Maharashtra HSC Malayalam (MSBSHSE) flashcards

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

Gadyam

The Malayalam term for prose. Prescribed prose lessons are analysed for theme, character, author's purpose, and social context rather than for metre or rhyme.

Sandesha vyakhyanam

Context explanation of a given prose passage. It requires naming the speaker and situation, restating the meaning, and linking the passage to the lesson's central idea.

Kathapathra chitranam

Character sketch. A complete answer names at least two supporting incidents from the text, states the character's traits, and explains the character's function in the theme.

Vyangyam

Satire. It targets social behaviour or institutions through irony and exaggeration, so analysis must identify both the mocked practice and the corrective intent behind the humour.

Aathmakatha

Autobiography. Its first-person narration gives testimony rather than detached observation, so the narrator and the author are treated as the same person in analysis.

Upama

Simile. Two unlike things are compared using a comparison word such as 'pole', 'pola', or 'ennu'. The comparison is explicit, unlike rupakam.

Rupakam

Metaphor. The text asserts identity between two things without a comparison word. Calling one thing another directly marks rupakam rather than upama.

Ullekham

Apostrophe. The poet addresses an absent person, a dead figure, or an inanimate object as if present and listening. It is frequent in devotional and patriotic verse.

Atishayokti

Hyperbole. Deliberate exaggeration for emphasis. It is a meaning-based device, so it must not be confused with upama merely because a comparison appears nearby.

Dhwani

Suggested or implied meaning that goes beyond the literal statement. It is a property of the text's language, whereas rasa is the emotion aroused in the reader.

Vrutham

Metre. The regulated syllable pattern of a Malayalam poem. It is a sound feature supporting the mood, not the theme itself.

Nataka

Full-length drama, typically with multiple acts, several characters, and developed subplots. It is distinguished from the shorter natika or ekankika one-act form.

Ekankika

A one-act play. It works with a single situation, few characters, and compressed time, so the climax usually falls in the final third of the text.

Nirvachanam

Stage direction. Text outside the spoken dialogue that supplies setting, physical action, and tone. Analysis should quote it as evidence of intended staging.

Sangharsham

Conflict, the driving force of drama. Common types are individual against individual, individual against society, and the internal struggle of a character against the self.

Samvadam

Dialogue. Analysing a dialogue line means stating what it reveals about the speaker's motive, the relationship with the other character, and the play's theme.

Kaalavum sthalavum

Time and place, the setting of a work. In the non-detailed text, setting frequently explains why characters make the decisions they do.

Prathinaayakan

The antagonist, who opposes the protagonist. Mapping protagonist against antagonist clarifies the main conflict when summarising the non-detailed text.

Katha saaram

Plot summary. A good summary keeps chronological order, names key characters at first mention, and omits minor subplots that do not affect the central conflict.

Sandhi

Junction of sounds at a word boundary. In Malayalam the standard case is a vowel-ending word joined to a vowel-starting word, with the sounds combined.

Samasa

Compound word. Main types include dwandwa, where both members are retained in sense; karmadharaya, qualifier plus qualified; and bahuvrihi, which denotes a possessor.

Vibhakti

Grammatical case. Malayalam marks eight cases, among them the nominative (nirdeshika) and the vocative (sambodhana) used for direct address.

Sakarmaka kriya

A transitive verb, one that requires an object to complete its meaning. It contrasts with akarmaka, the intransitive verb, which stands without an object.

Karmani vachya

The passive voice in Malayalam. It commonly forms with a past participle plus an auxiliary, shifting focus from the doer to the action received.

Naanarthi

A single word carrying several distinct meanings. In grammar questions the surrounding context, not the first dictionary entry, decides the intended sense.

Upanyaasam

A formal essay. It opens with an introduction, develops one idea per body paragraph, and closes by restating the position taken in the introduction.

Kaivitta kurippu

A notice. It states date, time, venue, purpose, and the issuing person or body, in that compact order, without narrative padding.

Anuchhedam

A paragraph built around one controlling idea. When a second distinct idea appears, a new paragraph must begin rather than extending the first.

Anuvadam

Translation. Accuracy of meaning outranks word-for-word correspondence; idioms are rendered by equivalent idioms and proper nouns are kept stable.

Sandarbhaardham

Contextual meaning. The sense of a word as fixed by its surrounding clause, which may differ from the word's first or most common dictionary meaning.

Rasa

The aesthetic emotion aroused in the reader or audience. The nine rasas include shringara (love), karuna (compassion), and veera (heroism).

Alankaram

Poetic device. It divides into shabdalankaram, sound-based devices such as anuprasa or alliteration, and arthalankaram, meaning-based devices such as upama.

Sameeksha

A review. Its structure is introduction, brief summary, analysis of strengths and weaknesses, and a reasoned verdict supported by textual evidence.