Malayalam/Alphabet

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 (abugida), 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 Pronunciation അ a a cart 100px ആ aː ā father 100px ഇ ɪ i sit 100px ഈ iː ī seat 100px ഉ ʊ u full 100px ഊ uː ū fool 100px ഋ r̥ r̥ better100px എ e e eight 100px ഏ eː ē eight (but longer)100px ഐ əɪ ai mile 100px ഒ o o sole 100px ഓ oː ō coat 100px ഔ əʊ au owl 100px അം am - - - 100px അഃ ah - - - - - - Consonants (വ്യഞ്ജനങ്ങൾ) (Vyanjanam) + Malayalam IPA ISO 15919 English approximation Pronunciation ക k k sky 100px ഖ kʰ kh khan 100px ഗ ɡ g go 100px ഘ ɡʱ gh Ghana 100px ങ ŋ ṅ sing 100px ച t͡ʃ c church 100px ഛ t͡ʃʰ ch which hand 100px ജ ɟ j junior 100px ഝ ɟʱ jh hedgehog 100px ഞ ɲ ñ cognac 100px ട ʈ ṭ tide (but retroflex) 100px ഠ ʈʰ ṭh got the but retroflex 100px ഡ ɖ ḍ dog but retroflex 100px ഢ ɖʱ ḍh bond her hair but retroflex 100px ണ ɳ ṇ Hindi Varuna 100px ത t t earthed 100px ഥ tʰ th get down 100px ദ d d dad 100px ധ dʱ dh had done 100px ന n̪ n month 100px പ p p pain 100px ഫ f/pʰ ph Has two pronunciations, either as football or pan 100px ബ b b big 100px ഭ bʱ bh bhangra 100px മ m m mall 100px യ j y yes 100px ര ɾ r Spanish tres 100px ല l l listen 100px വ ʋ v curve 100px ശ ʃ ś sugar 100px ഷ ʂ ṣ shun 100px സ s s so 100px ഹ h h head 100px ള ɭ ḷ Swedish sorl 100px ഴ ɻ ḻ run 100px റ r ṟ Spanish rojo 100px ഩ n ṉ not 100px Special Consonants (ചില്ലക്ഷരം) (Chillaksharam) + Malayalam IPA ൽ il ൻ N ർ RR ൺ NN ൾ LL