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Native name: മലയാളം (malayāḷam) [mʌlʌjaːɭʌm]) Language family: Dravidian, Southern Dravidian, Tamil-Kannada, Tamil-Kodagu, Tamil-Malayalam. Number of speakers: c. 38 million. Spoken in: India, First written: 4th century AD. Writing system: Malayalam and Arabic scripts (current), Grantha, Vatteluttu and several other scripts (past)
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Is Malayalam alphabet syllable based?
Is Malayalam a Vatteluttu alphabet?
Who developed Malayalam script?
Do all Malayalam consonants have an a-sound?
Aug 9, 2023 · 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.
Malayalam alphabet is unicase, or does not have a case distinction. It is written from left to right, but certain vowel signs are attached to the left (the opposite direction) of a consonant letter that it logically follows.
Unlike many other alphabets, the Malayalam Aksharamala or script is syllabic, meaning each Malayalam letter represents a syllable rather than a single consonant or vowel sound. This distinctive feature gives Malayalam its melodic and rhythmic quality, making it one of the most captivating languages in the world.
The Malayalam written script is phonetic, meaning that you say it as you write it (mostly!), and syllabic, meaning that it’s based on an alphabet and the syllables you can make with an alphabet. Therefore, there is a good correspondence between written and spoken Malayalam, though colloquial speech often diverges from standard written forms.
It’s not really. It works a little differently and requires some memorization, but the script is phonetic, meaning that you say it as you write it (mostly!), and syllabic, meaning that it’s based on an alphabet and the syllables you can make with an alphabet. With some hard work, you can learn the script within a week and never look back.
It is an alphasyllabary (abugida), like many other Indic scripts, a writing system that is partially “alphabetic” and partially syllable-based. There are 15 vowel letters, 42 consonant letters, and a few other symbols in the modern Malayalam alphabet.
