Malayalam alphabet: overview of script characters
Vowels
brackets indicate vowel as diacritic| Malayalam | Unicode | IPA | Pronunciation (?) |
|---|---|---|---|
| അ | a | /a/ | father |
| ആ ( ാ) | ā | /a:/ | day |
| ഇ ( ി) | i | /i/ | pit |
| ഈ ( ീ) | ī | /i:/ | treat |
| ഉ ( ു) | u | /u/ | bull |
| ഊ ( ൂ) | ū | /u:/ | tool |
| ഋ ( ൃ) | r̥ or ṛ | /rɨ/ or /ɻ̩/ | river (usually not rolled) |
| ൠ ( ൄ) | r̥̄ or ṝ | /rɨː/ or /ɻ̩:/ | reed |
| ഌ | l̥ | /lɨ/ or /l̩/ | liver (approximation) |
| ൡ | l̥̄ | /lɨ/ or /l̩:/ | leed (approximation) |
| എ ( െ) | e | /e/ | best |
| ഏ ( േ) | ē | /e:/ | pager |
| ഒ ( ൊ) | o | /o/ | poll |
| ഓ ( ോ) | ō | /o:/ | cool |
Vowels, diphthongs
brackets indicate vowel as diacritic| Malayalam | Unicode | IPA | Pronunciation (?) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ഐ ( ൈ) | ai | /ai̯/ | aisle |
| ഔ ( ൗ or ൌ) | au | /au̯/ | cow |
Anusvara
represents any nasal consonant| Malayalam | Unicode | IPA | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| അം | aṃ or aṁ | /am/ | Vowel example |
| ം | ṃ or ṁ | /m/ | Standalone diacritic |
Visarga
represents the consonant 'h' after a vowel| Malayalam | Unicode | IPA | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| അഃ | aḥ | /aɦ/ | Vowel example |
| ഃ | ḥ | /ɦ/ | Standalone diacritic |
Chandrakkala
supresses the inherent vowel of a consonant| Malayalam | Extra information |
|---|---|
| ് | called virama in Sanskrit, halant in Hindi |
Consonants
vowel 'a' is the default vowel| Malayalam | Unicode | IPA | Pronunciation (?) | Extra information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ക | ka | /ka/ | kiss | Unaspirated, Unvoiced |
| ഖ | kha | /kʰa/ | stockholm | Aspirated, Unvoiced |
| ഗ | ga | /ga/ or /ɠa/ | goal | Unaspirated, Voiced |
| ഘ | gha | /gʱa/ or /ɡʱa/ | ghost | Aspirated, Voiced |
| ച | ca | /t͡ʃa/ | church | Unaspirated, Unvoiced |
| ഛ | cha | /t͡ʃʰa/ | which-hand | Aspirated, Unvoiced |
| ജ | ja | /d͡ʒa/ | junior | Unaspirated, Voiced |
| ഝ | jha | /d͡ʒʱa/ | fridge-hanging | Aspirated, Voiced |
| ട | ṭa | /ʈa/ | art | Unaspirated, Unvoiced |
| ഠ | ṭha | /ʈʰa/ | art-historian | Aspirated, Unvoiced |
| ഡ | ḍa | /ɖa/ | guard | Unaspirated, Voiced |
| ഢ | ḍha | /ɖʱa/ | guardhouse | Aspirated, Voiced |
| ത | ta | /t̪a/ | stable | Unaspirated, Unvoiced |
| ഥ | tha | /t̪ʰa/ | table | Aspirated, Unvoiced |
| ദ | da | /d̪a/ | ditch | Unaspirated, Voiced |
| ധ | dha | /d̪ʱa/ | adhere | Aspirated, Voiced |
| പ | pa | /pa/ | span | Unaspirated, Unvoiced |
| ഫ | pha | /pʰa/ | pole | Aspirated, Unvoiced |
| ബ | ba | /ba/ | big | Unaspirated, Voiced |
| ഭ | bha | /bʱa/ | abhor | Aspirated, Voiced |
Consonants, nasal
vowel 'a' is the default vowel| Malayalam | Unicode | IPA | Pronunciation (?) | Extra information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ങ | ṅa | /ŋa/ | sing | Unaspirated, Voiced |
| ഞ | ña | /ɲa/ | canyon | Unaspirated, Voiced |
| ണ | ṇa | /ɳa/ | burner | Unaspirated, Voiced |
| ന | na | /n̪a/ or /na/ | nose | Unaspirated, Voiced |
| മ | ma | /ma/ | moose | Unaspirated, Voiced |
Consonants, other
vowel 'a' is the default vowel| Malayalam | Unicode | IPA | Pronunciation (?) | Extra information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| യ | ya | /ja/ | yak | Unaspirated, Voiced |
| ര | ra | /ɾa/ | three | Unaspirated, Voiced |
| ല | la | /la/ | leaf | Unaspirated, Voiced |
| വ | va | /ʋa/ | curve | Unaspirated, Voiced |
| ശ | śa | /ɕa/ | sugar | Aspirated, Unvoiced |
| ഷ | ṣa | /ʂa/ | shun | Aspirated, Unvoiced |
| ഷ | ṣa | /ʂa/ | worship | Aspirated, Unvoiced |
| സ | sa | /sa/ | sorry | Aspirated, Unvoiced |
| ഹ | ha | /ɦa/ or /h/ | head | Aspirated, Voiced |
| ള | ḷa | /ɭa/ | barley (?) | |
| ഴ | ḻa | /ɻa/ | run (?) | |
| റ | ṟa | /ra/ | trill | |
| ഩ | ṉa | /na/ | nose (?) | |
| ഺ | ṯa | /ta/ | task (?) |
Consonants, chillu
special consonant that represents an independant consonantvowel 'a' is the default vowel
| Malayalam | Unicode | IPA | Pronunciation (?) | Extra information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| യ | ṇ | /ɳ/ | burner | |
| ൻ | n | /n̪a/ or /na/ | nose | |
| ർ | r | /ɾa/ | three | Historically from ra, not from ṟa |
| ൽ | l | /la/ | leaf | Historically from ta |
| ൾ | ḷ | /ɭa/ | barley (?) | Historically from śa |
| ൿ | k | /ka/ | kiss |