Lives in Malayalam
English lives works as both a verb and a plural noun, and the words gathered here circle around living somewhere rather than translating it head on. The most useful of them is പ്രവാസി (pravasi), a person who lives away from home, a word Keralites use constantly about family working in the Gulf.
Expatriate, emigrant, one who lives away from home or homeland (voluntary) exile.
എന്റെ ചേട്ടന് ഒരു പ്രവാസിയാണ്.
ente chettan oru pravasiyaanu.
My elder brother is an expatriate.
All Malayalam words for “lives”
- പ്രവാസി (pravasi) — Expatriate, emigrant, one who lives away from home or homeland (voluntary) exile.
- കുടുംബം (kudumbam) — Family, the group of people one lives with, parents, children and close relatives, a household.
- കുരങ്ങ് (kurangu) — Monkey. The monkey that lives in trees.
- തത്വം (thathvam) — Principle, a basic rule or belief, a truth one lives by.
- തവള (thavala) — Frog. A small jumping amphibian that lives near water.
- തെരു, തെരുവ് (theru theruv) — Street, bazaar, path with houses on both side, an area where a particular group (of people) lives.
- യാചകന് (yaachakan) — Beggar, mendicant, bhikshu, one who lives on alms.
pravasi names a person by where they live, യാചകന് (yaachakan) is a man who lives on alms, and തത്വം (thathvam) is a principle somebody lives by, so each fits a particular English phrase rather than the bare verb.
Common questions
How do you say lives in Malayalam?
It depends on the sense. For someone who lives abroad, Malayalis say പ്രവാസി (pravasi).
Is pravasi only for people in the Gulf?
No, it fits anyone settled away from their home state or country, though in Kerala it most often means someone working in the Gulf.