Jeseri (also known as Jesri or Dweep Bhasha) is a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

, spoken in the Union Territory of

Lakshadweep Lakshadweep (), also known as Laccadives (), is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands in the Arabian sea, located off the Malabar Coast. The name ''Lakshadweep'' means "one lakh islands" in Sanskrit, though the Lac ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

.
The word 'Jeseri' derives from

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

word Jazari (جزري) which means 'Islander' or 'of island'. It is spoken on the islands of

Chetlat Chetlat Island is a coral island belonging to the Amindivi Subgroup of islands of the Lakshadweep archipelago in India. It has a distance of west of the city of Kochi. History Local history says that islanders were cruelly treated by Portuguese ...

Bitra Bitra, also known as Bitrā Par, is a coral atoll belonging to the Amindivi Subgroup of islands of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India. It is west of the city of Kochi. History Prior to the 20th century, is ...

Kiltan Kiltan or Kilthān Island is a coral island belonging to the Amindivi Subgroup of islands of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India. It is at a distance of 291 km away from Kannur, 303 km away from Kozhikode, and west of the city ...

Kadmat Kadmat Island, also known as Cardamom Island, is a coral island belonging to the Amindivi subgroup of islands of the Lakshadweep archipelago in India. Measuring in length, the island has a lagoon with a width of covering an area of . The ecol ...

, Amini,

Kavaratti Kavaratti is the capital of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India. Kavaratti is a census town as well as the name of the atoll upon which the town stands. It is well known for its pristine white sand beaches and calm lagoons, which makes ...

Androth Andrott Island, also known as Androth Island, is a small inhabited island in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, a group of 36 coral islands scattered in the Arabian Sea off the western coast of India It has a distance of west of the city of ...

Agatti Agatti Island is a 7.6 km long island, situated on a coral atoll called Agatti atoll in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It is west of the city of Kochi. Geography Agatti is located about 364 km off Kannur, 394 km off ...

, and

Kalpeni Kalpeni is an inhabited Atoll in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It has a distance of west of the city of Kochi. Geography Kalpeni is west from the port of Kochi and lies south of Andrott and to the NNE of Minicoy, with the br ...

, in the archipelago of

. Each of these islands has its own dialect. The dialects are similar to Arabi Malayalam, a traditional dialect spoken by the

Mappila Mappila Muslim, often shortened to Mappila, formerly anglicized as Moplah/Mopla and historically known as Jonaka/Chonaka Mappila or Moors Mopulars/Mouros da Terra and Mouros Malabares, in general, is a member of the Muslim community of same n ...

community of

Malabar Coast The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing m ...

.Subramoniam, V. I. (1997). ''Dravidian Encyclopaedia''. Vol. 3, Language and literature. Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): International School of Dravidian Linguistics. pp. 508-09

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Phonology

The phonology is similar to the Mainland dialect of

, but with certain notable differences. The initial short vowels, especially 'u', may fall away. For example: rangi (Mal. urangi) - slept, lakka (Mal. ulakka) - pestle. As for the consonants, the following differences are notable: # Initial ch in Mainland Malayalam, becomes sh: sholli (Mal.(old) cholli) - said. # Initial p in Mainland Malayalam, becomes f: fenn (Mal. pennu) - girl. # Initial v in Mainland Malayalam, becomes b: bili (Mal. vili) - call.

Grammar

The grammar shows similarities to Mainland

Nouns

Case endings

The case endings for nouns and pronouns are generally as follows: * Nominative: nil; * Accusative: a, na * Genitive: aa, naa, thaa; * Dative: kk, n, oon; * Communicative: oda, aa kooda, naa kooda; * Instrumental: aa kond, naa kond; * Locative: nd, naa ul, l (only in traces); * Ablative: nd; * Vocative: e, aa;

Pronouns

* thaan: self;

Verbs

The conjugations of verbs are similar to Mainland

. The verb 'kaanu' - meaning 'see', the same as in Mainland

, is illustrated here. There are three simple tenses. # Present: suffix added is nna (mostly nda); so kaanunna/kaanunda - sees, is seeing. # Past: the stem of the verb may change as in Mainland Malayalam. For 'kaanu', past is kanda - saw. # Future: the suffix added is 'um'. So, kaanum - will see. The negatives of these tenses show some differences: # For present tense, the negative is formed by adding vela (ppela for some verbs) to the stem. Not only that, a present negative may also function as a future negative. So, kaanuvela - is not seeing, does not see, will not see. # For past tense, the negative is formed by suffixing ela to the past stem. So, kandela - did not see, has not seen. # For the future tense, the old Malayalam poetic suffix 'aa' may be used (kaanaa). The interrogative forms are made by suffixing 'aa' with some changes effected. So, kaanundyaa (does/do ... see?) for kaanunda (sees), kandyaa (did ... see?) for kanda (saw), and kaanumaa/kaanunaa/kaanungaa (will ... see?) for kaanum (will see).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jasri Language Languages of India Dravidian languages Lakshadweep Arabi Malayalam