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Linguistic Reforms

There is no Indian language have not been influenced by the work of the missionaries. Missionaries created and modified scripts, compiled dictionaries and established grammatical rules for the existing local languages. Printing and literature in prose style were introduced by missionaries. The missionaries had no option but bring about these reforms because there were no book to aid their study of the languages. The study of local languages were important to communicate with the local people. Anticipating this need the missionaries started to study the local languages. The missionaries who study their own languages in a scientific manner in the best educational institutions of their times used their experiences and knowledge to study malayalam. They made booklets and notes. Later on, they complied the notes together to make dictionaries. These works also helped the missionaries that came later on.

In his book 'Kerala Panyeem', A R Raja Raja Varma said "We must congratulate the foreigners who devoted their life and worked hard to compile grammatical rules in accordance with history and logic." The existing situation compelled the pioneer missionaries in this course. Some prominent names worth mentioning in this field are Benjamin Bailey, Hermen Gondert, Collins and Kamils.

Grammar
Many grammatical books were written by missionaries as a result of their studies in the malayalam language. They made the basic principles for all the dialects spoken in Kerala. Even though many books on grammatical principles were written, the most widely accepted book on grammatical principles was written Hermen Gondert in 1872. His Dictionary was the result of 25 years of study and research. Catholic Missionaries also produced a Dictionary.

Script
The round script were made by Benjamin Baily. The malayalam language had 1000 types at first. This huge number posed a serious problem for the printing industry. So Baily compacted the 1000 type language to a more modest 500 type language. This proved to be very helpful in the years to come.

Printing
Printing was introduced in Kerala, as in many other places in the world, by the foreign missionaries. First Press was established in 1577 at Cochi Kotta. Bible was the first printed book in malayalam. News papers were also printed by the missionaries. The first newspaper was the 'Rajya Samacharam'(National News) which was printed at Basel Missions Press. This was launched in 1847 by Gondart. The draw back of this newspaper is that it carried only mission related news. Another newspaper was the 'Jayana Niksapam'(Knowledge Compendium) that was stated in 1847. This was printed at Kottayam CMS Press by Benjamin Baily. There were other newspapers that are worth mentioning like the 'Paschi Modayam'(Sun Rise).

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