Dictionaries document endangered tribal languages of North Kerala communities

India's extraordinary linguistic diversity is constitutionally recognised through the Eighth Schedule (22 scheduled languages), Article 29 (protection of minority languages and culture), Article 350A (mother-tongue instruction at the primary level), and Article 350 (language of representations to authorities). Yet these provisions primarily protect languages with substantial speaker populations and political visibility. The hundreds of tribal and minority languages spoken by small, geographically isolated communities — many of which are not even classified as distinct languages but as 'dialects' — receive far less institutional attention.

India hosts four major language families — Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austroasiatic, and Sino-Tibetan — alongside numerous languages that resist neat classification, particularly in tribal belt regions. The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru, and the non-governmental People's Linguistic Survey of India have attempted systematic documentation, but coverage of small, isolated communities remains deeply incomplete. Linguists estimate that dozens of Indian tribal languages are at critical risk of extinction within a generation, as younger speakers shift to dominant regional or national languages through schooling, migration, and economic integration.

The Mavila and Malaveduvan communities of Kannur and Kasaragod districts in north Kerala exemplify this vulnerability. Both communities — with a combined population of roughly 60,000 — speak languages that show strong structural influences of Tulu and Kannada, with Malayalam entering later through migration and formal education. The Mavila language is also known in some areas as Markoli Tulu, reflecting its deep Tulu substrate. Neither language has previously been systematically documented in dictionary form.