• [d] >[ɖ]
Use of retroflex plosives [ʈ] and [ɖ] instead of [t] and [d] which
occur in English.

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
 41

1 TEA ʈiː tiː

2 TEACHER ʈiːccar tiːʧə
3 FOOD fuɖ(ə) fuːd
4 DAY ɖeː Dei

• [k]>[kʸ]
Voiceless velar plosive gets palatalized in the environment of a
preceeding front vowel.
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 CAKE ke:kʸə Keik
2 BIKE baikʸə Baik

• [ɡ]>[ʸɡ]
Some malayalees pronounce the English words ‘bag’ and ‘plague’
with a pre-palatalized [ʸɡ].

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 BAG beːʸɡ(ə) bæɡ
2 PLAGUE pɭe:ʸg(ə) Pleig

NASALS
• [n]> [ɳ]
• Voiced alveolar nasal [n] is pronounced as voiced retroflex nasal
[ɳ] in words like ‘cotton’, ‘money’, ‘unit’ etc.
• [n]> [ɲ]
• Voiced alveolar nasal [n] is pronounced as voiced palatal nasal [ɲ]
when it is preceded by [ʧ].

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
 42

1 COTTON koʈʈaɳ kͻtn

2 UNIT juːɳit juːnit

3 ATTORNEY əttoːrɳi ətɜːni

4 BENCH beɲc(ə) benʧ

FRICATIVES

• [θ] >[t]̪
• Instead of voiceless dental fricative [θ] malayalees use voiceless
dental stop [t]̪

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 THATCHED ̪
ta:ccə ɖ θӕʧt
2 BENEATH ̪
bini:t(ə) bini:θ
3 FILTHY filti̪ Filθi

• [δ] >[d]̪

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 FEATHER ̪
feder feδə
2 OTHER ̪
adar ʌδə
3 BOTHER bɔːdər̪ brʌδə

• [z]> [s]
• Malayalam doesn’t have the [z] sound. So malayalees tend to use
[s] sound instead of [z].
 43

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 NUNS naɳsə nʌnz
2 BUZZED basɖ bʌzd
3 BUSHES buʃəs buʃiz
4 ZOO suː zuː

• [ʒ] >[ʃ] / [ɟ]

• Voiced palato alveolar fricative [ʒ] is pronounced as [ʃ] or
[ɟ].
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 pɭeʃər pləʒə
PLEASURE
2 koɭaːʃ kɔlɑːʒ
COLLAGE
3 ɟənər ʒӕnə
GNRE
4 voyeːɟ wɔyæʒ
VOYAGE

• Pronunciation of [h]
[h] is silent in the word ‘honest’ but malayalees pronounce
it.
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 HONEST oːɳest ɔnist

APPROXIMANTS

• [w],[v] >[v]
 44

• Both voiced bilabialapproximant [w] and voiced labio dental

fricative [v] in English are pronounced as [v] by malayalees.

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 LOVES lavs lʌvz
2 WATCH vaːc(ə) wɔʧ
3 WINNER vinnar winə

• Pronunciation of [r]
In English the letter ‘r’ is not normally pronounced in word
final positions and it is silent when it occur before stops.
Malayalees pronounce [r] where ever it occurs.

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 CHURCH carc(ə) ʧɜːʧ
2 SQUARE skvyər skweə

3 ̪
adar ʌδə
OTHER

LATERAL APPROXIMANT

• [l] > [ɭ]

• Use of retroflex lateral [ɭ] instead of voiced alveolar lateral [l] in
words like ‘flower’, ‘college’ etc.

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 COLLEGE koɭeːɈ kɔliɈ
 45

2 pɭeːyər pleiə
PLAYER

3 ABLE eː bɭ Eibl

CONSONANT CLUSTERS

• In Malayalam the sk- initial consonant cluster is rare. So in order

to make pronunciation easier there is a tendency to add [u]/[i] in
the beginning
No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 SCHOOL i/uskuːɭ skuːl

• kw- initial consonant cluster is pronounced as [kyu] by malayalees.

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 QUEEN kyuːn kwiːn
2 QUIZ kyus Kwiz

• -lm consonant cluster is not common in Malayalam. So when

malayalee pronounces the word ‘film’ there is a tendency to insert
a vowel in between to break the consonant cluster.

No. ENGLISH MP RP
WORDS
1 filim Film
FILM

• Germination or doubling of sounds is a characteristic feature of

Malayalam. It has a strong impact on malayalees’ English
pronunciation.

No. ENGLISH MP RP
 46

WORDS
1 RUBBER rabbər rəbə

2 villeːɟ viliʤ
VILLAGE
3 əttoːrɳi ətɜːni
ATTORNEY
4 sammar sʌmə
SUMMER
CHAPTER 4

CONCLUSION

This project has attempted to find out the

influence of Malayalam on the English speech of malayalees. The
analysis of the collected data makes it clear that the interference of L1 to
L2 does exist. The interference indicates that there is the first language
(L1) background that is involved in learning a second language (L2). This
background can be illustrated by the characteristics of L1 especially the
structures which influence the L2. The sound patterns or structures of the
L1 influence the production of their L2. There are two kinds of transfer
that occurs in the process of learning L2, the first is learners make more
mistakes or errors because of the interference of their L1 to the L2 as a
result of negative transfer, and the second is learners have less or no
errors in learning L2, as a result of positive transfer. This project focused
the influence of Malayalam on segmental features of English.
The segmental features of language are the sounds that consist of
vowel and consonantal sounds. In the Malayalam vowel system, there are
ten vowels [i],[i:],[e],[e:],[a],[a:],[o],[o:].[u],[u:] and two
diphthongs[ai],[au] . On the other hand, English there are 20 distinctive
vowel sounds which includes twelve pure vowels or monophthongs [i],
[i:],[e],[ӕ],[ɑ:],[ɔ],[ɔ:][ʌ],[ə],[ɜ:] and eight diphthongs [ei],[ai],[ɔi],[au],
[əu],[iə],[uə] and [ɛə]. Though [i] is there in Malayalam it is not always
 47

pronounced correctly when it comes in English words. It is substituted

with [ə] (roses, mended) / [e] (examination, envelop etc) / [e:] (college,
village etc) / [ai] (either, neither etc), which are more common in
Malayalam. The analysis shows that the sound [ӕ] is substituted
with[a:] (apple, and, congratulate) / [e:] ( bag, collage etc.) due to the
non-existence of the sound [ӕ] in Malayalam vowel system. Therefore,
the closest sounds of the front vowel [ӕ] that is the sound[a:]/ [e] is
produced by all respondents. Similarly [ʌ] is not there in Malayalam. So
when it comes in English words malayalees use [a] (subtle, bus etc.) / [e]
(brush, blood etc.) / [o] (stomach).Instead of back half open rounded
vowel [ɔ] malayalees use back half close rounded vowel [o] (college,
collage etc.) / [a] (concert, cough etc.) / [a:] (watch, water). Instead of
[ɔ:] malayalees use Malayalam [o:] . English has a variety of diphthongs
while Malayalam has only two. So those diphthongs are substituted with
long vowels which sounds similar. [ei]>[e:](naked, plague etc.). [əu]>[o:]
(go, smoke etc.). [ei]>[a:](status) .[uə]>[u:](tour). [ɛə]>[e:](air, hair etc.),
Use of triphthongs is common in English but malayalees insert
consonants to break the three vowel cluster. [aua]>[auva](flower, shower
etc.) [aiə]>[aiyə](fire) [əuə]>[əuyə](poetry).
Malayalees tend to use [ə] frequently in word final positions in English.
In Malayalam all stops, fricatives and the nasals [ɲ]and [ŋ] cant occur
word finally in words. So this will be followed by [ə]. This influence is
quite visible in their English pronunciation.
There are also noticeable differences in consonantal distributions
between Malayalam and English. Malayalam has thirty-seven
consonants, on the other hand, English has only twenty-four consonants
which are almost the same as Malayalam consonants except for the
phonemes [θ],[δ],[z],[w],[ʧ],[ʤ].Use of retroflex sounds is a
characteristic feature of Malayalam. So malayalees tend to replace
 48

English [t] and[d] using retroflex sounds [ʈ](tea, temple) and [ɖ](day,
double). [θ] and [δ] are not there in Malayalam. Malayalees use similar
sounding [t]̪ and[d]̪ instead. The substitution occurs for the sound [z] in
both word-medial and word-final position. The –s suffix in English can
be pronounced in three ways. First, it is pronounced as [s] when the final
phoneme of the base form is preceded by a voiceless sound and not a
sibilant. Second, it is pronounced as [z] when the final phoneme of the
base form is preceded by a voiced sound and not a sibilant. Third, it is
pronounced as [Iz] when the final phoneme of the base form is one of the
sibilant sounds. Since [z] is not there n Malayalam ,it is substituted with
the closest sound, which is a voiceless alveolar fricative [s]. Both voiced
bilabial approximant [w] and voiced labio dental fricative [v] in English
are pronounced as [v] by malayalees. Voiceless and voiced palato
alveolar affricates [ʧ] [ʤ] are pronounced as [c] (voiceless palatal stop)
and [ɟ] (voiced palatal stop) in Malayalam. The [ʒ] sound is not there in
Malayalam. Malayalees use [ʃ] or [ɟ] instead of it. Malayalam has six
̪ ɲ],[ɳ],[ŋ],while English has only three[m],[n] and [ŋ]
nasals [m],[n],[n],[
Malayalam woeds are full of nasal sounds.The influence of nasals is quite
visible in their English speech. Malayalees use [ɲ], [ɳ] in some words
where [n] should come (money, bench). Malayalam has two laterals
alveolar lateral [l] and retroflex lateral [ɭ] ,while English has only
alveolar lateral [l].The retroflex lateral [ɭ] interferes in the pronunciation
of some English words(colour ,school, splash etc.). In English the letter
‘r’ is not normally pronounced in word final positions and it is silent
when it occur before stops. Malayalees pronounce [r] where ever it occurs
since there is no such rules in Malayalam.
 49

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Asher, R E and Kumari Tc., Malayalam, Routledge,

Publishers,London,1997.
Balasubramanian,T, Textbook of English Phonetics for Indian
Students,Madras Macmilan, India ,1981.

Gimson, E.C., An Introduction to the Pronunciation of

English, Routlegde, London,1962.
Jones Daniel, The pronunciation of English ,Cambridge
University Press, 1956.
Krishnamurti Bhadriraju., The Dravidian Languages,
Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Kumari B Syamala, Malayalam phonetic reader, Central
Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore,2000.
Quirk, Randolf, Studies in English Linguistics Longman
group Ltd. London ,1979.
50