Mappila Malayalam - Spoken Regions

Spoken Regions

Mappila dialect of Malayalam is predominantly spoken in the north Malabar region of Kerala than its southern parts. It is widely spoken in the district of Malappuram, Kozhikode (Calicut), Kannur (Cannanore) and Kasaragod and the northern region of Trichur district known as Chavakkad. The majority of the Muslim population in Kerala live in the districts of Malappuram and Kozhikode. There is a reason for this. Muslims of Malabar played important role in resisting the invasion of Portuguese in the 16th century. The Kunjalis, who were the admirals of Zamorin (Samoothiri) were in forefront of the resistance. They were so beloved to Zamorin that the rulers encouraged one or more male members from families of Hindu fishermen being brought up as Muslims. The dialect spoken here is orthodox in nature as Arabic words are borrowed in high proportion. The dialect spoken in Kannur is to an extent devoid of Arabic words and the influence of Hindu culture is strongly felt. In Kasaragod, the dialect is influenced by Tulu, Arabic and Urdu and in Malappuram, Palghat and Trichur there is no influence from the Arabic language.