Class 210 — nicknames, pet names, and how Malayalis actually call each other. You meet a man introduced as Rajesh. His mother calls him Unni. His wife calls him ഏട്ടാ. His colleagues call him Rajesh sir. His childhood friends call him Kuttan. His children call him അച്ഛാ. His neighbour calls him മോനേ, though he is fifty-two. Six names, one person, none of them wrong. THE വിളിപ്പേര് (vilipperu), the calling name. Almost every Malayali has a home name given in infancy, used by family and by anyone who knew them as a child, entirely independent of the birth certificate. The recurring set: ഉണ്ണി · കുട്ടൻ · കുട്ടി · കുഞ്ഞ് · അപ്പു · ബാബു · അച്ചു · ചിന്നു · അമ്മു · ദേവു · രാജു. Notice the pattern — most end in -u. That is a productive diminutive: Anil → Anu, Rajendran → Raju, Amrutha → Ammu. English does it with -y and -ie (Robert → Bobby, Elizabeth → Lizzie), Spanish with -ito and -ita. Diminutive name-formation is close to universal; Malayalam’s is the -u. THE SOCIAL RULE, and this is the one to get right: a home name is not public property. You use somebody’s വിളിപ്പേര് only if you are family, a childhood friend, or if they have told you to. Using one without standing is a claim of intimacy you have not earned. If a Malayali offers you theirs, that is a real gesture. The safe question is ഞാൻ എന്ത് വിളിക്കണം? — What should I call you? KINSHIP ADDRESS, used for everybody, related or not: ചേട്ടാ (elder brother) to a man moderately older · ചേച്ചീ (elder sister) to a woman moderately older · ഏട്ടാ · അനിയാ, അനിയത്തീ to younger people · മോനേ, മോളേ · അങ്കിൾ, ആന്റി · സാർ, മാഡം · ടീച്ചർ, permanently, to anyone who ever taught you. And the name-plus-term form: സുരേഷ് ചേട്ടൻ, ലീലാ ചേച്ചി, രമേശ് സാർ. Calibration is by age, not rank — genuinely different from a class-based system. The instruction: default to ചേട്ടാ and ചേച്ചീ. You will be right ninety percent of the time, and the other ten you will have erred toward warmth. Quizzes below. Dr. Reshmi R Nair — SpeakMalayalam.