Markodi Language – A Study on Mavilan Tribal Language
Jayan V
Language Technology Section
CDAC Trivandrum
Abstract: This paper presents a basic study on the Markodi language used by the Mavilan
Tribes of Kasaragod district of Kerala state in India. Total population of Mavilan Tribe is
more than 30000 as per 2011 census. As per the documents of the government departments
the language spoken by Mavilans is Tulu. But there is a very huge variation in the language
Tulu. Mavilan community has been enlisted under the category of Scheduled castes till 2002.
Their cultural Identity and political awareness has gained much after the inclusion in
Scheduled Tribe. The community is adopting innovation brought for the development.
Mavilan culture and traditions are the least explored by the researchers as it was not an
enlisted community in Scheduled tribe. We cannot find many articles on the Markodi
language that is commonly used by the Mavilans. The folk songs and dances of Mavilans are
now commonly used in stage shows in Kerala. Most of the articles say that the Mavilans
speak the corrupted Tulu. But by studying the vocabulary we can see that Mavilan language
has its own existence. It follows the characteristics of Dravidian language family. In this
paper we try to give some example to substantiate why Markodi should exist as a separate
language rather than term it as corrupt Tulu or Tribal dialect of Tulu.
Keywords: Markodi, Makkathayam, Mavilan
1. Introduction
In the Madras senses report in 1901, Mavilans are described as a small tribe of
Shikaris(hunters) and herbalists who follows Makkathayam(inheritance from father to son)
and speak corrupt Tulu. As per Mr. H A Stuart, the name Mavilan derived from mavilav, a
medicinal herb. However the actual derivation of the name is not known. He doubts that the
actual name may be derived from Tulu or Canarese because it seems to be a Canarese caste.
These people found only in the Chirakkal Taluk of Malabar. They are also involved in basket
making. In the Gazetteer of Malabar, it is said that, the Mavilans are divided in to Tulu
Mavilans and Eda Mavilans and sub divided in to thirty illams. They collect honey and other
forest produce. Their headman is called Cingam(lion) and their huts mapura[1]. Mavilans
were the rulers in some areas of Kasaragod and Karnataka. The remains of the same can be
visible in the form of forts in many parts of Bandadka and Kundamkuzhi of Kasaragod
Districts of Kerala. Most of them are gone to the hands of private land owners.
Tulu language is spoken by around 2 million native speakers mainly in the south west part of
Indian state of Karnataka and in the Kasaragod district of Kerala state. It belongs to the
Dravidian language family.
In India, as per 2011 estimation 2 million people speak it as their native language, they were
1,722,768 in 2001 increased by 10 percent over the 1991 census. According to one estimate
reported in 2009, Tulu is currently spoken by three to five million native speakers in the
world. Native speakers of Tulu are referred to as Tuluva or Tulu people.
Separated early from Proto-South Dravidian, Tulu has several features not found in Tamil–
Kannada. For example, it has the pluperfect and the future perfect, like French or Spanish,
but formed without an auxiliary verb.
Robert Caldwell, in his pioneering work A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-
Indian family of languages, called this language "peculiar and very interesting". According to
him, "Tuḷu is one of the most highly developed languages of the Dravidian family. It looks as
if it had been cultivated for its own sake." The language has a lot of written literature and a
rich oral literature such as the Epic of Siri.
Tulu is the primary spoken language in Tulu Nadu, a region comprising the districts of Udupi
and Dakshina Kannada in the west of the state of Karnataka and the Kasaragod taluk. Apart
from Tulu Nadu, a significant emigrant population of Tuluva people is found in Maharashtra,
Bangalore, Anglosphere, United States, and the Gulf countries.
Non-native speakers such as the Konkani-speaking Mangalorean Catholics, Goud Saraswath
Brahmins, Karhade Brahmins, Havyaka Brahmins and Daivajnas, as well as the Beary people
in Tulu Nadu are generally well-versed in the language. Apart from Kannada script,
Historically Tulu Brahmins used Tigalari script mainly used to write Sanskrit, but some Tulu
works are available[2].
Different regions within Tulu Nadu developed its own dialect of the language. The language
developed with various dialects and peculiarities, unimpeded by the proximity of the regions.
Five main such geographical divisions with dialectal variations can be seen.
1. Southwest: comprising of Kasargod District of Kerala
2. Southeast: Includes Sullia and Kodagu
3. South Central: comprising of Puttur, Belthangady and Bantwal
4. Northwest: area including Mangalore and Udupi
5. Northeast: includes Karkala.
Other languages have influenced some of the dialects in these regions. Thus Malayalam may
have influenced Tulu in the Southwest (Kasargod), whereas in other areas Kannada has
influenced it. The differences in the society also influenced the dialects. Brahmins developed
their own dialect influenced by Sanskrit that they were proficient in. Four main social dialects
have developed.
1. Brahmin Dialect
2. Jain Dialect
3. Common Dialect and
4. Harijan/Tribal Dialect
Brahmin Dialect - spoken by Shivalli and Sthanika Brahmins - is the language used in writing
the few classical literature discovered thus far. They also borrowed Sanskrit words and
pronunciation of words. Even the local Dravidian words were enunciated with retroflex
words (unusual in Dravidian languages, where non-retroflex sounds are used).
Jain Dialect spoken by the Jains in the northern part of Tulu nadu. They have a distinct
dialect where the initial t and s have been replaced by letter h. As an example the word tare
(head) is pronounced as chare. Saadi (path) is chaadi.
Common Dialect is spoken by the majority of people (non-Brahmins) of Tulu Nadu, and is
the dialect of commerce, entertainment and art. It is the language of the Paaddana. It is
subdivided into more than five groups as spoken by Bunts, Billavas, Mogaveeras, Gowdas
and Kumabaras etc. Due to the similarity in these dialects, they are grouped under the
common heading of Common Dialect or Common Tulu. The borrowed Sanskrit words in this
dialect are invariably altered to a non-retroflex sound unlike in the Brahmin dialect where the
words are pronounced just as in Sanskrit.
Harijan and Tribal Dialect is spoken by the Mera, Mansa, Harijan and Tribal classes. They
closely resemble the Common dialect though in the South they still have maintained their
distinction. The sound c replaces the sounds t, s, and c of other dialects. Hence tare is care
and saadi is caadi. Onasu (meal) is pronounced onacu. Non-retroflex words are pronounced
with retroflex in this dialect. New words like baanaaru (Brahmin), jeerklu/jeerlu (children),
dekke/meere/korage (husband) and dikkalu/meerti/korappolu (wife) are also found in this
dialect[3].
2. Markodi Language
The language used by the Mavilan Tribes of Kasaragod district is normally named as corrupt
Tulu or Tribal Tulu. But going through the words used in daily life we easily find that most
of them really unique to that particular language. Markodi is a term normally used as a word
equivalent to alien in Mavilan language or sometime people refer the language spoken by
Mavilans as Markodi Tulu. Thus the language name termed as ‘Markodi’. There are
influences of Malayalam, Kannada and Tulu in this language. Other than these language
influences Markodi has dialects based on regions also.
Why Markodi is a separate language?
In this section, we would like to elaborate some features of language to substantiate that the
Markodi language is not a dialect of Tulu but is a separate language. Here we can see that
some of the language units that give some insight in to our claims.
2.1 Morphology
All Morphemes can be divided in to roots and suffixes. Roots can be the sole
constituent of a stem, or make up stems by means of compounding and or suffixing.
Suffixes are bound forms and provide for inflection and derivation.
3.1.1 Nouns
Nouns and pronouns are inflected for number and case and the case suffixes
proceeded by a plural marker. Substantives have three grammatical genders
(masculine, feminine, and neuter), two numbers (singular and plural), and eight cases
(nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, locative, ablative or instrumental,
communicative, and vocative).
Meaning Singular Plural
Case Singular(Tulu) Plural(Tulu)
(Marakodi) (Marakodi)
a tree marokuḷu
Nominative mara mara (marakulu)
marakkulu
Of a tree marokuḷe
Genitive marata maratta (marakulena)
marakkuletta
To a tree maroku marokuḷegŭ
Dative
(marakŭ)
marakk (marakulegŭ)
marakkulekk
A tree maronu marokuḷenŭ
Accusative
(maranŭ)
maranu (marakulenŭ)
marakkulenu
In a tree marokuḷeḍŭ
Locative maroṭu (maraṭŭ) maratt marakkulett
(marakuleḍŭ)
At/through —
Locative 2
a tree
— (maraṭɛ) maratte (marakuleḍɛ)
marakkulette
From, by or
maroḍŭdu marokuḷeḍŭdŭ
Ablative through a
(maraḍdŭ)
marartt (marakuleḍdŭ)
marakkulertt
tree
Communicativ To a tree marokuḷeḍa
maraṭa maratte marakkulette
e (marakuleḍa)
O tree! marokuḷē
Vocative marā mara marakkule
(marakulɛ̄)
Table 1: Comparative representation of Tulu and Markodi languages
The case markers have some similarity but the morphophonemic changes will be different. In
table 1, we can see that the ablative case marker is different for Tulu and Markodi. Like Tulu,
Markodi also have a special case of Locative case marker.
3.1.2 Verbs
The verbal inflections also differ with the Tulu language. In our study the deviation
from the Tulu is very prominent for different aspects of verb inflections. We present
only some cases which are relevant to prove our claims. Let us consider the case
examples with the inflections according to the tense.
3.1.2.1 The present
Here we can analyze the Tulu and Markodi with the help of some example phrases.
Some verbs are having same stem as that of Tulu. This similarity can be seen with
other similar languages also.
No English Tulu Markodi
1 I go pO-p-E(go-pres.pos-I) po-kk-E(go-pres.pos-I)
2 I don’t go pO-p-riØ(go-pres.neg-I) po-kk-iti(go-pres.neg-I)
3 I sit down kull-u-w-E(sit-u-them- kull-u-pp-e(sit-u-them-
pres.pos-I) pres.pos-I)
4 I don’t sit down kull-u-Ø-ri-Ø(sit-u-them- kull-u-pp-Ant(sit-u- pres.-
pres.-neg-I) neg-I)
Table 2: Comparative representation of present forms of verbs in Tulu and Markodi
Consider the case 1, we can see that the inflection in Tulu is pE where as in Markodi
it is kkE, i.e suffix is /–k-/ after light stem and it is /-p-/ after heavy stem as in the case
3 in table. The negation suffix is also different for both of these cases.
3.1.2.2 The Recent Past
No English Tulu Markodi
1 I saw sU-y-e(see-rec.pt.-I) cU-t-e(see-rec.pt.-I)
2 It saw sU-Ø-nu(see-rec.pt.-it) cU-nt(see-rec.pt.-it)
3 I fell down bUl-(i)y-E(fall-rec.pt.-I) pUt-t-e(fall-rec.pt.-I)
Table 3: Comparative representation of recent past forms in Tulu and Markodi
In Tulu the recent past suffix is /-y-/ after vowels, -Ø- before –n- where as in Markodi
it is –t- after vowels as well as consonants as in case 3 in table 3. The suffix is missing
when the subject is non living.
3.1.2.3 The Remote past
No English Tulu Markodi
1 I had weighed tUk-(i)d-E tUk-d-e
2 I had forgotten mada-tid-E made-tt-e
3 I did not see sU-t-ri-Ø cU-ti
Table 4: Comparative representation of Remote past forms in Tulu and Markodi
The remote past suffix is /-t-/ after the stem for Tulu as well as Markodi language.
Some difference also visible as seen in the second case of table 4.
3.1.3 Inflection according to mode
No. English Tulu Markodi
1 I shall go pOw-E(go-mod.-I) pOw-olI(go-mod.-I)
2 I shall not go pOw-ay-E(go-mod-neg-I) pOw-A-nt(go-mod-neg-I)
3 I shall sit down kull-Ø-E(sit-mod-I) kull-pp-Oli(sit-mod-I)
4 I shall not sit down kull-Ø-ay-E(sit-mod-neg-I) kull-pp-Ant(sit-mod-neg-I)
Table 5: Comparative representation according to mode
We can see a major difference in the inflections after light stem and heavy stems in
both languages as given in Table 5. When it comes to negation the property also
changes compared to Tulu language.
3.1.4 Inflection according to assertion
No English Tulu Markodi
1 I don’t see sUp-ri(see-pres-neg-I) cOc-ikki-ti(see-pres-neg-I)
2 You don’t see sUp-riy-a(See-pres-neg- cOc-ikki-ti-yA(See-pres-
You) neg-You)
3 I didn’t see sUt-ri(See-past-neg-I) cU-ti(See-past-neg-I)
4 You didn’t see sUt-riy-a(see-past-neg- cU-tiy-A(see-past-neg-You)
You)
5 I shall not see sU-w-ay-E(See-mod- cU-w-A-nt(See-mod-neg-I)
neg-I)
6 I might not have seen sU-t-w-ay-E(see-past- cU-t-upp-A-nt(see-past-
mod-neg-I) mod-neg-I)
7 It might have gone pO-t-Ø-u(go-pst-mod-it) pO-t-upp-u(go-pst-mod-it)
Table 6: Comparative representation according to assertion
In all the cases in table 6 we can see the differences compared to Tulu. The category
of assertion subsumes the terms positive and negative whereby positive is not overtly
marked. The negative morpheme occurs in two morphologically conditioned
allomorphs: /ri(y)-/ and /-a(y)-/ in Tulu where as in Markodi it is /-tiy-/ and /-A-/.
2.2 Analysis of sentences and phrases
Now we can assess some phrases and sentences to make more clearly that both
language form different grammatical properties. Consider the sentence given below:
a) Had your lunch?
vaNas aanDa? (Tulu)
kanji parkta?(Markodi)
In this case we can see that the interrogation marker is different. In Tulu it is aanDa
and in Markodi it is par-k-ta, where par is the root form of eating. The word aanDa is
used in Markodi to represent whether it is finished. For example:
b) Kanji parkt aanDa? (Markodi)
Did you finish your lunch?
In (c) we can see that the verbs has different inflection in Tulu and Markodi, The
pronoun I becomes nikker when we ask this question to a respectable person. There
will be addition of an honorific marker in some cases. Here there will be no honorific
marker embedding with the verb.
c) When did you come?
eer Epa battini? (Tulu)
I Epa partna? (Markodi)
d) I will come.
yaan barpe. (Tulu)
En parOli/parwe. (Markodi)
The suffix for the auxiliary verb equivalent for will is -Oli in Markodi as in (d)and we
can also use suffix -e with corresponding morphophonemic variation according to
verb stem. Here it is -we. In some cases it is panum-be(will tell).
e) I don’t want that much.
enka aat boDchi. (Tulu)
ekk aat poDti. (Markodi)
f) How were the rains this year?
ee sarthi barsa encha ittnd? (Tulu)
ikedta parica echa inDanD?(Markodi)
In both cases we can see the difference in interrogative word and other noun forms
which does not seems to be similar.
g) English : Ok, see you next time.
aavu, buka tikga.( Tulu)
aanD, at cuvoli(Markodi)
h) It was a lot of help!
mast upakaar aanD!( Tulu)
iDDa upakaara aanD(Markodi)
i) Will that take some time?
avek jinja portu aapunDaa?( Tulu)
ayikk kore samaya etuwa/aawa?(Markodi)
In all these cases the Markodi does not have any similarity to either Malayalam or Tulu
language. Markodi got its own vocabulary that is pertaining to some of the unique materials
that are used as the traditional material as part of their culture and traditions. A detailed
research needs to be done to explore more about the Markodi language.
Conclusion
Going through the comparative study of Tulu and Markodi we could find that there is
considerable difference between these two languages. We had considered only few cases of
inflections of verbs. A detailed analysis of both of these languages required to assess whether
Markodi can be considered as a separate language. Figure 1 shows the proposed position of
the Markodi language in the Dravidian language tree.
Proto-South Dravidian
Proto-Tamil Kannada
Proto-Tamil Toda
Proto-Tamil Kodagu
Proto-Kota-Toda
Proto-Tamil Malayalam
Pre-Tamil Pre-Kannada
Irula Tamil Malayalam Kodagu Kota Toda Badaka Kannada Tulu Markodi
i
Figure 1: Dravidian languages evolution and the proposed position of Markodi in this
language tree
Since Markodi is a spoken language by Mavilan Tribes of Kasaragod district and their
inhabitation extends to Virajpetta of Karnataka state. In the folk songs prevailing among
Mavilan tribes, they mention about these places. We had assessed about 600 traditional words
that are used by Mavilan tribes in daily life and most of them are entirely different from the
Tulu or Malayalam language. That had given an insight to assess these two languages and a
further detailed study needed to explore the complete grammatical structure and different
grammatical parameters.
References
[1]., Edgar Thurston, Kandur Rangachari , Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume
5, Asian Educational Services, 2001, pp 51-52
[2]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulu_language, 04.05.2016
[3].Dr. Neria H. Hebbar, Tulu Language: Its Script and Dialects,
http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=863
[4]. S L Bhatt, A grammar of Tulu, Dravidian Linguistics Association, 2005
