Kerala SSLC Malayalam AT flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Katha

Malayalam short story; a compact fictional narrative built around one incident, with plot, characters, setting and a suggestive ending, distinguished from the novel by brevity and limited scope.

Yaathra vivaranam

Travelogue in Malayalam prose that records a journey first-hand, describing places, people, customs and the traveller's reflections, often using sensory detail and personal opinion.

Jeevacharithram

Biography in Malayalam; a chronological prose account of a real person's life, achievements and historical context, based on documented facts rather than fictional invention.

Odayil Ninnu

Social-realist Malayalam novel by P. Kesavadev about a lower-caste labourer's struggle against poverty and caste oppression; a landmark of Kerala's progressive literature.

Chemmeen

Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai's novel about fisherfolk in Alappuzha, love and community taboos; adapted into an internationally acclaimed film; Thakazhi won the Jnanpith in 1984.

M.T. Vasudevan Nair

Kerala novelist and screenwriter known for Naalukettu, Randamoozham and Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha; recipient of the Jnanpith Award in 1995 and several national film awards.

Rasa

Aesthetic emotion evoked in a literary work; in Malayalam poetics it is the relish experienced by the reader when a permanent mood (sthayibhava) is developed through poetry.

Navarasa

The nine rasas of classical Indian aesthetics: sringara, hasya, karuna, raudra, veera, bhayanaka, beebhatsa, adbhuta and shanta; each corresponds to a sthayibhava.

Chandas

Metrical system of Malayalam and Sanskrit poetry; syllables are counted as guru or laghu and arranged in ganas to form metres such as Anushtup and Vasantatilaka.

Guru and laghu

In chandas, a syllable is guru when its vowel is long or followed by anusvara, visarga or a conjunct consonant; it is laghu when short and open.

Upama alankaram

Simile: an explicit comparison between two dissimilar things sharing a common quality, signalled in Malayalam by words such as pole, peley or iva.

Kumaran Asan

Malayalam poet of the modern triumvirate; works include Nalini, Leela, Chandalabhikshuki and Duravastha, blending social reform with lyrical Sanskritic metres.

Vallathol Narayana Menon

Malayalam poet, author of Magdalana Mariyam and Sahitya Manjari, and founder of Kerala Kalamandalam; he revived Kathakali and wrote in a rich Sanskritic style.

Sandhi

Phonetic junction of two words in Malayalam or Sanskrit, where the final sound of one and the initial sound of the next combine, as in koodi + eluthu = koodiyeluthu.

Samasam

Compound word formation in Malayalam where two or more words combine into a single unit with one meaning, such as rajabhavanam (king's house) or neelakamalam (blue lotus).

Tatpurusha samasam

Determinative compound in which the first member qualifies or governs the second, and the compound's meaning centres on the final word, as in rajabhavanam, 'king's house'.

Dvandva samasam

Copulative compound joining two or more words of equal rank, often linked by 'and', as in achanmarammamar, meaning 'father and mother'.

Bahuvrhi samasam

Possessive compound that names a person or thing by a characteristic possessed, as in pezhuvayan ('one with a large mouth'), where neither member alone is the referent.

Arthalankaram

Figure of speech based on meaning, including upama (simile), roopakam (metaphor), atisayokti (hyperbole) and utpreksha (poetic fancy), as opposed to sound-based shabdalankaram.

Alla vs illa

In Malayalam, alla negates identity or classification ('is not that'), while illa negates existence, possession or action ('is not there', 'did not'), so choose by the type of negation.

Aamukham

Introduction paragraph of a Malayalam essay; it states the topic, gives context and presents the central idea, usually in three to five sentences without detailed arguments.

Sankshepanam

Precis writing in Malayalam: condensing a passage to about one-third of its length while retaining the main idea, omitting examples, repetition and personal opinion.

Karyalaya kathu

Official Malayalam letter written to institutions or officials, following a fixed order: sender's address, date, receiver's address, subject, salutation, body and signature.

Ariyippu

Malayalam notice; a short public announcement that states the event or matter, date, time, venue, organiser and contact details, usually in a boxed format.

Report writing

A factual account of an event in Malayalam, beginning with a headline and place-date, then the lead paragraph answering who, what, when and where, followed by details.

Direct to indirect speech

In Malayalam, convert quoted speech by removing quotation marks, changing pronouns and tense, and joining with 'ennu', as in 'avan vannu ennu paranju'.

Ezhuthachan

Thunchath Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, 16th-century poet called the father of Malayalam literature; wrote Adhyatma Ramayanam, Mahabharatam and Harinamakeerthanam in devotional kilipattu style.

Kunchan Nambiar

18th-century Malayalam poet and performer who created Thullal, a satirical dance-poetry form; his works include Kalyana Sougandhikam and Nala Charitam.

Ramacharitham

Considered the earliest major Malayalam poem, composed in the Pattu style around the 12th or 13th century; it retells the Ramayana and marks the beginning of Malayalam literary tradition.

Manipravalam

A mixed literary language of Malayalam and Sanskrit used in Kerala court poetry from the 13th century; Lilathilakam is a known grammatical work on this style.

Kathakali

Kerala's classical dance-drama, performed with elaborate face paint, costumes, hand gestures and drum accompaniment; stories are usually drawn from the Mahabharata and Ramayana.

Jnanpith winners Kerala

Malayalam writers who won the Jnanpith include G. Sankara Kurup, S.K. Pottekkatt, Thakazhi, M.T. Vasudevan Nair, O.N.V. Kurup and Akkitham.