Panmana Ramachandran Nair authored several books on Malayalam grammar and linguistics. Thiruvananthapuram: Eminent writer and linguist Panmana Ramachandran Nair passed away here on Tuesday. He was 87. He breathed his last at his residence in Vazhuthcaud here.
He has authored several books on Malayalam grammar and linguistics. He used to conduct classes for children to improve their linguistic proficiency.
He passed MA Malayalam from University College here in 1957 with first rank. After that he worked as a professor in government-run colleges in Palakkad, Chittur, Thalassery and Thiruvananthapuram. In 1987, he retired from University College when he was the head of the department of Malayalam there.
He has served as a member of Kerala State Library Council, Kerala Sahitya Academy, Kerala Kalamandalam and Sahitya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangham.
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Panmana has written 20 books, including five on the correct usage of Malayalam language and five for children. His language books ‘Thetum Seriyum’, ‘Thetilaatha Malayalam’, ‘Suddha Malayalam’, ‘Thetillatha Uchcharanam’ and ‘Bhasha Suddhi Samsaya Pariharangal’, which are the products of his interaction with students and his keen observation of the use and abuse of language in daily life, were brought out in an omnibus called ‘Nalla Bhasha’ during his Shathabhishekam two years ago. His children’s works such as ‘Oonjal’, ‘Mazhavillu’, ‘Poonthen’, ‘Deepasikha Kalidasan’ and ‘Appooppanum Kuttikalum’ have been similarly collected as ‘Panmanayude Balasahitya Krithikal’.
He addressed nearly 3,000 queries on the language through a column that ran in Career magazine from 1986-96, resulting in the book ‘Malayalavum Malayalikalum’. His life study of Kerala Panini called ‘Navayugasilpi A.R. Rajaraja Varma’ is a seminal work.
Panmana wrote articles on Malayalam language in all major vernacular dailies and gave talks on radio and TV. He submitted a detailed blueprint for the Malayalam University and took the initiative in establishing the Kumaran Asan memorial at Thonakkal.
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