What makes a Malayali laugh, how to take being teased, and what you must never joke about. Humour is the last thing a learner acquires in any language, and the thing that most reliably tells you when you have arrived. I am Dr. Reshmi R. Nair, an applied linguist from Kerala. I have taught hundreds of learners to speak Malayalam as it is actually spoken. THE WORDS ചിരി - chiri - laughter ചിരിക്കുക - chirikkuka - to laugh ചിരിപ്പിക്കുക - chirippikkuka - to make someone laugh (and there is your causative again) തമാശ - thamasha - a joke, fun ഫലിതം - phalitham - wit, humour; the literary word പരിഹാസം - parihasam - ridicule, satire കളിയാക്കൽ - kaliyaakkal - teasing, mocking വളിപ്പ് - valippu - a stale, weak, groan-inducing joke. Calling something വളിപ്പ് is itself a small act of comedy. A SERIOUS TRADITION OF NOT BEING SERIOUS Satire is old in Kerala. In the eighteenth century Kunchan Nambiar built an entire performance form, ഓട്ടൻതുള്ളൽ, out of mocking the powerful in colloquial verse — in front of an audience that included the powerful. Kerala also has a strong newspaper cartooning tradition. മിമിക്രി - mimicry - which in Kerala is not a party trick but an industry. Touring stage troupes doing impressions of film stars and politicians filled halls for decades and became the training ground for a remarkable number of Malayalam film comedians. If an older Malayali tells you they were in a mimicry troupe at college, they are telling you about a whole era. AND THE PART THAT MATTERS MOST Being teased is not an attack. കളിയാക്കൽ among people who like you is a sign of inclusion, and the correct response is to laugh and return it lightly, not to defend yourself. What you do not joke about: anyone's background, their family, or anything you have not been invited into. What was the first Malayalam joke you actually understood? Tell me below. #LearnMalayalam #Kerala #Malayalam