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The Malayalam script is an abugida of the Brahmic family, used to write the Malayalam language. From the Brahmi script, the Grantha script emerged as one of the earliest Southern scripts. It further evolved into the Malayalam script. The Malayalam script covers all the symbols of Sanskrit as well as special Dravidian letters. The alphabet is classified into two categories: swarams (or vowels) and vyanjanams (or consonants).
[edit] Vowels
| Letter | Vowel sign | Vowel with [p]
| | Unicode name | IPA | Remarks
|
| അ | | പ
| (pa) | A | a | short 'a'
|
| ആ | ാ | പാ
| (pā) | AA | aː | long 'a'
|
| ഇ | ി | പി
| (pi) | I | i | short 'i'
|
| ഈ | ീ | പീ
| (pī) | II | iː | long 'i'
|
| ഉ | ു | പു
| (pu) | U | u | short 'u'
|
| ഊ | ൂ | പൂ
| (pu) | UU | uː | long 'u'
|
| ഋ | ൃ | പൃ
| (pr) | VOCALIC R | r< |
|
| ൠ | |
| (pr) | LONG VOCALIC R | | Obsolete/rarely used
|
| ഌ | |
| | VOCALIC L | | obsolete/rarely used
|
| ൡ | |
| | LONG VOCALIC L | | obsolete/rarely used
|
| എ | െ | പെ
| (pe) | E | e | short 'e'
|
| ഏ | േ | പേ
| (pē) | E | eː | long 'e'
|
| ഐ | ൈ | പൈ
| (pai) | AI | ai |
|
| ഒ | ൊ | പൊ
| (po) | O | o | short 'o'
|
| ഓ | ോ | പോ
| (pō) | OO | oː | long 'o'
|
| ഔ | ൌ | പൌ
| (pau) | AU | au |
|
| അ.
|
| അ:
|
[edit] Consonants
| Malayalam | Unicode name | Transliteration | IPA |
ക | KA | k | k
| ഖ | KHA | kh | kh
| ഗ | GA | g | g
| ഘ | GHA | gh | gɦ
| ങ | NGA | n or ng | ŋ
| ച | CHA | ch | tʃ
| ഛ | CHHA | chh | tʃh
| ജ | JA | j | dʒ
| ഝ | JHA | jh | dʒɦ
| ഞ | NJA | ñ or nj | ɲ
| ട | TTA | ṭ or tt | ʈ
| ഠ | TTHA | ṭh or tth | ʈh
| ഡ | DDA | ḍ or dd | ɖ
| ഢ | DDHA | ḍh or ddh | ɖɦ
| ണ | NNA | ṇ or nn | ɳ
| ത | THA | th | t
| ഥ | THHA | thh | th
| ദ | DA | d | d
|
| Malayalam | Unicode name | Transliteration | IPA |
ധ | DHA | d | d<
| ന | NA | n | n
| പ | PA | p | p
| ഫ | PHA | ph | ph
| ബ | BA | b | b
| ഭ | BHA | bh | bɦ
| മ | MA | m | m
| യ | YA | y | j
| ര | RA | r | ɾ
| ല | LA | l | l
| വ | VA | v | ʋ
| ശ | SHA | ṣ or s | ɕ
| ഷ | SSA | sś or sh | ʃ
| സ | SA | s | s
| ഹ | HA | h | ɦ
| ള | LLA | ḷ or ll | ɭ
| ഴ | ZHA | ḻ or zh | ɻ
| റ | RRA | ṟ or rr | r
|
There is no distinction of case, i.e. no uppercase and lowercase letters. Diacritics, or vowel signs, are used to associate a vowel to a consonant. When no diacritic is used, the vowel sound 'a' is assumed. To denote the absence of a vowel specifically, a
chandrakkala ് (also called
virama) is used.
[edit] Other symbols
| Symbol | Name
| Function
|
| ് | virama or chandrakkala
| denotes the absence of a vowel
|
| ം | anusvara
| nasalizes the preceding vowel
|
| ഃ | visarga
| adds voiceless breath after vowel (like h)
|
In addition to these symbols, there are many more symbols to indicate ligatures of the various consonants with each other.
[edit] Digits
Malayalam digits are written as follows:
| Malayalam | Hindu-Arabic |
൦ | 0
| ൧ | 1
| ൨ | 2
| ൩ | 3
| ൪ | 4
| ൫ | 5
| ൬ | 6
| ൭ | 7
| ൮ | 8
| ൯ | 9
|
[edit] Malayalam in Unicode
The Unicode range for Malayalam is U+0D00 ... U+0D7F.
| | | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F |
D00 | | ഀ | ഁ | ം | ഃ | ഄ | അ | ആ | ഇ | ഈ | ഉ | ഊ | ഋ | ഌ | | എ | ഏ
| D10 | | ഐ | | ഒ | ഓ | ഔ | ക | ഖ | ഗ | ഘ | ങ | ച | ഛ | ജ | ഝ | ഞ | ട
| D20 | | ഠ | ഡ | ഢ | ണ | ത | ഥ | ദ | ധ | ന | ഩ | പ | ഫ | ബ | ഭ | മ | യ
| D30 | | ര | റ | ല | ള | ഴ | വ | ശ | ഷ | സ | ഹ | ഺ | ഻ | ഼ | ഽ | ാ | ി
| D40 | | ീ | ു | ൂ | ൃ | ൄ | | െ | േ | ൈ | | ൊ | ോ | ൌ | ് | ൎ | ൏
| D50 | | | | | | ൔ | ൕ | ൖ | ൗ | ൘ | ൙ | ൚ | ൛ | ൜ | ൝ | ൞ | ൟ
| D60 | | ൠ | ൡ | ൢ | ൣ | | | ൦ | ൧ | ൨ | ൩ | ൪ | ൫ | ൬ | ൭ | ൮ | ൯
| D70 | | ൰ | ൱ | ൲ | ൳ | ൴ | ൵ | ൶ | ൷ | ൸ | ൹ | ൺ | ൻ | ർ | ൽ | ൾ | ൿ
|
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
br:Skritur malayalamek
de:Malayalam-Schrift
ml:മലയാളം അക്ഷരമാല
ja:マラヤーラム文字
ru:Малаялам (письмо)
ta:மலையாள எழுத்துக்கள்
th:อักษรมาลายาลัม
