subjects who said that the speech of their local area is purest said things such as ‘good tone,’ ‘simple,’ ‘no mixing’ and strong language use.
Qn.12c. In which settlement is the next purest Mannan language spoken?
Local area Another area All are same Tamil
5 32 5 32
5 32 1 4
This question was asked to only the 16 subjects out of the 18 that had been partial towards his or her own speech variety in answering question 12a. Five people suggested their local area; five suggested
places outside their area and another five stated that all places speak their language in the same way. Among the five subjects that mentioned other areas, two from Kumily referred to the people of Kovilmala,
whereas the villages of Kodakallu, Adimali and Variyam were mentioned by one subject each as the place where the second purest variety of Mannan is spoken.
4.6.3 Language vitality
Qn.3a. What language do your children speak first?
MT Other languages
47 100 -
This question was meant to assess whether or not language shift has already begun. All of the subjects reported that their children learn to speak their mother tongue first.
Qn.3b. How old are your children when they start to speak Malayalam or Tamil?
Below 6 years old 6 to 9 years old or
after going to school 10 years old or above Depends
25 53 17 36
4 9 1 2
About half of the subjects said that their children start speaking Malayalam while they are below six years of age. This indicates that some Mannan children have the opportunity to learn Malayalam in their
home or village. Another 17 subjects said that their children are able to speak Malayalam after they start going to school, which is usually between six and ten years of age. Only a few subjects reported that their
children do not start speaking the LWC until after they are ten years old. The results show that most Mannan children learn to speak some degree of the state language Malayalam while they are under ten
years of age.
Qn.3d. What language do educated children that have lived in hostels use with their parents and other villagers?
MT Malayalam
Both First Malayalam then MT Other responses
16 35 4 9
23 50 2 4
1 2 This question was meant to find out whether living in hostels greatly influences the language use of
Mannan children. Half of the subjects stated that the hostel system enables Mannan children to use both Mannan and Malayalam in their home and village, but many other subjects 35 reported that their
children only speak their mother tongue when they come back to their home and village. A few people said that their children only speak Malayalam when they return to their settlement from their education.
Qn.4. Do the young people know the Mannan language as well as the old people do?
Yes No
36 78 10 22
This question focused on whether language shift may be in progress among the Mannan people. A majority of subjects 78 expressed their opinion that young people speak or know their language as
well as the old people. The other subjects felt that there is some variation in the proficiency of young and old people.
Qn.11. Would you allow your son or daughter to marry someone from outside of your community?
Yes No
Other responses
32 70 13 28 1 2
A pattern of inter-marriage with members of other ethno-linguistic communities can be a cause or sign of language shift. The responses indicate that a majority of subjects do not object to inter-community
marriage. Only 28 of the subjects resist the idea of marriage with outsiders. Qn.15. Do you think that, when your children have grown up, they will speak the Mannan language?
Yes No
Yes, some portion More Malayalam I don’t know
32 74 5 12 1 2
2 5 3 7
This question focused on the Mannan people’s perspective about the continuation of their language. Most of the subjects 74 think that their mother tongue will be spoken by the coming generation.
However, five people 12 felt that the younger generation would exclusively speak the LWC.
4.7 Observations and informal interviews
