The Kerala Bhasha Institute, which is a Government of Kerala body set up for academic research and publishing, is now on a mission to find a Malayalam word for 'transgender'.
The Institute has launched a week-long contest on social media to find a suitable word in Malayalam.
"At present Malayalam does not have an equivalent for the English word transgender," the Institute wrote on its Facebook page Thursday.
"The Bhasha Institute intends to find a suitable word that can be used to address transgender people with respect."
The Institute has said the words suggested by the public would be presented to a panel of language experts.
Participants are asked to mail their word suggestions to keralabhashatvm@gmail.com along with their full address and phone number before July 14.
Among its many functions, the Kerala Bhasha Institute set up in 1968 specialises in literary reforms by making additions to the glossary of Malayalam words, mainly in the field of science and technology.
The Institute hosted a workshop on scientific literature in Thiruvananthapuram on June 15 and 16. It was decided at the workshop to enable enriching the Malayalam language by taking into account the LGBTQ community.
