Limbs in Malayalam
Malayalam normally names the limbs one by one instead of using an umbrella word, and the everyday one listed here is കാലുകൾ (kaalukal), legs or feet. The ending -kal marks the plural, and the same word serves for the legs of a table or a chair.
Feet, the plural of foot, the parts of the body you stand on; as a unit of length adi is used; legs. The limbs used for standing and walking; also the supports of a table or chair.
നടന്നിട്ട് കാലുകൾ വേദനിക്കുന്നു.
nadannittu kaalukal vedanikkunnu.
My feet hurt from walking.
All Malayalam words for “limbs”
- കാലുകൾ (kaalukal) — Feet, the plural of foot, the parts of the body you stand on; as a unit of length adi is used; legs. The limbs used for standing and walking; also the supports of a table or chair.
- അംഗഭംഗം (amgabhamgam) — Loss of limbs, physical deformity/handicap, mutilation, injury to limbs.
- അംഗവൈരൂപ്യം (amgavairoopayam) — Deformity (of the body or limbs).
- ആംഗ്യം (aamgyam) — Gestures, movement of the limbs and body to express ideas.
kaalukal belongs to ordinary speech, whereas അംഗഭംഗം (amgabhamgam) and അംഗവൈരൂപ്യം (amgavairoopayam) are formal medical or legal terms for loss of limbs and bodily deformity. ആംഗ്യം (aamgyam) is about moving the limbs to gesture.
Common questions
What is the Malayalam word for limbs?
In everyday speech you name them, as with കാലുകൾ (kaalukal) for the legs or feet.
Why does one word cover both legs and feet?
The base word takes in the whole lower limb, so context decides whether a speaker means the foot or the leg.