Editing Malayalam script (section)

==Description==

===Characteristics===
The basic characters can be classified as follows:
* [[Vowel]]s ({{lang|ml|സ്വരം}}, ''svaram'')
*# Independent vowel letters
*# Dependent vowel signs ({{lang|ml|സ്വരചിഹ്നം}},''svarachinnam'')
* [[Consonant]] letters ({{lang|ml|വ്യഞ്ജനം}}, ''vyañjanam'')

An independent vowel letter is used as the first letter of a word that begins with a vowel. A consonant letter, despite its name, does not represent a pure consonant, but represents a consonant + a short vowel /a/ by default. For example, {{lang|ml|ക}} is the first consonant letter of the Malayalam alphabet, which represents /ka/, not a simple /k/. A vowel sign is a [[diacritic]] attached to a consonant letter to indicate that the consonant is followed by a vowel other than /a/. If the following vowel is /a/, no vowel sign is needed. The [[phoneme]] /a/ that follows a consonant by default is called an [[inherent vowel]]. In Malayalam, its phonetic value is [[Roundedness|unrounded]] {{IPAblink|ɐ}},<ref name="Ref_a">Canepari (2005), pp. 396, 140.</ref> or {{IPAblink|ə}} as an [[allophone]]. To denote a pure consonant sound not followed by a vowel, a special diacritic ''[[virama]]'' is used to cancel the inherent vowel. The following are examples where a consonant letter is used with or without a diacritic.
* {{lang|ml|ക്}} /k/ = /k/ which is a consonant sound
*{{lang|ml|ക}} ''ka'' = {{lang|ml|ക്}} /k/ + {{lang|ml|അ}} vowel sign a
*{{lang|ml|കി}} ''ki'' = {{lang|ml|ക്}} /''k/'' + {{lang|ml|ഇ}} vowel sign ''i''
* {{lang|ml|കു}} ''ku'' = {{lang|ml|ക്}} /''k/'' + {{lang|ml|ഉ}} vowel sign ''u''
* {{lang|ml|കൈ}} ''kai'' = {{lang|ml|ക്}} /''k/'' + {{lang|ml|ഐ}} vowel sign ''ai''

Malayalam alphabet is [[unicase]], or does not have a [[letter case|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. In the word {{lang|ml|കേരളം}} ([[Kerala|''Kēraḷam'']]), the vowel sign {{lang|ml| േ}} (''ē'') visually appears in the leftmost position, though the vowel ''ē'' logically follows the consonant ''k''.

===Malayalam letters===
====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>

====Anusvaram====
{|class="wikitable" style="margin-left:30px"
|+''Anusvaram''
!style="width:4em"|''aṁ''
|<big>{{lang|ml|അം}}</big> '''aṁ'''<br />{{IPA|/am/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ം}}</big> m̐<br />{{IPA|/m/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|പം}}</big> '''paṁ'''<br />{{IPA|/pam/}}
|}
An ''anusvaram'' ({{lang|ml|അനുസ്വാരം}} ''anusvāram''), or an ''[[anusvara]],'' originally denoted the [[nasalization]] where the preceding vowel was changed into a [[nasalised vowel]], and hence is traditionally treated as a kind of vowel sign. In Malayalam, however, it simply represents a consonant {{IPA|/m/}} after a vowel, though this {{IPA|/m/}} may be [[Assimilation (linguistics)|assimilated]] to another [[nasal stop|nasal consonant]]. It is a special consonant letter, different from a "normal" consonant letter, in that it is never followed by an inherent vowel or another vowel. In general, an ''anusvara'' at the end of a word in an Indian language is transliterated as ''ṁ'' in [[ISO 15919]], but a Malayalam ''anusvara'' at the end of a word is transliterated as ''m'' without a dot.

=====Visargam=====
{|class="wikitable" style="margin-left:30px"
|+''Visargam ഃ''
!style="width:4em"|''aḥ''
|<big>{{lang|ml|അഃ}}</big> '''aḥ'''<br />{{IPA|/ah/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;ഃ}}</big> '''ḥ'''<br />{{IPA|/h/}}
|<big>{{lang|ml|പഃ}}</big> '''paḥ'''<br />{{IPA|/pah/}}
|}
A ''visargam'' ({{lang|ml|വിസർഗം}}, ''visargam''), or ''[[visarga]]'', represents a consonant {{IPA|/h/}} after a vowel, and is transliterated as ''ḥ''. Like the ''anusvara'', it is a special symbol, and is never followed by an inherent vowel or another vowel.

[[File:Malayalam vowel signs.svg|thumb|center|800px|Malayalam vowel signs combined with  letter <big>{{lang|ml|'''ക'''}}</big> (ka)]]

====Consonants====

=====Basic consonant letters=====
The following tables show the basic consonant letters of the Malayalam script, with '''romanizations''' in [[ISO 15919]], transcriptions in [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]], and Unicode {{mono|CHARACTER NAMES}}. The character names used in the report of the Government of Kerala committee (2001) are shown in ''lowercase italics'' when different from Unicode character names.<ref name="K"/> Those alternative names are based on the traditional romanization used by the [[Malayali]] people. For example, ''tha'' in "[[Thiruvananthapuram|Thiruvanan''tha''puram]]" is neither ISO '''tha''' nor Unicode {{mono|THA}}, but ''tha'' in this sense ({{lang|ml|ത}}). The [[Indian Script Code for Information Interchange|ISCII]] (IS 13194:1991) character names are given in parentheses when different from the above.
{|class="wikitable" style="margin-left:30px"
|+''[[Shiksha#Pratishakhyas|Varga]]'' consonants
!rowspan="2"|&nbsp;!!colspan="2"|[[Voiceless]]!!colspan="3"|[[Voice (phonetics)|Voiced]]
|-
!Unaspirated!![[Aspiration (phonetics)|Aspirated]]!!Unaspirated!!Aspirated!![[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
|-
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ക|ipa=/ka/|iso=ka|notes={{mono|KA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഖ|ipa=/kʰa/|iso=kha|notes={{mono|KHA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഗ|ipa=/ɡa/|iso=ga|notes={{mono|GA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഘ|ipa=/ɡʱa/|iso=gha|notes={{mono|GHA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ങ|ipa=/ŋa/|iso=ṅa|notes={{mono|NGA}} }}
|-
![[Postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]]<br />or<br />[[Alveolo-palatal consonant|Alveolo-palatal]]<br />
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ച|ipa=/t͡ʃa/|iso=ca|notes={{mono|CHA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഛ|ipa=/t͡ʃʰa/|iso=cha|notes={{mono|CHHA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ജ|ipa=/d͡ʒa/|iso=ja|notes={{mono|JA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഝ|ipa=/d͡ʒʱa/|iso=jha|notes={{mono|JHA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഞ|ipa=/ɲa/|iso=ña|notes={{mono|NHA}} |note=(nja) }}
|-
![[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ട|ipa=/ʈa/|iso=ṭa|notes={{mono|TTA}} |note=(hard ta) }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഠ|ipa=/ʈʰa/|iso=ṭha|notes={{mono|TTHA}} |note=(hard tha) }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഡ|ipa=/ɖa/|iso=ḍa|notes={{mono|DDA}} |note=(hard da) }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഢ|ipa=/ɖʱa/|iso=ḍha|notes={{mono|DDHA}} |note=(hard dha) }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ണ|ipa=/ɳa/|iso=ṇa|notes={{mono|NNA}} |note=(hard na) }}
|-
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ത|ipa=/t̪a/|iso=ta|notes={{mono|TA}} |note=(soft ta) }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഥ|ipa=/t̪ʰa/|iso=tha|notes={{mono|THA}} |note=(soft tha) }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ദ|ipa=/d̪a/|iso=da|notes={{mono|DA}} |note=(soft da) }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ധ|ipa=/d̪ʱa/|iso=dha|notes={{mono|DHA}} |note=(soft dha) }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ന|ipa=/n̪a, na/|iso=na|notes={{mono|NA}} |note=(soft na) }}
|-
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=പ|ipa=/pa/|iso=pa|notes={{mono|PA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഫ|ipa=/pʰa/|iso=pha|notes={{mono|PHA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ബ|ipa=/ba/|iso=ba|notes={{mono|BA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഭ|ipa=/bʱa/|iso=bha|notes={{mono|BHA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=മ|ipa=/ma/|iso=ma|notes={{mono|MA}} }}
|}

{|class="wikitable" style="margin-left:30px"
|+Other consonants
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=യ|ipa=/ja/|iso=ya|notes={{mono|YA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ര|ipa=/ɾa/|iso=ra|notes={{mono|RA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ല|ipa=/la/|iso=la|notes={{mono|LA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=വ|ipa=/ʋa/|iso=va|notes={{mono|VA}} }}
|}

{|class="wikitable" style="margin-left:30px"
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ശ|ipa=/ɕa/|iso=śa|notes={{mono|SHA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഷ|ipa=/ʂa/|iso=ṣa|notes={{mono|SSA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=സ|ipa=/sa/|iso=sa|notes={{mono|SA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഹ|ipa=/ha/<ref name="Grammatical Sketch"/>|iso=ha|notes={{mono|HA}} }}
|}

{|class="wikitable" style="margin-left:30px"
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ള|ipa={{IPAslink|ɭ|ɭa}}|iso=ḷa|notes={{mono|LLA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഴ|ipa={{IPAslink|ɻ|ɻa}}|iso=ḻa|notes={{mono|LLLA}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=റ|ipa=/ra, ta/|iso=ṟa|notes={{mono|RRA}}{{Refn|group=note|name=K|(1) Repetition of this letter ({{lang|ml|റ + റ}}) represents a [[gemination|geminated]] [[voiceless alveolar plosive]], {{IPA|/tːa/}}, it can also occur initially in loans where it can not be geminated; (2) ''[[#Chillus|chillu-n]]'' + this letter ({{lang|ml|ൻ + റ}}) often represents {{IPA|[nda]}}; (3) otherwise [[alveolar trill]] (apical) {{IPA|/ra/}}.}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഩ|ipa=/na/|iso=ṉa|notes={{mono|NNNA}}{{refn|group=note|name=L|Corresponds to Tamil ''ṉa'' {{lang|ta|ன}}. Used rarely in scholarly texts to represent the alveolar nasal, as opposed to the dental nasal.<ref name="N3494">{{Cite web|title=Proposal to add two characters for Malayalam to the BMP of the UCS|first=Michael|last=Everson|work=ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 N3494|url=http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3494.pdf|year=2007|access-date=2009-09-09|author-link=Michael Everson}}</ref> In ordinary texts both are represented by ''na'' {{lang|ml|ന}}.}} }}
| {{Letter|s=Mlym|ch=ഺ|ipa=/ta/|iso=ṯa|notes={{mono|TTTA}}{{refn|group=note|name=M|Used rarely in scholarly texts to represent the voiceless alveolar plosive, as opposed to the [[voiceless dental plosive]] represented by ''ta'' {{lang|ml|ത}}. In ordinary texts this sound is represented by ''ṟṟa'' {{lang|ml|റ്റ}}.<ref name="N3494"/>}} }}
|}
{{reflist|group=note}}

====Chillus====
{{See also|#Chillus in Unicode}}
A ''chillu'', or a ''chillaksharam'' ({{lang|ml|ചില്ലക്ഷരം}}, ''cillakṣaram''), is a special consonant letter that represents a pure consonant independently, without help of a [[virama]]. Unlike a consonant represented by an ordinary consonant letter, this consonant is never followed by an inherent vowel. [[#Anusvaram|Anusvara]] and [[#Visargam|visarga]] fit this definition but are not usually included. ISCII and Unicode 5.0 treat a ''chillu'' as a glyph variant of a normal ("base") consonant letter.<ref name="TUS50">{{Cite web|publisher=Unicode, Inc|title=South Asian Scripts-I|work=The Unicode Standard 5.0 — Electronic Edition|url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode5.0.0/ch09.pdf|pages=42–44|year=1991–2007|access-date=2009-09-08}}</ref> In Unicode 5.1 and later, however, ''chillu'' letters are treated as independent characters, encoded atomically.<ref name="Unicode5.1.0"/>

Six independent chillu letters (0D7A..0D7F) had been encoded in Unicode 5.1.,<ref name="Unicode5.1.0"/> three additional chillu letters (0D54..0D56) were encoded with the publication of Unicode 9.0.<ref>[https://www.unicode.org/Public/12.1.0/ucd/DerivedAge.txt Unicode 12.1.0 Derived Age]. Published 2019-04-01, Retrieved 2019-09-15.</ref>

{|class="wikitable" style="margin-left:30px"
|+''Chillu'' letters
! scope="col" | Letter
! scope="col" | Unicode name
! scope="col" | Base
! scope="col" | Remarks
! scope="col" | Examples
|-
! scope="row" | {{lang|ml|ൺ}}
| {{mono|CHILLU NN}} || {{transliteration|ml|ṇa}} '''{{lang|ml|ണ}}'''|| || {{lang|ml|കൂൺ}} (kūṇ, "mushroom")
|-
! scope="row" | {{lang|ml|ൻ}}
| {{mono|CHILLU N}} || {{transliteration|ml|ṉa}} '''{{lang|ml|ന}}'''|| Chillu of alveolar nasal ''ṉa''.|| {{lang|ml|അവൻ}} (avaṉ, "he")
|-
! scope="row" | {{lang|ml|ർ}}
| {{mono|CHILLU RR}} || {{transliteration|ml|ṟa}} '''{{lang|ml|റ}}'''|| Historically stood for {{transliteration|ml|ra}} {{lang|ml|ര}}, not {{transliteration|ml|ṟa}} {{lang|ml|റ}}. || {{lang|ml|അവർ}} (avar̠, "they")
|-
! scope="row" | {{lang|ml|ൽ}}
| {{mono|CHILLU L}} || {{transliteration|ml|la}} '''{{lang|ml|ല}}'''|| || {{lang|ml|ഒടുവിൽ}} (oṭuvil, "finally")
|-
! scope="row" | {{lang|ml|ൾ}}
| {{mono|CHILLU LL}} || {{transliteration|ml|ḷa}} '''{{lang|ml|ള}}'''|| || {{lang|ml|അവൾ}} (avaḷ, "she")
|-
! scope="row" | {{lang|ml|ൿ}}
| {{mono|CHILLU K}} || {{transliteration|ml|ka}} '''{{lang|ml|ക}}'''|| Not in modern use || {{lang|ml|വാൿചാതുരി}} (does not occur word finally.)
|-
! scope="row" | {{lang|ml|ൔ}}
| {{mono|CHILLU M}} || {{transliteration|ml|ma}} '''{{lang|ml|മ}}'''|| Not in modern use ||
|-
! scope="row" | {{lang|ml|ൕ}}
| {{mono|CHILLU Y}} || {{transliteration|ml|ya}} '''{{lang|ml|യ}}'''|| Not in modern use ||
|-
! scope="row" | {{lang|ml|ൖ}}
| {{mono|CHILLU LLL}} || {{transliteration|ml|ḻa}} '''{{lang|ml|ഴ}}'''|| Not in modern use ||
|}

====Chandrakkala====
The virama in Malayalam is called candrakkala (chandrakkala), it has two functions:<ref>Cibu Johny; Shiju Alex; Sunil V S. (2015). L2/14-014R [https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2014/14014r-circular-virama.pdf ''Proposal to encode Malayalam Sign Circular Virama''].</ref><ref>Cibu Johny; Shiju Alex; Sunil V S. (2015). L2/14-015R [https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2014/14015r-vertical-virama.pdf ''Proposal to encode Malayalam Sign Vertical Bar Virama''].</ref>{{efn|Srinidhi A and Sridatta A made comments on the proposals of Cibu Johny et al.<ref>Srinidhi, A. & Sridatta, A. (2017). L2/17-207 [https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17207-malayalam-candrakkala.pdf ''On the Origin of Malayalam Candrakkala''].</ref>}}
*As virama: used to suppress the inherent vowel
*As samvruthokaram: represent the "half-u" sound /ə̆/

=====As virama=====
''Chandrakkala'' <big>{{lang|ml|&nbsp;്}}</big> ({{lang|ml|ചന്ദ്രക്കല}}, ''candrakkala'') is a diacritic attached to a consonant letter to show that the consonant is not followed by an inherent vowel or any other vowel (for example, {{lang|ml|ക}} ''ka'' → {{lang|ml|ക്}} ''k''). This kind of diacritic is common in Indic scripts, generically called ''[[virama]]'' in Sanskrit, or ''halant'' in Hindi.

=====Half-u=====
At the end of a word, the same symbol sometimes represents a very short vowel, known as "half-u", or "samvruthokaram" ({{lang|ml|സംവൃതോകാരം}}, ''{{transliteration|ml|ISO|saṁvr̥tōkāram}}''), or ''{{transliteration|ml|ISO|kuṯṯiyal ukaram}}'' ({{lang|ml|കുറ്റിയൽ ഉകരം}}).<ref name="ChitrajakumarEtGangadharan2005">{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2005/05213-samvruktokaram.pdf|date=2005-08-07|title=Samvruthokaram and Chandrakkala|access-date=2010-08-23|first1=R|last1=Chitrajakumar|first2=N|last2=Gangadharan|publisher=[[Unicode Consortium]]|url-status=live|archive-date=2014-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712144726/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2005/05213-samvruktokaram.pdf}}</ref> The exact pronunciation of this vowel varies from dialect to dialect, but it is approximately {{IPA|[ɯ̽]}}<ref name="N3126"/> or {{IPA|[ɨ]}}, and transliterated as '''ŭ''' (for example, {{lang|ml|ന}} ''na'' → {{lang|ml|ന്}} ''nŭ''). Optionally, a vowel sign ''u'' is inserted, as in {{lang|ml|നു്}} (= {{lang|ml|ന}} + {{lang|ml|&nbsp;ു}} + {{lang|ml|&nbsp;്}}). According to one author, this alternative form is historically more correct, though the simplified form without a vowel sign ''u'' is common nowadays.<ref name="S"/> This means that the same spelling {{lang|ml|ന്}} may represent either ''n'' or ''nŭ'' depending on the context. Generally, it is ''nŭ'' at the end of a word, and ''n'' elsewhere; {{lang|ml|നു്}} always represents ''nŭ''.

The [[virama]] of [[Tigalari script]] behave similarly to Malayalam. Virama has three functions: to suppress the inherent vowel (as the halant of Devanagari); to form conjunct consonants; to represent the half-u.<ref>Murthy, Vaishnavi & Rajan, Vinodh. (2017). L2/17-378 [http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17378-tigalari.pdf ''Preliminary proposal to encode Tigalari script in Unicode''] (pp. 12-15).</ref><ref>Srinidhi, A. & Sridatta, A. (2017). L2/17-182 [https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17182-tigalari-cmt.pdf ''Comments on encoding the Tigalari script''] (pp. 9-11).</ref> [[Devanagari]] supports half-u for Kashmiri; for example {{lang|ml|നു്}} is written as {{lang|hi|नॖ}}.
{{notelist}}

====Ligatures====

=====Consonant ligatures=====
Like in other [[Brahmic family of scripts|Indic scripts]], a [[#Chandrakkala|virama]] is used in the Malayalam script to cancel—or "kill"—the [[inherent vowel]] of a consonant letter and represent a consonant without a vowel, so-called a "dead" consonant. For example,
# {{lang|ml|ന}} is a consonant letter ''na'',
# {{lang|ml| ്}} is a virama; therefore,
# {{lang|ml|ന്‌}} (''na'' + virama) represents a dead consonant ''n''.
If this ''n'' {{lang|ml|ന്‌}} is further followed by another consonant letter, for example, ''ma'' {{lang|ml|മ}}, the result may look like {{lang|ml|ന്‌മ}}, which represents ''nma'' as ''na'' + virama + ''ma''. In this case, two elements ''n'' {{lang|ml|ന്‌}} and ''ma'' {{lang|ml|മ}} are simply placed one by one, side by side. Alternatively, ''nma'' can be also written as a [[Typographic ligature|ligature]] {{lang|ml|ന്മ}}.

Generally, when a dead consonant letter C<sub>1</sub> and another consonant letter C<sub>2</sub> are conjoined, the result may be either:
# A fully conjoined ligature of C<sub>1</sub>+C<sub>2</sub>;
# Half-conjoined—
#* C<sub>1</sub>-conjoining: a modified form (half form) of C<sub>1</sub> attached to the original form (full form) of C<sub>2</sub>
#* C<sub>2</sub>-conjoining: a modified form of C<sub>2</sub> attached to the full form of C<sub>1</sub>; or
# Non-ligated: full forms of C<sub>1</sub> and C<sub>2</sub> with a visible virama.<ref name="Constable2004">{{Cite web|last=Constable|first=Peter|title=Clarification of the Use of Zero Width Joiner in Indic Scripts|work=Public Review Issue #37|url=https://www.unicode.org/review/pr-37.pdf|publisher=Unicode, Inc|year=2004|access-date=2009-09-10}}</ref>

If the result is fully or half-conjoined, the (conceptual) virama which made C<sub>1</sub> dead becomes invisible, only logically existing in a [[character encoding]] scheme such as Unicode. If the result is non-ligated, a virama is visible, attached to C<sub>1</sub>. The glyphs for ''nma'' has a visible virama if not ligated ({{lang|ml|ന്‌മ}}), but if ligated, the virama disappears ({{lang|ml|ന്മ}}). Usually the difference between those forms is superficial and both are semantically identical, just like the meaning of the English word ''palaeography'' does not change even if it is spelled ''palæography'', with the ligature [[æ]].

======Common consonant ligatures======
Several consonant-consonant ligatures are used commonly even in the new orthography.

{|class="wikitable" lang="ml" style="text-align:center; margin-left:30px"
|+{{lang|en|Common ligatures}}
|- lang="en"
!&nbsp;!!''kka''!!''ṅka''!!''ṅṅa''!!''cca''!!''ñca''!!''ñña''!!''ṭṭa''!!''ṇṭa''!!''ṇṇa''!!''tta''!!''nta''!!''nna''!!''ppa''!!''mpa''!!''mma''
|-
!{{lang|en|Non-ligated}}
|ക്‌ക||ങ്‌ക||ങ്‌ങ||ച്‌ച||ഞ്‌ച||ഞ്‌ഞ||ട്‌ട||ണ്‌ട||ണ്‌ണ||ത്‌ത||ന്‌ത||ന്‌ന||പ്‌പ||മ്‌പ||മ്‌മ
|-
!{{lang|en|Ligated}}
|ക്ക||ങ്ക||ങ്ങ||ച്ച||ഞ്ച||ഞ്ഞ||ട്ട||ണ്ട||ണ്ണ||ത്ത||ന്ത||ന്ന||പ്പ||മ്പ||മ്മ
|}

The ligature ''mpa'' {{lang|ml|മ്പ}} was historically derived from ''npa'' {{lang|ml|ന്‌പ}}. The ligatures ''cca'', ''bba'', ''yya'', and ''vva'' are special in that a doubled consonant is denoted by a triangle sign below a consonant letter.
{|class="wikitable" lang="ml" style="text-align:center;margin-left:30px"
|- lang="en"
!&nbsp;!!''cca''!!''bba''!!''yya''!!''vva''
|-
!{{lang|en|Non-ligated}}
|ച്‌ച||ബ്‌ബ||യ്‌യ||വ്‌വ
|-
!{{lang|en|Ligated}}
|ച്ച||ബ്ബ||യ്യ||വ്വ
|}

======Consonant + ''ya'', ''va'', ''la'', ''ra''======
# The consonant letter ''ya'' is generally C<sub>2</sub>-conjoining after a consonant in both orthographies. For example,
* ''k'' {{lang|ml|ക്}} + ''ya'' {{lang|ml|യ}} = ''kya'' {{lang|ml|ക്യ}}
* ''p'' {{lang|ml|പ്}} + ''ya'' {{lang|ml|യ}} = ''pya'' {{lang|ml|പ്യ}}

In ''kya'' {{lang|ml|ക്യ}}, a variant form of ''ya'' ({{lang|ml| ്യ}}) is placed after the full form of ''ka'' {{lang|ml|ക}}, just like ''ki'' {{lang|ml|കി}} is written ''ka'' {{lang|ml|ക}} followed by the vowel sign ''i'' {{lang|ml| ി}}. In other words, the variant form of ''ya'' ({{lang|ml| ്യ}}) used after a consonant letter can be considered as a diacritic. Since it is placed after the base character, it is sometimes referred to as a ''post-base'' form. An exception is ''yya'' {{lang|ml|യ്യ}} (see above).

# Similarly, ''va'' ({{lang|ml| ്വ}}) after a consonant takes a post-base form:
* ''k'' {{lang|ml|ക്}} + ''va'' {{lang|ml|വ}} = ''kva'' {{lang|ml|ക്വ}}
* ''p'' {{lang|ml|പ്}} + ''va'' {{lang|ml|വ}} = ''pva'' {{lang|ml|പ്വ}}
An exception is ''vva'' {{lang|ml|വ്വ}} (see above).

# The consonant letter ''la'' ({{lang|ml| ്ല}}) after a consonant traditionally takes a below-base form. These forms are used also in the new orthography, though some fonts do not support them.
* ''k'' {{lang|ml|ക്}} + ''la'' {{lang|ml|ല}} = ''kla'' {{lang|ml|ക്ല}}
* ''p'' {{lang|ml|പ്}} + ''la'' {{lang|ml|ല}} = ''pla'' {{lang|ml|പ്ല}}
* ''l'' {{lang|ml|ല്}} + ''la'' {{lang|ml|ല}} = ''lla'' {{lang|ml|ല്ല}}

# A consonant letter ''ra'' (്ര) after a consonant usually takes a pre-base form in the reformed orthography, while this combination makes a fully conjoined ligature in the traditional orthography.
* ''k'' {{lang|ml|ക്}} + ''ra'' {{lang|ml|ര}} = ''kra'' {{lang|ml|ക്ര}}
* ''p'' {{lang|ml|പ്}} + ''ra'' {{lang|ml|ര}} = ''pra'' {{lang|ml|പ്ര}}

======''nṯa'' and ''ṯṯa''======
The ligature ''nṯa'' is written as ''n'' {{lang|ml|ന്‌}} + ''ṟa'' {{lang|ml|റ}} and pronounced {{IPA|/nda/}}. The ligature ''ṯṯa'' is written as ''ṟ'' {{lang|ml|റ്}} + ''ṟa'' {{lang|ml|റ}}.
{|class="wikitable" lang="ml" style="text-align:center;margin-left:30px"
|- lang="en"
!&nbsp;!!''nṯa''!!''ṯṯa''
|-
!{{lang|en|Non-ligated}}
|ന്‌റ||റ്‌റ
|-
!{{lang|en|Ligated}}
|ന്റ||റ്റ
|-
!{{lang|en|Digraph}}
|ൻറ||ററ
|}
In those two ligatures, a small ''ṟa'' {{lang|ml|‌റ}} is written below the first letter (''chillu-n'' if it is a dead ''n''). Alternatively, the letter ''ṟa'' is sometimes written to the right of the first letter, making a [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] (just like {{lang|el|[[Iota adscript|ωι]]}} used instead of {{lang|el|[[Iota subscript|ῳ]]}} in Greek). The spelling {{lang|ml|ൻറ}} is therefore read either ''nṟa'' (two separate letters) or ''nṯa'' (digraph) depending on the word like in {{lang|ml|എൻറോൾ}} (en̠r̠ōḷ) 'enroll' or {{lang|ml|ഹെൻറി}} (hen̠r̠i) 'Henry' but {{lang|ml|ന്റ}} is always read ''nṯa''. Similarly, {{lang|ml|‌റ‌റ}} is read either ''ṟaṟa'' or ''ṯṯa''.<ref name="Unicode5.1.0"/>

=====Dot reph=====
In the traditional orthography, a dead consonant ''r'' before a consonant sometimes takes an above-base form, known as a ''dot reph'', which looks like a short vertical line or a dot. Generally, a ''chillu-r'' is used instead of a dot reph in the reformed orthography.

*r {{lang|ml|ര്}} + ga {{lang|ml|ഗ}} = rga {{lang|ml|ൎഗ}} (Reformed: {{lang|ml|ർഗ}})
*r {{lang|ml|ര്}} + ja {{lang|ml|ജ}} = rja {{lang|ml|ൎജ}} (Reformed: {{lang|ml|ർജ}})

=====Consonant-vowel ligatures=====
In the pre-1971 orthography, consonant + the vowels u, ū, r̥ were written as ligatures, post-1971 they are written with symbols after the letter. They can be still seen in old signs and used by people who learned to write before 1971.

r̥̄ l̥ l̥̄ (which are not part of modern orthography) were also written as ligatures but there were not any words with l̥̄ even in Sanskrit; r̥̄ was only used grammatically instead of r̥ in Sanskrit so it was not used either; there is only one root with l̥ in Sanskrit {{lang|sa|कॢप्त}} which was loaned into Malayalam as {{lang|ml|കൢപ്തം}}.

=====Consonant-consonant ligatures=====
Although there are consonant-consonant ligatures used even now like {{lang|ml|ന്ത}} and {{lang|ml|ണ്ട}} almost all clusters were written as ligatures before 1971, most of the time the second consonant was written to the bottom right of the first consonant, in consonant + r clusters the {{lang|ml| ്ര}} was attached to the main consonant, now its detached and placed to the left.

====Archaic signs====
===={{lang|ml|ഺ}}====
{{lang|ml|ഺ}} was made by [[A. R. Raja Raja Varma]] and it was not used as a single letter, in his orthography {{lang|ml|റ്റ}} (ṯṯ) was written as {{lang|ml|ഺ്ഺ}} and {{lang|ml|ന്റ}} (ṉḏ) as {{lang|ml|ഩ്ഺ}}.

=====Archaic viramas=====
Before chandrakkala was made, there were two other viramas used simultaneously, the vertical bar virama {{lang|hi| ഻}} and circular virama {{lang|hi| ഼}}. The vertical bar virama was used exclusively for loanwords and circular virama just for native words. Before the vertical bar virama used to cut through the main consonant and it led to the creation of the chillu letters. It was sometimes confused with the dot reph {{lang|hi| ൎ }} since they look similar but both of them are used for different purposes (see above for dot reph).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://unicode.org/L2/L2014/14015r-vertical-virama.pdf |access-date=11 March 2024 |title=Proposal to encode Malayalam Sign: Vertical Bar Virama |date=19 January 2015 |website=Unicode}}</ref>

=====Chandrabindu=====
{{lang|hi| ഁ}} was like the chandrabindu from other scripts and was used to nasalise the vowel; it was only used for writing Sanskrit and Prakrits. It is archaic.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://unicode.org/L2/L2010/10392r2-chandrabindus.pdf|access-date=11 March 2024 |title=Request to encode South Indian CANDRABINDU-s |date=11 October 2010 |website=Unicode}}</ref>

=====Other Anusvaras=====
{{lang|hi|ഄ}} was used like the Devanagari {{lang|hi|ꣳ}} and contrasts with the normal anusvara.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17276r-malayalam-vedic.pdf |access-date=11 March 2024 |title=Proposal to encode 0D00 Malayalam Sign Combining Anusvara Above |date=30 December 2013 |website=Unicode}}</ref> {{lang|hi| ഀ}} was not really used in Malayalam but was used in the Grantha script, in it the normal anusvara {{lang|ml| ം}} represents gemination of the next consonant and this anusvara represents an actual linguistic anusvara. Both are archaic.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2014/14003-malayalam-anusvara-above.pdf |access-date=11 March 2024 |title=Proposal to encode Malayalam Letter Vedic Anusvara |date=8 December 2017 |website=Unicode}}</ref>

=== Numeral system ===
{{Main|Malayalam numerals}}
Malayalam [[numeral system]] is archaic and no longer commonly used. Instead, the common [[Hindu–Arabic numeral system|Hindu-Arabic numeral system]] is followed.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:30px"
!0!!1!!2!!3!!4!!5!!6!!7!!8!!9!!10!!100!!1000!!{{1/4}}!!{{1/2}}!!{{3/4}}
|- style="font-size:large" lang="ml"
|൦||൧||൨||൩||൪||൫||൬||൭||൮||൯||൰||൱||൲||൳||൴||൵
|}
Number "11" is written as "{{lang|ml|൰൧}}" and not "{{lang|ml|൧൧}}". "32" is written as "{{lang|ml|൩൰൨}}" similar to the [[Tamil numerals|Tamil numeral system]].

{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left:30px"
!11!!20!!21!!30!!110!!10,099
|- style="font-size:large" lang="ml"
|൰൧||൨൰
|൨൰൧||൩൰||൱൰
|൰൲൯൰൯
|}
Suppose the number is "2013". It is read in Malayalam as "'''{{lang|ml|രണ്ടായിരത്തി പതിമൂന്ന്}}'''" (raṇḍāyiratti padimūnnu). It is split into :

* {{lang|ml|രണ്ട്}} (raṇḍŭ) : 2 - '''{{lang|ml|൨}}'''
* {{lang|ml|ആയിരം}} (āyiram) : 1000 - '''{{lang|ml|൲}}'''
* {{lang|ml|പത്ത്}} (pattŭ) : 10 - '''{{lang|ml|൰}}'''
* {{lang|ml|മൂന്ന്}} (mūnnŭ) : 3 - '''{{lang|ml|൩}}'''

Combine them together to get the Malayalam number "'''{{lang|ml|൨൲൰൩}}'''".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://shijualex.in/malayalam-numerals-old-system/|title=മലയാള അക്കങ്ങൾ|last=Alex|first=Shiju|date=2013-08-22|website=ഗ്രന്ഥപ്പുര|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-12}}</ref>

===Other symbols===
{|class="wikitable" style="width:80%;margin-left:30px"
!Praslesham
|<big>{{lang|ml|ഽ}}</big>||Corresponds to [[Devanagari]] [[avagraha]], used when a Sanskrit phrase containing an ''avagraha'' is written in Malayalam script. The symbol indicates the [[elision]] of the word-initial vowel ''a'' after a word that ends in ''ā'', ''ē'', or ''ō'', and is transliterated as an apostrophe (’), or sometimes as a colon + an apostrophe (:’).<br />({{indic|lang=ml|indic=പ്രശ്ലേഷം|trans=praślēṣam}})
|-
!Malayalam date mark
|<big>{{lang|ml|൹}}</big>
|Used in an abbreviation of a date.
|-
![[Danda]]
|<big>{{lang|ml|।}}</big>
|rowspan="2"|Archaic punctuation marks used as full stops or for delimiting [[verse (poetry)|verses]].
|-
!Double danda
|<big>{{lang|ml|॥}}</big>
|}