Almost every place name in Kerala has a clear meaning in Malayalam, so once you can read them, the map describes the land. This class teaches the pieces that keep recurring in place names: town, village, fort, riverbank, island, junction, pond, hill, forest, canal, river landing and market. Then it goes through the district and city names you will actually say, with the meaning of each where it is known, and the English forms they replace: Calicut, Alleppey, Cannanore. You learn why people notice when you use the Malayalam form, and how knowing these pieces helps you hear where someone is from and read bus boards quickly. Words and phrases in this class: പുരം (puram) – city, town ഊർ (oor) – village, town (Dravidian) കോട് (kodu) – fort തുരുത്ത് (thuruthu) – island in a backwater or river മുക്ക് (mukku) – corner, junction കുളം (kulam) – pond മല (mala) – hill കടവ് (kadavu) – river landing അങ്ങാടി (angaadi) – market കോഴിക്കോട് (kozhikode) – Kozhikode (Calicut) ആലപ്പുഴ (aalappuzha) – Alappuzha (Alleppey) മൂന്നാർ (moonnaar) – Munnar, where three rivers meet ഇടുക്കി (idukki) – Idukki, named for a narrow gorge In this class: • The recurring pieces: town, fort, bank, island, junction, pond, hill • District and city names, with the English forms they replace • Why saying കോഴിക്കോട് instead of Calicut gets noticed • Using place names to read bus boards and hear where people are from Quizzes below. Dr. Reshmi R Nair — SpeakMalayalam.