V. R. Prabodhachandran Nayar (also spelled Prabodhachandran Nair), popularly known as VRP Nayar, is a PhoneticsNayar, VR Prabodhachandran. "Phonology of Verbal Forms in Colloquial Malayalam." PhD diss., University of London, 1970. expert of Kerala. He is the pioneer in the study of the phonology of the Malayalam language.swbplus.bsz-bw.de/bsz307797112inh.pdf;jsessionid...?1342963409091catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/234406 Apart from phonology, he is also interested in syntax and stylistics.
Professional career VRP Nayar commenced his professional career in 1959 when he was 20, as a lecturer in Malayalam in the South Travancore Hindu College Nagercoil (Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu), the then southernmost college in India. He retired as Head of the department of Linguistics, University of Kerala, Trivandrum, in August 1998. However, he is active as a teacher and was working as a Visiting Professor-cum-Coordinator, at Department of Linguistics, Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod during the years 2012 and 2013.
Association with South Travancore Hindu College, helped him have exposure first to colloquial Tamil and in due course, to the classical language and literature in Tamil. Concurrently he progressed with his PhD program as a part-time Research Scholar under the guidance of Dean Professor / Dr PK Narayana Pillai, in the Department of Oriental Studies, University of Kerala. He was the first recipient of University Grants Commission (India)'s’s Junior Research Fellowshiphttp://www.examrace.com › Major Scholarships › General Scholarships in the Faculty of Oriental Studies in the University. In May 1963 he joined as the only Lecturer in the University's newly established Department of Linguistics and in 1965 submitted his PhD thesis entitled Descriptive Grammar of KrishnagathaCherusseri Namboothiri, one of the oldest and classic poetic works by the legendary Malayalam poet Cherusseri Namboothiri. In 1967 Dr Nayar was granted a Commonwealth Scholarship for research in Phonetics and Linguistics at the School of Oriental and African Studies in the University of London. His studies in London overshot their stipulated aims, in the sense that he successfully completed another thesis called Malayalam Verbal Formsbooks.google.com › Foreign Language Study › Indic Languages– A Phonetic and Phonological Study Supported by Experimental Findings which fetched him his second PhD. During this period of research he could make a study tour of a number of libraries and speech-laboratories in the UK as well as in France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Rejoining his parent Department in Thiruvananthapuram, Dr Nayar was promoted as Reader and subsequently as Professor and in 1981 as Chair-Professor, which position he held till his retirement in 1998. Simultaneously he served on several occasions in the following positions also: Member / Chair, Board of Studies in Linguistics; Member / Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies; Director of the International Center for Kerala Studies; Member of the Advisory Committee for the Oriental Research Institute and Manuscripts Library and the Department of Malayalam Lexicon; the first Vice-Chairman of the Council Monitoring the Choice – based Credit and Semester System, introduced for the first time in any University in Kerala.
During his tenure as Professor of Linguistics in the University of Kerala, Dr Nayar organized a number of Seminars, Symposiums, Conferences and Workshops at the regional, state and national levels and successfully completed several Research Projects. After his retirement from the University of Kerala, Dr Nayar served the following institutions as a Visiting Professor and in various capacities as presented here:
1998–2003School of Letters, Mahathma Gandhi University, Kottayam (MGU) 2003–2008 Department of Comparative Literature and Linguistics, Sri Sankara Sanskrit University(in the name of Adi Shankara), Kalady 2012–2013 Department of Linguistics, Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod 2001–2006 Chairman, Kerala kalamandalam 2001–2006 Chair, Jury for several prestigious awards, including Ezhuthachan Award and State Awards for Kathakali and for Dance 1993–2009 Co-ordinator, Summer in Kerala Program of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA2003–2009 Consultant in Linguistics, C-DAC & CDiT (Center for Developing AdvancedComputing and for Imaging Technology), Thiruvananthapuram. 2007–2011 Member: Advisory Committee of the Kutiyattam Kendra of the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi Since 2007 Chairman: Samskrithi, a multinational organization, promoting Kerala's heritage in classical music.Since 1998Chairman: Vivekananda Cultural Institute, Thiruvananthapuramsince 2000Chairman: Thunchan Smaaraka Samithi, Thiruvananthapuram.Since 2005Chairman: Ezhuthachan National Academy, ThiruvananthapuramSince 2006Chairman: Editorial Board, Kilippaattu monthly, Thiruvananthapuram.2011–2014Expert Member: Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Thiruvananthapuram.2005–2009Expert Member: Projects Review & Steering Group of the Dept of Information Technology,deity.gov.in/ Ministry of Human Resources Development,mhrd.gov.in/ Govt of India.
Publications
Malayalam Vivarthhanaththinte Bhaashaasaasthrabhuumika (Translation - Its Background Linguistics), State Institute of Languages, TVPM (SIL) 1974 Svanavijnjaanam (Phonetics), SIL, 1980 Lookabhaashakal (The World Languages)DC Books, 1987 Ezhuththinte kathaedwardbetts.com/find_link/institute_of_Children%2527s_Literature (The Story of Writing or the Letter), The Institute of Children's Literature, TVPM 1996 Malayalam Malayaaliyolam (Malayalam as Much as the Malayaali) SIL, 1999 Cherusseri (A literary biography of the author of Krishnagatha), Department of Publications, University of Kerala, 1999http://www.keralauniversity.ac.in/images/publications/malayalamb.pdf Uchchaaranam nannaavaan (For Improvement in Pronunciation) SIL 2000 Sailiibhamgikal (The Beauties of Style) SIL 2003 Hari Nama Keerthanam (Annotated edition of the famous 16th century hymn) Thunchan Smaraka Samithi, TVPM-9, 2009 Bhaashaasaasthradrshtiyiluute (From the View point of Linguistics), SIL 2009 Draavidabhaashakal (Dravidian Languages Translation from English of MS Andranov's original book in Russian)SIL 1975 Chittappetuththiya kathhakalippadangalthehindu.com https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/theatre/touchstone-of-artistic-expression/article2853807.ece (Notated Kathakali songs: An anthology of 20 select pieces with introduction and notes) Keralakalamandalam 2004 SriLalitasasahasranaamasthothramliteral explanation for Lalita Sahasranamam – (Annotated Edition with an introduction)Thunchan Smaaraka Samithi, TVPM-9, 2011 Bhashasatra Nighandu A thorough insight into the science of language, Kerala Bhasha Institute, TVPM,2012,
Malayalam Verbal Forms – Phonetics and Phonology of Colloquial Malayalam, with Experimental Findings, Dravidian Linguistics Association, TVPM 1972 Malayalam: A Linguistic Description,https://www.amazon.co.uk › Books › Reference › Languagesearch.library.wisc.edu/catalog/ocm05354133 National Research Publications, Kazhakuttam TVPM 1973 Malayalam for Beginners, Swantham Books, TVPM-10; 1999 Kathakali Texts in Translation (in Phillip B Zarrilli: Kathakali-Dance Drama Where Gods and Demons Come to Play 2003) Vidyarambham CD for Malayalam Self - Study (2001) Vision, insights and Innovation (Report of the Calicut University Commission, 2000) Malayalam for All India Service Officer Trainees, Dr. V.R. Prabodhachandran Nayar, Publisher: Institute of Management in Government(IMG), Thiruvananthapuram, 2020 Dr. K. Raghavan Pilla-a literary biography by Dr. VRP, State Institute of Languages, 2020 Lalitha Ganangal Prabodha sangeetham Valyam-2, National Bookstall, Kottayam 2021 March. Prabodhasangeetam, by Dr. V R Prabodhachandran Nayar, Kurukshetra Prakasan, Kaloor Towers, Kochi, April, 2023 KATHAKALI, An Ocean of Possibilities, Heritage and Present Scenario, by Dr. V R Prabodhachandran Nayar, NYR Ventures, LLC, Burlingon,MA USA, 2025
Awards
Dr. K Godavarma Memorial Gold medal (1959) Commonwealth Scholarship for post doctoral research at the School of Oriental and African Studies, Univ. of London (1967) IC Chacko Award of the Kerala Sahitya Akademy, for the best book in scientific literature (Swanavijnaanam) (Citation) (1981) CL Antony Award of the Trissur Sahridaya veedi (Citation) (1998) MKKNayar Award of the MKKNayar Memorial Cultural Institute, Pakalkuri (Citation) (2002) NV Krishna Variar Award for scientific literature (2011) Sakthi Thaayaatt Award for scientific literature (2011) Professor CP Menon Award for scientific literature (Citation) (2013) (Mukunda Raajaa) Smriti Puraskaaram of Keralakalamandalam 9 November 2014) Shreshta Malayala Basha Puraskaram, Govt. of India, 4 April 2019. Tapasya Kala-Sahitya Vedi's Prof. P Viswambharan Puraskaram, Dec. 2025 Prof. S. Guptan Nair Foundation's Puraskaram, Feb. 2026
See also Dravidian Linguistics Association Dravidian Languages
References