The Kerala market is loud, friendly and quick: fish laid out on ice, vegetables in heaps, prices called out by the kilo. English speakers usually try to translate "Can you make it cheaper?" or "Give me a discount" directly, and the result sounds either rude or odd. Market Malayalam uses a soft request with a kinship word: ചേട്ടാ, കുറച്ചു കുറയ്ക്കാമോ? In this episode: • The fish • The vegetables • Asking the price • Polite bargaining • Freshness and weighing • An invented scene: kiran at the market • Language bridge • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: മീൻ (meen) = fish. The market is often just മീൻ ചന്ത (meen chantha) = fish market. മത്തി (mathi) = sardine, the everyday Kerala fish അയല (ayala) = mackerel ചെമ്മീൻ (chemmeen) = prawns കരിമീൻ (karimeen) = pearl spot, a famous backwater fish ചൂര (choora) = tuna നെയ്മീൻ (neymeen) = seer fish, kingfish ഉണക്കമീൻ (unakkameen) = dried fish പച്ചക്കറി (pachakkari) = vegetables വെണ്ടയ്ക്ക (vendakka) = okra പയർ (payar) = beans വഴുതനങ്ങ (vazhuthananga) = brinjal, aubergine, eggplant പാവയ്ക്ക (paavakka) = bitter gourd മുരിങ്ങക്കായ (muringakkaaya) = drumstick വെള്ളരിക്ക (vellarikka) = cucumber ചേന (chena) = elephant foot yam കാരറ്റ് (carrot) = carrot വില (vila) = price മത്തിക്ക് എന്താ വില? (mathikku enthaa vila?) = what's the price of the sardines? കിലോയ്ക്ക് എത്രയാ? (kiloykku ethrayaa?) = how much per kilo? എല്ലാം കൂടി എത്ര? (ellaam koodi ethra?) = how much for everything together? അമ്പത് (ambathu) = fifty നൂറ് (nooru) = one hundred Learn Spoken Malayalam at Home: a complete course in everyday spoken Malayalam for English speakers. Native Malayalam pronunciation, every phrase in Malayalam script, Manglish and English, plus a language bridge comparing Malayalam with other world languages. Listen, repeat out loud, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.