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The Malayalam script is an abugida of the Brahmic family, used to write the Malayalam language. Both the language and its writing system are closely related to Tamil, although Malayalam has a larger phoneme inventory.
The alphabet is classified into two categories: swarams (or vowels) and vyanjanams (or consonants).
If you don't have a font that has Malayalam characters and Unicode support, the Malayalam characters in the following tables may not appear correctly.
Malayalam vowels
| Letter | Vowel sign | Vowel with [p] | | Unicode name | IPA | Note
|
| 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
| (pr̥) | VOCALIC R | rɨ |
|
| ഌ
|
|
| | 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 |
|
Malayalam consonants
| Malayalam | Unicode Name | Transliteration | IPA
|
| ക | KA
| k | k
|
| ഖ | KHA
| kh | kh
|
| ഗ | GA
| g | g
|
| ഘ | GHA
| gh | gɦ
|
| ങ | NGA
| n̄ or ng | ŋ
|
| ച | CA
| c | tʃ
|
| ഛ | CHA
| ch | tʃh
|
| ജ | JA
| j | dʒ
|
| ഝ | JHA
| jh | dʒɦ
|
| ഞ | NYA
| ñ or ny | ɲ
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| ട | TTA
| ṭ or tt | ʈ
|
| ഠ | TTHA
| ṭh or tth | ʈh
|
| ഡ | DDA
| ḍ or dd | ɖ
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| ഢ | DDHA
| ḍh or ddh | ɖɦ
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| ണ | NNA
| ṇ or nn | ɳ
|
| ത | TA
| t | t̪
|
| ഥ | THA
| th | t̪h
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| ദ | DA
| d | d̪
|
| ധ | DHA
| d | d̪ɦ
|
| ന | NA
| n | n̪
|
| 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 | r̪
|
| ല | LA
| l | l
|
| വ | VA
| v | ʋ
|
| ശ | SHA
| ś or sh | ɕ
|
| ഷ | SSA
| ṣ or ss | ʃ
|
| സ | SA
| s | s
|
| ഹ | HA
| h | ɦ
|
| ള | LLA
| ḷ or ll | ɭ
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| ഴ | LLLA
| ḻ or lll | ɹ
|
| റ | RRA
| ṟ or rr | r
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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 specifically denote the
absence of a vowel, a chandrakkala ് (also called virama) is used. </p>
Other Malayalam symbols
| Symbol | Name | Function
|
| ് | virama or chandrakkala | denotes the absence of a vowel
|
| ം | anusvaaram | nasalizes the preceding vowel
|
| ഃ | visargam | 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.
Malayalam digits are written as follows:
Malayalam numerals
| Malayalam | Arabic
|
| ൦ | 0
|
| ൧ | 1
|
| ൨ | 2
|
| ൩ | 3
|
| ൪ | 4
|
| ൫ | 5
|
| ൬ | 6
|
| ൭ | 7
|
| ൮ | 8
|
| ൯ | 9
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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
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See also
External links
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