# Suriyani Malayalam

Suriyani Malayalam (സുറിയാനി മലയാളം, ܣܘܪܝܢܝ ܡܠܝܠܡ), also known as Karshoni, Syro-Malabarica or Syriac Malayalam, is a dialect of Malayalam written in a variant form of the Syriac alphabet which was popular among the Saint Thomas Christians (also known as Syrian Christians or Nasranis) of Kerala in India. It uses Malayalam grammar, the Maḏnḥāyā or "Eastern" Syriac script with special orthographic features, and vocabulary from Malayalam and East Syriac. This originated in the South Indian region of the Malabar Coast (modern-day Kerala). Until the 19th century, the script was widely used by Syrian Christians in Kerala.

## Writing system

There were numerous problems in writing Malayalam using the Syriac script, which was designed for a Semitic language. Only 22 letters were available from the East Syriac alphabet to render 53 or so phonemes of Malayalam. This problem were overcome by adopting letters from the Malayalam script. Basic Syriac ʾĀlap̄ Bēṯ based on form with corresponding Malayalam letters.
| ܕ | ܓ | ܒ | ܐ |
| ദ് | ഗ് | ബ്, വ് | അ |
| ܚ | ܙ | ܘ | ܗ |
| ഹ് | സ് | വ് | ഹ് |
| ܠ | ܟ | ܝ | ܛ |
| ൽ | ക്, ക്ക് | യ് | ത് |
| ܥ | ܣ | ܢ | ܡ |
| അ | സ് | ൻ | മ് |
| ܪ | ܩ | ܨ | ܦ |
| ർ | ഖ് | സ് | പ്, വ് |
| | | ܬ | ܫ |
| | | ത്, സ് | ശ് |
Augmented letters from Malayalam script
| ട് | ഞ് | ജ് | ങ് |
| ര് | ഭ് | ഩ* | ൺ |
| | ഷ് | ഴ് | ൾ |
* Malayalam alveolar nasal encoded as U+0D29 for scholarly purposes.
Vowels
| ܘ݁ | ܹ | ܸ | ܘ݂ | ܝ݂ | ܵ | ܲ |
| ഒ, ഓ | ഏ | എ | ഉ, ഊ | ഇ, ഈ | ആ | അ |
| ܟܘ݁ | ܟܹ | ܟܸ | ܟܘ݂ | ܟܝ݂ | ܟܵ | ܟܲ |
| കൊ, കോ | കേ | കെ | കു, കൂ | കി, കീ | കാ | ക |

## Unicode

The Syriac alphabet was added to the Unicode Standard in September, 1999 with the release of version 3.0. Additional letters for Suriyani Malayalam were added in June, 2017 with the release of version 10.0.

### Blocks

The Unicode block for Syriac is U+0700–U+074F:
Syriac Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) :
| | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F |
| U+070x | ܀ | ܁ | ܂ | ܃ | ܄ | ܅ | ܆ | ܇ | ܈ | ܉ | ܊ | ܋ | ܌ | ܍ | | SAM |
| U+071x | ܐ | ܑ | ܒ | ܓ | ܔ | ܕ | ܖ | ܗ | ܘ | ܙ | ܚ | ܛ | ܜ | ܝ | ܞ | ܟ |
| U+072x | ܠ | ܡ | ܢ | ܣ | ܤ | ܥ | ܦ | ܧ | ܨ | ܩ | ܪ | ܫ | ܬ | ܭ | ܮ | ܯ |
| U+073x | ܰ | ܱ | ܲ | ܳ | ܴ | ܵ | ܶ | ܷ | ܸ | ܹ | ܺ | ܻ | ܼ | ܽ | ܾ | ܿ |
| U+074x | ݀ | ݁ | ݂ | ݃ | ݄ | ݅ | ݆ | ݇ | ݈ | ݉ | ݊ | | | ݍ | ݎ | ݏ |
| Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points |||||||||||||||||
The Syriac Abbreviation (a type of overline) can be represented with a special control character called the Syriac Abbreviation Mark (U+070F).
The Unicode block for Suriyani Malayalam specific letters is called the Syriac Supplement block and is U+0860–U+086F:
Syriac Supplement Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) :
| | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F |
| U+086x | ࡠ | ࡡ | ࡢ | ࡣ | ࡤ | ࡥ | ࡦ | ࡧ | ࡨ | ࡩ | ࡪ | | | | | |
| Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points |||||||||||||||||

## Loanwords

Over the centuries, Malayalam borrowed Eastern Syriac words. A few of them are given below:
| Original Syriac | Suriyani Malayalam | Meaning |
| Immā | Umma or Amma | Mother |
| Avā | Appan, Aavan or Bava | Father |
| Ar’ā | Aram | Earth, foundation |
| ‘almāyā | Almayar, Almayan | Laity |
| Nāṣrāyā | Nasrani | Follower of Nazareth Christ |
| Kna'nāyā | Knānāya | Canaanite |
| Piṣḥā | Pesaha | Passover |
| Petturta | Pethurtha | First Sunday of Great Lent |
| Mala’ḵā | Malakha | Angel |
| Maḏbḥā | Madbaha | Altar |
| Metran | Metran | Metropolitan |
| Malpānā | Malpan | Teacher (ecclesiastical) |
| Quddāšā | Kudasha | Sacrament |
| Qaddīšā | Qandisha, Qandishan | The Holy one |
| Rabban | Ramban, Rambachan | Monk |
| Mšammšānā/Šammāšā | Shammashan, Shammachan | Deacon |
| Ma’mōḏīṯā | Mamodisa | Baptism |
| Sāhḏā | Shahada | Martyr |
| Ṣlīvā | Sliva, Siluva, Sleeba | Cross |
| Īšō' | Isho | Jesus |
| Qurbānā | Qurbana | Sacrifice/Peace Offering |
| Mšīḥā | Mishiha | Anointed, Christ |
| Duḵrānā | Dukrana | Remembrance |
| Qaššīšā | Kathanar/Kasnar | Syrian priest |
| Mār | Mar | Lord, Saint |
| Rūḥā | Ruha | Holy Spirit |
| Yaldā | Eldho, Yeldho | Nativity |
| Šlīḥā | Shliha | Apostle |

## Literature

Vedatharkam written by Kariattil Mar Ousep is one of the famous books written in Suriyani Malayalam. Large number of documents written in Suriyani Malayalam are found among the Saint Thomas Christians or Nasranis of Kerala. These documents include an alternate set of the Canons of the Synod of Diamper. At present the dialect is not in popular usage. However it survives in historical literature of the Saint Thomas Christian denominations. Thomas Koonammakkal is one of the most notable experts in Garshuni Malayalam studies.