Editing Malayalam script (section)

====Vowels====
=====Vowel letters and vowel signs=====
The following tables show the independent vowel letters and the corresponding dependent vowel signs (diacritics) of the Malayalam script, with '''romanizations''' in [[ISO 15919]], transcriptions in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA).
{|class="wikitable" style="margin-left:30px"
|+[[Monophthong]]s
!rowspan="3" style="width:4em"|&nbsp;!!colspan="3"|[[Vowel length|Short]]!!colspan="3"|Long
|-
!rowspan="2"|Independent!!colspan="2"|Dependent!!rowspan="2"|Indep.!!colspan="2"|Dependent
|-
!Vowel sign!!Example!!Vowel sign!!Example
|-
!''a''
|<big>{{lang|ml|[[അ]]}}</big> '''a'''<br />{{IPA|/a/}}
|''(none)''
|<big>{{lang|ml|പ}}</big> '''pa'''<br />{{IPA|/pa/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|[[ആ]]}}</big> '''ā'''<br />{{IPA|/aː/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ാ}}</big><br />&nbsp;
|<big>{{lang|ml|പാ}}</big> '''pā'''<br />{{IPA|/paː/}}
|-
!''i''
|<big>{{lang|ml|ഇ}}</big> '''i'''<br />{{IPA|/i/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ി}}</big><br />&nbsp;
|<big>{{lang|ml|പി}}</big> '''pi'''<br />{{IPA|/pi/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|ഈ}}</big> '''ī'''<br />{{IPA|/iː/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ീ}}</big><br />&nbsp;
|<big>{{lang|ml|പീ}}</big> '''pī'''<br />{{IPA|/piː/}}
|-
!''u''
|<big>{{lang|ml|ഉ}}</big> '''u'''<br />{{IPA|/u/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ു}}</big><br />&nbsp;
|<big>{{lang|ml|പു}}</big> '''pu'''<br />{{IPA|/pu/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|ഊ}}</big> '''ū'''<br />{{IPA|/uː/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ൂ}}</big><br />&nbsp;
|<big>{{lang|ml|പൂ}}</big> '''pū'''<br />{{IPA|/puː/}}
|-
!''r̥''
|<big>{{lang|ml|ഋ}}</big> '''r̥'''<br />{{IPA|/rɨ/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ൃ}}</big><br />&nbsp;
|<big>{{lang|ml|പൃ}}</big> '''pr̥'''<br />{{IPA|/prɨ/}}
|style="background:#ddd"|<big>{{lang|ml|ൠ}}</big> '''r̥̄'''<br />{{IPA|/rɨː/}}
|style="background:#ddd"|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ൄ}}</big><br />&nbsp;
|style="background:#ddd"|<big>{{lang|ml|പൄ}}</big> '''pr̥̄'''<br />{{IPA|/prɨː/}}
|-style="background:#ddd"
!''l̥''
|<big>{{lang|ml|ഌ}}</big> '''l̥'''<br />{{IPA|/lɨ/}}
|<big style="margin-left:1em">{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ൢ}}</big><br />&nbsp;
|<big>{{lang|ml|പൢ}}</big> '''pl̥'''<br />{{IPA|/plɨ/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|ൡ}}</big> '''l̥̄'''<br />{{IPA|/lɨː/}}
|<big style="margin-left:1em">{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ൣ}}</big><br />&nbsp;
|<big>{{lang|ml|പൣ}}</big> '''pl̥̄'''<br />{{IPA|/plɨː/}}
|-
!''e''
|<big>{{lang|ml|എ}}</big> '''e'''<br />{{IPA|/e/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;െ}}</big><br />&nbsp;
|<big>{{lang|ml|പെ}}</big> '''pe'''<br />{{IPA|/pe/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|ഏ}}</big> '''ē'''<br />{{IPA|/eː/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;േ}}</big><br />&nbsp;
|<big>{{lang|ml|പേ}}</big> '''pē'''<br />{{IPA|/peː/}}
|-
!''o''
|<big>{{lang|ml|ഒ}}</big> '''o'''<br />{{IPA|/o/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ൊ}}</big><br />&nbsp;
|<big>{{lang|ml|പൊ}}</big> '''po'''<br />{{IPA|/po/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|ഓ}}</big> '''ō'''<br />{{IPA|/oː/}}
|ോ<br />&nbsp;
|<big>{{lang|ml|പോ}}</big> '''pō'''<br />{{IPA|/poː/}}
|}

''r̥'', ''r̥̄'', ''l̥'', ''l̥̄'', used to write [[Sanskrit]] words, are treated as vowels. They are called semi-vowels and are phonetically closer to vowels in Malayalam and in Classical Sanskrit where [[Pāṇini|Panini]], the Sanskrit grammarian, groups them with vowel sounds in his sutras. (see ''[[Proto-Indo-European language]]'' and ''[[Vedic Sanskrit]]''). The letters and signs for ''r̥̄'', ''l̥'', ''l̥̄'' are very rare, and are not considered as part of the modern orthography.<ref name="K">{{Cite journal |date=December 18, 2001 |title=Report of the Committee on Malayalam Character Encoding and Keyboard Layout Standardisation |periodical=[[Kerala Gazette]] |publisher=Government of Kerala |volume=46 |issue=2023 |url=http://www.clickeralam.org/malayalam.html |access-date=2009-10-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091006202624/http://www.clickeralam.org/malayalam.html |archive-date=October 6, 2009 }} See also [http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~mp/malayalam/keyboard/malayalam%20standardization%20report.pdf the May 2001 version] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131052558/http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~mp/malayalam/keyboard/malayalam%20standardization%20report.pdf |date=2010-01-31 }} (PDF).</ref>

The vowel signs ''ā'', ''i'', ''ī'' are placed to the right of a consonant letter to which it is attached. The vowel signs ''e'', ''ē'', ''ai'' are placed to the left of a consonant letter. The vowel signs ''o'' and ''ō'' consist of two parts: the first part goes to the left of a consonant letter and the second part goes to the right of it. In the reformed orthography, the vowel signs ''u'', ''ū'', ''r̥'' are simply placed to the right of the consonant letter, while they often make consonant-vowel ligatures in the traditional orthography.
{|class="wikitable" style="margin-left:30px"
|+[[Diphthong]]s
!rowspan="2" style="width:4em"|&nbsp;!!rowspan="2"|Independent!!colspan="2"|Dependent
|-
!Vowel sign!!Example
|-
!''ai''
|<big>{{lang|ml|ഐ}}</big> '''ai'''<br />{{IPA|/ai̯/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ൈ}}</big><br />&nbsp;
|<big>{{lang|ml|പൈ}}</big> '''pai'''<br />{{IPA|/pai̯/}}
|-
!rowspan="2"|''au''
|rowspan="2"|<big>{{lang|ml|ഔ}}</big> '''au'''<br />{{IPA|/au̯/}}
|style="background:#ddd"|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ൌ}}</big><br />''(archaic)''
|style="background:#ddd"|<big>{{lang|ml|പൌ}}</big> '''pau'''<br />{{IPA|/pau̯/}}
|-
|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ൗ}}</big><br />''(modern)''
|<big>{{lang|ml|പൗ}}</big> '''pau'''<br />{{IPA|/pau̯/}}
|}
It is important to note the vowel duration as it can be used to differentiate words that would otherwise be the same. For example, {{IPA|/kalam/}} means "earthenware pot" while {{IPA|/kaːlam/}} means "time" or "season".<ref name="Ref_h">Asher, R. E. ''Malayalam''. Ed. T. C. Kumari 1934-. London; New York : Routledge, 1997.</ref>