Languages
As far as language is concerned Kasaragod occupies a unique position in the map of Kerala. There are as many as seven languages used actively by a considerable number of people in Kasaragod. Though the administrative language is Malayalam, Tulu, Beary bashe, Kannada, Marathi and Konkani are also spoken. Furthermore there are ever so many dialects and tribal languages that augment the cultural resplendence of Kasaragod. The version of Malayalam spoken here varies a lot from the standard Malayalam and is generally considered difficult for the people from southern Kerala. It is often referred to as Kasrod Malayalam. Unlike the other Dravidian languages it shows little influence of the Sanskrit language. Studies in this idiom have been useful in knowing the nature of evolution of the South Indian languages.
Extensive usage of 'ny' sound, lack of or loss of Approximant consonants, presence of sound 'b' instead of 'v' are some of the salient features of Kasaragod Malayalam. In Kasaragod Malayalam words often end with aa whereas in standard Malayalam it ends with o. Generally pronouns are used during direct conversation.
Compared to the standard Malayalam the Kasaragod Malayalam is very spontaneous and natural-sounding. The time taken to complete a sentence in Kasaragod Malayalam is nearly half that taken to complete the same sentence in the South Kerala dialect of Malayalam. Kasaragod Malayalam is deeply influenced and contains words from Tulu, Kannada, Arabic, Hindi, Tamil, etc. It has an advanced vocabulary that provides single word substitutes for expressions that are unavailable in standard Malayalam. The language is rapidly evolving and adds new words to it frequently.
History
