Editing Malayalam literature (section)

==Evolution of Modern Malayalam==
[[File:Copy of Ezhuthachan's Adhyathma ramayanam Kilippattu.jpg|thumb|Copy of Ezhuthachan's [[stylus]] and ''[[Adhyathmaramayanam|Adhyatma Ramayanam]]'' preserved at [[Thunchan Parambu, Tirur]]|251x251px]]
The [[Middle Malayalam]] (''Madhyakaala Malayalam'') was succeeded by Modern Malayalam (''Aadhunika Malayalam'') by the 15th century CE.<ref name="Malabar"/> The poem ''[[Krishnagatha]]'' written by [[Cherusseri Namboothiri]], who was the court poet of the king Udaya Varman Kolathiri (1446 – 1475) of [[Kolathunadu]], is written in modern Malayalam.<ref name="mlm"/> The language used in ''Krishnagatha'' is the modern spoken form of Malayalam.<ref name="mlm"/> During the 16th century CE, Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan from the [[Kingdom of Tanur]] and [[Poonthanam Nambudiri]] from the [[Kingdom of Valluvanad]] followed the new trend initiated by Cherussery in their poems. The ''[[Adhyathmaramayanam Kilippattu]]'' and ''Mahabharatham [[Kilippattu]]'' written by Ezhuthachan and ''[[Jnanappana]]'' written by Poonthanam are also included in the earliest form of Modern Malayalam.<ref name="mlm"/>

It is Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan who is also credited with the development of [[Malayalam script]] into the current form through the intermixing and modification of the erstwhile scripts of ''[[Vatteluttu]]'', ''[[Kolezhuthu]]'', and [[Grantha script]], which were used to write the inscriptions and literary works of Old and Middle Malayalam.<ref name="mlm"/> He further eliminated excess and unnecessary letters from the modified script.<ref name="mlm"/> Hence, Ezhuthachan is also known as ''The Father of modern Malayalam''.<ref name="mlm"/> The development of modern [[Malayalam script]] was also heavily influenced by the [[Tigalari script]], which was used to write the [[Tulu language]], due to the influence of [[Tuluva Brahmin]]s in Kerala.<ref name="mlm"/> The language used in the [[Arabi Malayalam]] works of 16th-17th century CE is a mixture of Modern Malayalam and [[Arabic language|Arabic]].<ref name="mlm"/> They follow the syntax of modern Malayalam, though written in a modified form of [[Arabic script]], which is known as [[Arabi Malayalam script]].<ref name="mlm"/>

P. Shangunny Menon ascribes the authorship of the medieval work ''[[Keralolpathi]]'', which describes the [[Parashurama]] legend and the departure of the final [[Legend of Cheraman Perumals|Cheraman Perumal]] king to [[Mecca]], to Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan.<ref>History of Travancore by Shungunny Menon, page 28</ref> The currently adopted [[Malayalam script]], adopted by Ezhuthachan can be used to write any other [[Languages of India|language of India]] as it contain letters to denote both of the [[Voiced retroflex approximant]] (/ɻ/) (which is unique to Dravidian languages in India) and the letters unique to [[Sanskrit]] (those are not there in the [[Tamil script]]).