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Comment by gjkood | Hacker News Reader

Did you mean "Malayalam"?

EDIT: For those who don't understand the reference, "Malayalam" [1] is the official language of the South Indian state of Kerala.

The question was asking if the parent post mistyped "Malayam" instead of "Malayalam".

Looks like some folks have misunderstood my post and reacted negatively.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayalam

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Yeah, it was a typo introduced paradoxically by my spellchecker. Somebody misspelled Malayalam as Malayam on my Chrome, then added it to the dictionary (!). Anyway, yes, I meant Malayalam.

Sorry, you remember incorrectly. The former pronunciation is correct. The stress is on the third syllable.

The wikipedia article says it's pronounced "mʌləˈjɑːləm" (3rd syllable stressed), yet don't people in Kerala say "mʌˈlɑːjələm" (2nd syllable stressed, last 2 syllables almost spoken as one). It's been 30 yrs since I visited, so maybe I remember wrongly. If so, then maybe writing "Malayam" instead of "Malayalam" isn't too far wrong.

> If so, then maybe writing "Malayam" instead of "Malayalam" isn't too far wrong.

No, it's very far wrong. (I'm a Malayali.)

> The wikipedia article says it's pronounced "mʌləˈjɑːləm" (3rd syllable stressed), yet don't people in Kerala say "mʌˈlɑːjələm" (2nd syllable stressed, last 2 syllables almost spoken as one). It's been 30 yrs since I visited, so maybe I remember wrongly.

Can anyone verify the correct pronunciation?

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