< Malayalam
Malayalam script is a Brahmic script used commonly to write the Malayalam language, which is the principal language of Kerala, India, spoken by 45 million people in the world. Malayalam script is also widely used for writing Sanskrit texts in Kerala. Like many other Indic scripts, it is an alphasyllabary, a writing system that is partially “alphabetic” and partially syllable-based. The Malayalam Alphabet has 15 vowels, 37 consonants, 5 chillus, and some more conjunct consonants and ligatures.
Vowels (സ്വരങ്ങൾ) (svaram)
| Malayalam | IPA | ISO 15919 | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|
| അ | a | a | cart |
| ആ | aː | ā | father |
| ഇ | ɪ | i | sit |
| ഈ | iː | ī | seat |
| ഉ | ʊ | u | full |
| ഊ | uː | ū | fool |
| ഋ | r̥ | r̥ | better |
| എ | e | e | eight |
| ഏ | eː | ē | eight (but longer) |
| ഐ | əɪ | ai | mile |
| ഒ | o | o | sole |
| ഓ | oː | ō | coat |
| ഔ | əʊ | au | owl |
| അം | am | - - - | |
| അഃ | ah | - - - |
Consonants (വ്യഞ്ജനങ്ങൾ) (vyanjanam)
| Malayalam | IPA | ISO 15919 | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ക | k | k | sky |
| ഖ | kʰ | kh | khan |
| ഗ | ɡ | g | go |
| ഘ | ɡʱ | gh | Ghana |
| ങ | ŋ | ṅ | sing |
| ച | t͡ʃ | c | church |
| ഛ | t͡ʃʰ | ch | which hand |
| ജ | ɟ | j | junior |
| ഝ | ɟʱ | jh | hedgehog |
| ഞ | ɲ | ñ | cognac |
| ട | ʈ | ṭ | tide (but retroflex) |
| ഠ | ʈʰ | ṭh | got the but retroflex |
| ഡ | ɖ | ḍ | dog but retroflex |
| ഢ | ɖʱ | ḍh | bond her hair but retroflex |
| ണ | ɳ | ṇ | Hindi Varuna |
| ത | t | t | earthed |
| ഥ | tʰ | th | get down |
| ദ | d | d | dad |
| ധ | dʱ | dh | had done |
| ന | n̪ | n | month |
| പ | p | p | pain |
| ഫ | f/pʰ | ph | Has two pronunciations, either as football or pan |
| ബ | b | b | big |
| ഭ | bʱ | bh | bhangra |
| മ | m | m | mall |
| യ | j | y | yes |
| ര | ɾ | r | Spanish tres |
| ല | l | l | listen |
| വ | ʋ | v | curve |
| ശ | ʃ | ś | sugar |
| ഷ | ʂ | ṣ | shun |
| സ | s | s | so |
| ഹ | h | h | head |
| ള | ɭ | ḷ | Swedish sorl |
| ഴ | ɻ | ḻ | run |
| റ | r | ṟ | Spanish rojo |
| ഩ | n | ṉ | not |
Special Consonants (ചില്ലക്ഷരം) (chillaksharam)
| Malayalam | IPA |
|---|---|
| ൽ | il |
| ൻ | N |
| ർ | RR |
| ൺ | NN |
| ൾ | LL |
This article is issued from Wikibooks. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.