015 NUMBER

51. There are two Numbers; the Singular and Plural.
52. The singular becomes plural thus,
1st. Nouns whose nominative singular ends in ം, drop the ം, and take ങ്ങൾ; as,


2nd. Nouns ending with the vowel sound of അ, preceeded by വ,form their plural in three different ways; thus,
By changing വ into ക്കൾ; as, ആത്മാവ, ആത്മാക്കൾ.
By changing വ into ക്കന്മാർ; as, രാജാവ, രാജാക്കന്മാർ.
By adding കൾ, ഉകൾ The nouns ending with the vowel sound of അ, that take ഉകൾ for their plural, are those whose last vowel is, for the most part, preceeded by the letters ക, വ, ല, and ഇ; but the introduction of ഉ appears to be owing to a loose manner of pronunciation; the principles of the language requiring the plurals of such words to ends in കൾ.
For the same reason many similar mistakes have crept into the language; thus for അതകൊണ്ട, the natives write and pronounce അതകൊണ്ട, for ഏതപ്രകാരം, ഏതുപ്രകാരം, &c., to വ; as, പ്രാവ, പ്രാവുകൾ.
Such of these nouns as are of the masculine gender, usually take ക്കാർ for their plural; as,


In some instances either of the above forms may be used indifferently, but in general the plural is fixed to one; though no rule, without numerous exceptions, can be given on this subject.
3rd. Nouns, ending with the vowel sound of അ preceeded by any other consonant than വ, form their plural by adding കൾ, or ഉകൾ to the nominative case;
as,

The exceptions to this rule are that some nouns, chiefly relating to persons, form their plural by adding മാർ to the singular; as, ഭാൎയ്യ, The singular of ഭാൎയ്യ is said, by some, to end in ആ, and that in all such cases the plural must be formed as above; as, ഭാൎയ്യാ, ഭാൎയ്യമാർ. This is a mistake, which few Malayalim Moonshees, from the very scanty knowledge they possess of the principles of grammar, would be able to correct, and therefore noticed here. It is however an error of no trifling magnitude, as it tends to confound the principles of the Sanscrit, with those of the Malayalim language; and, as a consequence, to lead the Student astray in an important branch of his studies. ഭൎയ്യാ and പ്രഭാ and numerous other words are, as thus spelled, mot Malayalim, but Sanscrit. When adopted into the Malayalim language the last ആ is dropped both in writing and pronunciation; and in that altered state they follow the rules of all Malayalim words of the same class. This will be fully illustrated by the following comparison of ഭാൎയ്യ, which is from the Sanscrit with പിള്ള, which is not.
SINGULAR. PLURAL
Nom. ഭാൎയ്യ, Nom. ഭാൎയ്യമാർ
Gen. ഭാൎയ്യയുടെ Gen. ഭാൎയ്യമാരുടെ
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
Nom. പിള്ള. Nom. പിള്ളമാർ.
Gen. പിള്ളയുടെ. Gen. പിള്ളമാരുടെ.
By these examples it will be seen that the above words are declined alike, both, in the singular and plural; the reason is because the orthography of such Sanscrit words are altered when they are adopted into the Malayalim language: Whereas, the Fourth rule will show, in cases where the nominative singular of Malayalim words ends with ആ that letter is retained through all declensions; as,
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
Nom. മൂങ്ങാ. Nom. മൂങ്ങാകൾ.
Gen. മൂങ്ങായുടെ Gen. മൂങ്ങാകളുടെ. ഭാൎയ്യമാർ.
4th. Malayalim nouns, whose nominative singular ends in ആ, form their plural by adding കൾ to the nominative case; as,
തൂമ്പാ, Hoe. തൂമ്പാക്കൾ.
പാ, Mat. പാകൾ.
കടുവാ, Tiger. കടുവാകൾ.
5th. Nouns ending in ഇ, ൟ or ഉ, form their plural by adding കൾ or ക്കൾ to the nominative singular; as,
പ്രവൃത്തി, Work. പ്രവവൃത്തികൾ.
സ്ത്രീ, Woman. സ്ത്രീകൾ.
ജന്തു, Animal. ജന്തുക്കൾ.
The exceptions, to this rule, are that in some few cases of nouns ending in ഇ, the plural is formed by adding മാർ to the nominative singular: as,
നമ്പൂരി, Malabar Brahmin. നമ്പൂരിമാർ.
പത്നി, Wife. പത്നിമാർ.
Nouns ending in ഉ, sometimes form their plural by adding ക്കന്മാർ to the nominative singular; as,
ഗുരു, Teacher. ഗുരുക്കന്മാർ.
പ്രഭു, Prince. പ്രഭുക്കന്മാർ.
6th. Nouns ending in ൽ, and ൾ, form their plural by adding കൾ, or ഉകൾ; as,
തൊൽ, Leather. തൊലുകൾ.
വാൾ, Sword. വാളകൾ, or വാളുകൾ.
The exceptions are, that some nouns ending in ൽ, form their plural by dropping the ൽ, and adding ങ്ങൾ; as,
പൈതൽ, Child. പൈതങ്ങൾ.
7th. Nouns ending in ൻ, form their plural by dropping ൻ, and adding ർ, or ന്മാർ; thus,
ദൂതൻ, Messenger. ദൂതർ.
ഭൃത്യൻ, Servant. ഭൃത്യന്മാർ.
കള്ളൻ, Thief, Liar. കള്ളന്മാർ.
The exceptions to this rule are that, in a few cases, ഉകൾ is added to the nominative singular; as,
മാൻ, Deer. മാനുകൾ.
പെൻ, Louse. പെനുകൾ.
It is to be observed with respect to neuter nouns that, in very numerous instances, the plural form is not used, except in poetry. The noun being qualified by some other word in the sentence; as,
പത്ത മാൻ വന്നു. Ten Deer came.