Malayalam is a Dravidian language spoken in India, predominantly in the state of Kerala. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and was designated as a Classical Language in India in 2013. It was developed to the current form mainly by the influence of the poet Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan in the 16th century. Malayalam has official language status in the state of Kerala and in the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry. It belongs to the Dravidian family of languages and is spoken by some 38 million people. Malayalam is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka; with significant speakers in the Nilgiris, Kanyakumari and Coimbatore districts of Tamil Nadu, and Dakshina Kannada of Karnataka. Malayalam serves as a link language on certain islands, including the Mahl-dominated Minicoy Island. 

The origin of Malayalam remains a matter of dispute among scholars. One view holds that Malayalam and Modern Tamil are offshoots of Middle Tamil and separated from it sometime after . A second view argues for the development of the two languages out of 'Proto-Dravidian' in the prehistoric era. 

The earliest script used to write Malayalam was the Vatteluttu alphabet, and later the Kolezhuttu, which derived from it. The current Malayalam script is based on the Vatteluttu script, which was extended with Grantha script letters to adopt Indo-Aryan loanwords. With a total of 52 letters, the Malayalam script has the largest number of letters among the Indian language orthographies. The oldest literary work in Malayalam, distinct from the Tamil tradition, is dated from between the 9th and 11th centuries. The first travelogue in any Indian language is the Malayalam "Varthamanappusthakam", written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar in 1785. QUESTIONS:

Q1:
1. Is it well understood where Malayalam comes from?
2. Are Malayalam's roots evident?
3. 
Q2:
1. What was the earliest writing in Malayalam?
2. What was the first script in Malayalam?
3. 
Q3:
1. Was there another Malayalam script after the Vatteluttu alphabet?
2. Did later script in Malayalm follow the Vatteluttu alphabet?
3. 
Q4:
1. What script followed the Vatteluttu alphabet?
2. What style of writing in Malayalam came after the Vatteluttu alphabet?
3. 
Q5:
1. How many letters does the current Malayalam alphabet contained?
2. What is the number of characters in the present day Malayalam alphabet?
3. 
Q6:
1. How many view on the origin of Malayalam are discussed?
2. How many views on Malayalam's roots does the article contain?
3. 
Q7:
1. What kind of tongue is Malayalam?
2. What can Malayalam be described as?
3. 
Q8:
1. Where is Malayalam used?
2. What country is Malayalam spoken in?
3. 
Q9:
1. Is Malayalam spoken mostly in one place?
2. Is there one region with a particularly high amount of Malayalam speakers?
3. 
Q10:
1. Where do lots of people speak Malayalam?
2. Where is there a large concentration of people that speak Malayalam?
3. 
Q11:
1. What is the number of languages that India has?
2. How many tongues do people speak in India?
3. 
Q12:
1. When was Malayalam classified as a classical language?
2. At what point did Malayalam receive the designation of classical language?
3. 
Q13:
1. How many people speak Malayalam?
2. What is the number of Malayalam speakers?
3. 
Q14:
1. What group of languages does Malayalam fall under?
2. What sort of language is Malayalam classified as?
3. 
Q15:
1. Does Malayalam ever serve as a link language?
2. Is Malayalam sometimes classified as a link language?
3. 
