The word ‘Malayalam’ may have been a local dialect in the beginning. The first part in the word ‘Malayalam’, ie, ‘Mala’ may refer to hill, and the last part ‘Alam’ to the depths of the ocean (‘Alam’ over the years transformed to Azham’ meaning ‘depths’). So the word ‘Malayalam’ may refer to the land lying between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea.  Different kinds of language forms can be seen in modern Malayalam. Caste, region vocation, style and innumerable language forms constitute Malayalam. Newspaper, radio, study materials and education have helped in fostering a humane language form. Apart from geography, society and culture, caste and religion have also contributed to Malayalam. The language forms used by brahmins, harijans, nairs, ezhavas, Christians, and Muslims have been discovered. While Sanskrit words are commonly used by brahmins in their language to a large extent, it is sparsely used by the marginalized sections. In the language spoken by the Christians, we can find English, Syriac, Latin, and Portuguese words. Muslims use Arabic and Urdu words. The influence of some other languages like Prakrit, Pali, Marathi, Hindi, Persian, Dutch and French can be seen in the course of its evolution and transformation. So, it is little wonder that many foreign words have become part and parcel of Malayalam.