Here's a breakdown:
* Grammatical Gender: Malayalam has two genders: masculine and feminine. This is assigned to nouns and adjectives, and it affects the agreement of other words in a sentence, such as pronouns and verbs.
* Biological Sex: In Malayalam, the gender of a person is determined by their biological sex (male or female).
Here's how it works:
* Masculine nouns: Refer to males, and some objects that are traditionally associated with masculinity (e.g., sun, mountain).
* Feminine nouns: Refer to females, and some objects that are traditionally associated with femininity (e.g., moon, earth).
Example:
* "Aavan" (he) - masculine pronoun
* "Aval" (she) - feminine pronoun
* "Pulayan" (man) - masculine noun
* "Pennu" (woman) - feminine noun
Important Note: Some nouns in Malayalam are gender-neutral, meaning they can be used for both males and females. For example, the word "kula" (child) can refer to a boy or a girl.
In conclusion, Malayalam grammar uses grammatical gender to categorize nouns and adjectives, but this is separate from the biological sex of individuals.