Languages in Lakshadweep

Lakshadweep is the smallest union territory of India. It is located in the Arabian Sea and is formed of coral islands. The union territory is famous for its lagoon. From Cochin in Kerala, these islands can be reached by waterway or by airway. Kavaratti is headquarter of Lakshadweep islands. There are thirty six islands that form the archipelago of Lakshadweep. But only ten of the islands are inhabited by men. The population of the islands is mainly classified into Scheduled Tribes. The Scheduled Castes also form a part of the population. The main languages of Lakshadweep are Malayalam and Mahl.


The most common spoken language in Lakshadweep is Malayalam. But except in the island of Minicoy, Malayalam is spoken by the local people in all the islands of Lakshadweep. They use the modern script of Malayalam, known as Grandha. It replaced the older script of Vattezhuthu. The Arabic script gained popularity in the islands with the coming of religion of Islam. Among the languages of Lakshadweep, Mahl is another important language. Mahl is not only spoken in Lakshadweep but also in Maldives. The Mahl script is written like the Arabic one, from right to left. The modern Mahl language has been altered with time.

Since people from different parts of India came to this union territory, their local languages also got mingled to the languages of Lakshadweep. Besides Mahl and Malayalam the residents also speak Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Tamil, Urdu. English is also prevalent in the islands. Besides Sanskrit, English has influenced the Malayalam language a lot.

Mahl

Among the languages of Lakshadweep, Mahl is spoken in the island of Minicoy. Except in the island of Minicoy, in the other islands of the smallest union territory of Lakshadweep, India Malayalam is used by the local people. Lakshadweep is an archipelago consisting of thirty six islands, of which the number of inhabited island is ten. The thirty six islands have a total area of thirty two square kilometers. The people of the islands of Lakshadweep is divided into Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes. The local people of the islands, other than Minicoy, speak Malayalam. Mahl is also used in the Maldives islands. The script in which Mahl is written is known as Divehi. The script of Mahl like Arabic letters that has to be written from right side to the left. The language of Mahl consists of twenty four letters. The letters of Mahl resembles the alphabets of Arabic in sound. But it differs in writing from the Arabic letters. The language has been altered with time. Mainly Mahl in Lakshadweep has been modified with the influence of the religion of Islam.

Lakshadweep islands are home to a number of people who come from every part of the country. There are certain languages that are spoken by the migrating people in these islands that do not belong to these land. Many people in Lakshadweep, specially those coming to these islands seeking employment speak in languages like Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Urdu, Gujrati, Oriya and others. English is also spoken by some of the inhabitants.

Malayalam

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