A Malayalam and English dictionary

രചന:ഹെർമൻ ഗുണ്ടർട്ട് (1872)

[ 13 ] NOTES BY THE PUBLISHER.

1. The Transliteration, adopted for
the leading words upon Dr. Lepsius's system,
is mainly given to assist European students
of the language, who may feel the need of such
a help. This system follows the pronunciation
and is fully explained under the head "Trans-
literation". Foreign words are usually trans-
literated in their original shape.

2. Sanscrit Roots. It is necessary to
make a few remarks regarding the form of the
Sanscrit roots and words which are given in this
Dictionary. In the South of India the Grammar
of Pāṇini is alone studied, and it is indeed the
greatest work on Sanscrit Grammar, but roots
and words are not always given here in the forms
which a student of Pāṇini would expect. In
every grammar it is necessary to adopt some
conventional way of indicating the changes that
roots and words formed from them undergo, and
for this purpose there is in Pāṇini's Grammar an
elaborate apparatus of letters added to roots, and
which are called anubandha, and even letters
which form part of the root itself are arbitrarily
changed. So we find in the Dhātu-pāṭha
(or list of roots) šṭhā for sthā, and hṛṅ for
hṛ. The Grammars of Vopadēva, šāka-
ṭāyana etc. have a totally different set of such
letters, Philologists in Europe have found that
it is an improvement to change the Indian sys-
tem in some respects, and the authors of the St.
Petersburg Dictionary * of Sanscrit, which is by
far the best and most complete, have adopted this
view. Philologists have come to the conclusion
that the vowels ṛ, ṝ and ḷi are not primitive, so

in this Dictionary Dr. Gundert generally gives
words according to this view as adopted
by the authors of the St. Petersburg Dictio-
nary. The roots which end in the above vowels
will here be found ending in r, e.g. d ṛ is given
as dar; d h ṛ as dhar; h ṛ as har. So also
the numerous nouns signifying an agent which
end in ṛ would here be given as ending in ar;
e.g. kartṛ as kartar. So also diphthongs
which terminate roots in the dhātupāṭha are
considered as secondary, and thus instead of
gai we find gā; and sā instead of sō. Natives
of India who consult Dr. Gundert's work must
not be led away by the idea that the only
right or possible ways of representing Sans-
crit roots and words are those which Indian
Grammarians have found convenient. A little
experience will convince them that the contrary
is the case.

3. The Dravidian element in
Sanscrit. A number of words apparently of
Sanscrit origin have, on closer examination, turn-
ed out to be merely sanscritized Dravidian
words. The author of this Dictionary, in a
German paper on this subject, has pointed out*
many such words e.g. kēyūram, putraṅ,
markaḍam, viraḷam, etc. Their reception
and especially that of puttaɤam into Sans-
crit may, as the author observed, be considered
a strong proof of a once flourishing literary
period in the Deccan, whenever that time may
have been.—Sometimes the words or roots of
both languages coincide, without however justi-

[ 14 ]
fying the prima facie conclusion that the one
has borrowed from the other. Further, words
commonly taken as Dravidian, will be found to
have been imported; doubts regarding the origin
of others are still entertained. The study and
comparison of the Dravidian tongues, though at
present carried on by a very few only, will, it is
hoped, result in throwing more light on this in-
teresting subject.

4. In the arrangement of the Al-
phabet a slight but rational deviation, affecting
the sequence of 2 letters, has been found necessary,
viz: a) ക്ഷ, being a compound letter (= ക+ഷ)
and consequently akin to ക്ര etc., has been plac-
ed under and at the end of ക. –b) റ follows
half r (1), which partakes of the ര & റ sounds,
comp. വേർതിരിക്ക, വേൎത്തിരിക്ക, വേറുത്തിരിക്ക.

5. The long vowels ē (േ) and ō (േ-ാ)
have been used consistently throughout the
Dictionary in order to put an end to doubt and
vagueness. Their general introduction into
writing and printing is highly desirable.

6. Regarding the doubling of con-
sonants in Malayāḷam composition, some diffi-
culties were experienced.

a) In Malayāḷam Compound Nouns, as a rule,
the consonant is doubled after the long
vowels ā, ī, ū, ē, ei, palatal a, i, full u,
the final consonants r, l, ḷ,ḻ , after m dropped
in Mal. or Sanscr, Nouns (മരത്തോപ്പു M.,
ഭസ്മക്കൊട്ട S. and M.). It occurs often
after short pure a, seldom after ụ, fluctuates
with i, e.g. വഴിക്കേടു and വഴികേടു (മുനി
പ്പെരുമാൾ, ബുദ്ധിതിരക്കു S. and M.) even
after dropped m, e.g. അകതാർ, is often
optional after final consonants, e.g. തട്ടി
ന്മേൽ കളി, മുൾചെടി etc., not observed in
കൈകാൎയ്യം etc.

b) In Compounds of Nouns and verbs, e.g.
മതിപോരുക, കൈതൊഴുക, reduplication
is not required; it may however occur after
Accusatives; with some adverbial participles

as e.g. തങ്ങളെക്കൊണ്ടു, എന്നെച്ചൊല്ലി etc.
it cannot be spared.

c) In Compounds of Verbs with Verbs redu-
plication is necessary after the Infinitive, e.g.
വെളുക്കത്തേച്ചു and the past tense in i, e.g.
തിക്കിത്തിരക്കി etc. In the case of ആയി the
metre decides it, e.g. p. 127 ഉണ്ണിത്വമായിക്ക
ഴിയും, p. 153 ഊഴരായിചെന്നു (=യ്. യ്ച) etc.
These rules and their exceptions, as set forth
by the author of this Dictionary in his Malayā-
ḷam Grammar (see Sandhi § 87, Samāsarūpam
§§ 162 - 169) and sanctioned by the language,
have, in all doubtful cases, been the guides of
the readers of the proofs who are acquainted
with North & South Malayāḷam.

7. A complete list of Abbreviations of
grammatical and technical terms, works of re-
ference, etc. is given separately. Besides these
recourse has been had to 4 modes of shortening
words in quotations, viz:

a) A fullstop after the first syllable implies
the whole word which, in this case, is not
affected by affixes, Sandhi, etc., e.g. ബുദ്ധി
മോ.(ശം), ന.(ടപ്പു)കടിയാന്മാർ, ശ.(ക്തി)ക്ക
ടുത്ത, വാ.(യു)വിന്റെ, വ.(ടിവു)മാനാൻ,
വി.(രുതു)ം, വി.(രുതു)ടയ, വ.(രിക)യില്ല etc.

b) An apostrophe (') after the first syllable
points to the omission of one or more letters
in the body of the word, e.g. മോ'(ക്ഷ)
ത്തെ, മോ'(ക്ഷ)ങ്ങൾ, അ'(ഭ്യാസ)വും, വി'
(ശ്രമി)ച്ചാൻ, വീ'(ളു)വാൻ, വേ'(ർവിടു)ന്നി
ല്ല, വി'(ശ്വൈക)നാഥൻ etc.

c) The dash(—) marks the omission of either
the first member of a compound, e.g. പ
ഞ്ഞി: –ക്കുരു = പഞ്ഞിക്കുരു, or of the last
one, e.g. പാല: ദേവ – = ദേവപാല etc.

d) A dash (—), hyphen (-) or ellipsis (...)
in a quotation shows that a word or words
have been omitted.

8. The virāma (˘) indicates:

a) That the consonant over which it is plac-
ed is to be pronounced without any vowel

[ 15 ]
after it, e.g., കീഴ്, ശുഭ്. It is used also
to indicate an arbitrary division of words
in a sentence which would otherwise be
written continuously, e.g. തരളം p. 432 പ
രബ്രഹ്മത്തോട് ഒന്നിച്ച് അദ്വൈതമായി
reads: പരബ്രഹ്മത്തോടൊന്നിപ്പദ്വൈതമാ
യി. This is done for the convenience, of
the reader.

b) To show the real and accurate pronun-
ciation of the half u as ụ. It is used
also where by the ordinary orthography
this is improperly written as a, e.g. where
അവൎക്ക instead of അവൎക്കു is found, we write
അവൎക്ക്.

9. The mark of quotation (“ ”) either
points to a literal meaning, ƒ.i. p. 991 വേതാ
ണ്ഡം "bather', or to a word received into Eng-
lish, ƒ.i. "godown” fr. കിടങ്ങു etc.

10. The different species of animals, plants
etc. which come under the same genus in Mala-
yāḷam are mostly to be found under the leading
word, see ƒ. i. II, മാൻ, ചിറാക, താളി, വണ്ടി, വ
സൂരി, etc. some of these for linguistic or other
reasons may appear under the qualifying word
which forms the first member of the compound, ƒ.i.
വെള്ളപ്പച്ച.

Parts of plants etc. are enumerated under
their respective leading words, see ƒ. i. വാഴ, തു
ലാം etc., and are besides to be found separately.

Certain Compounds, which are not to be
found under the ƒirst word, should be looked for
under the second, ƒ.i. സൂചിമെതിയടി is to be
found under മെതിയടി, ചിത്തരംഗം under അ
രംഗം, ഉപവീതം under വീതം etc.—Moreover
less common Sanscrit words compounded with
one or more prefixes may be found under the
simpler words: അവ്യാഹൃതം under വ്യാഹൃതം, അ
തിസമ്മോദം under സമ്മോദം, സവിസ്മിതം under
വിസ്മിതം, സുവ്രതികൻ under വ്രതികൻ, etc.

Again regarding a number of Sanscrit compounds,
ƒ.i. വി–ദ്രുമം, വി–പ്ര–ലംബം etc. additional in-
formation may be gathered by referring to the
simple word.

11. It need scarcely be said that, in seeking
for certain compounds under their leading words,
care must be taken to find out the proper
one, ƒ.i. whether മനശ്ശില belongs to മനസ്സു, മ
ന, or മനം, വെള്ളെഴുത്തു to വെള്ളം or വെള്ള, ആ
ട്ടുകൊറ്റൻ to ആടു or ആട്ടു etc.

In fact every leading article should be read
through whenever the Dictionary is consulted.
By doing this the student will soon be able to find
each word in its appointed place, ƒ.i. V.N.വെപ്പു
and CV. വെപ്പിക്ക under വെക്ക, the v. a കഴി
ക്ക and അടെക്ക under കഴിയുക and അടയുക,
നിറെക്ക under നിറ etc., the v. n. നിറക്ക under
നിറം, നിറയുക, under നിറ etc. Matter, which
may be omitted in the alphabetical list subjoined
to leaders will be found under their definition.
This way of using the Dictionary recommends
itself also on other grounds.

Hints thrown out here and there in the
Dictionary are intended to foster a spirit of
enquiry.

12. The Appendix furnishes supple-
mentary matter in alphabetical order.

Though the Publisher as well as the Editor,
the Rev. E. Diez, Palghaut, and their respective
native assistants have spared no pains to
render the book as correct as possible, yet on
account of the complicated nature of the work,
the typographical difficulties, the distance of the
Editor from the Press, and the delay in obtaining
information from the author, now in Germany,
on doubtful points, a number of errors have
crept into the print, which have also been noticed
in the Appendix, for the most part from notes
furnished by the author.

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