The Malayalam
script is a South
Indian script used to write the Malayalam
language of
Kerala state in
India.
The shapes of Malayalam letters closely resemble those of Tamil. Malayalam, however, has a very full and complex set of conjunct consonant forms.
U+0D57 ൗ Malayalam au length mark
is provided as an encoding for the right side of the two-part vowel
U+0D4C ൌ Malayalam vowel sign au.
The Malayalam script achieved its present form in the 17th century. Although showing a clear underlying resemblance to the Tamil-Grantha alphabet it looks very different in print: heavy and blockish where Tamil is light and angular. Some letters are used mainly in Sanskrit loan words.
In Singapore and Malaysia, Malayalam but the Arabic script is used. The Arabic script is also used occasionally in Kerala among Muslims.
The Malayalam language is a member of the Dravidian language family. Until around 1000 AD, Malayalam was not a separately identifiable language. Early inscriptions from Kerala are in Old Tamil, which was spoken in both Kerala and in the state now called Tamilnadu.
Unicode's
Malayalam code block reserves the
128 code points from U+0D00 to U+0D7F, of which
95 are currently assigned.
Kannada <-- Malayalam --> Sinhala
Number of characters added in each version of the Unicode standard :
Unicode 1.1 : 78
Unicode 5.1 : 17
Number of characters in each General Category :
Letter, Other Lo : 59
Mark, Non-Spacing Mn : 7
Mark, Spacing Combining Mc : 12
Number, Decimal Digit Nd : 10
Number, Other No : 6
Symbol, Other So : 1
Number of characters in each Bidirectional Category :
Left To Right L : 88
Non Spacing Mark NSM : 7
The columns below should be interpreted as :
- The Unicode code for the character
- The character in question
- The Unicode name for the character
- The Unicode General Category for the character
- The Unicode Bidirectional Category for the character
- The Unicode version when this character was added
If the characters below show up poorly, or not at all, see Unicode Support for possible solutions.
Malayalam
Based on ISCII 1988
- U+0D02 ം Malayalam sign anusvara Mc L 1.1
- U+0D03 ഃ Malayalam sign visarga Mc L 1.1
Independent vowels
- U+0D05 അ Malayalam letter A Lo L 1.1
- U+0D06 ആ Malayalam letter aa Lo L 1.1
- U+0D07 ഇ Malayalam letter I Lo L 1.1
- U+0D08 ഈ Malayalam letter ii Lo L 1.1
- U+0D09 ഉ Malayalam letter U Lo L 1.1
- U+0D0A ഊ Malayalam letter uu Lo L 1.1
- U+0D0B ഋ Malayalam letter vocalic r Lo L 1.1
- U+0D0C ഌ Malayalam letter vocalic l Lo L 1.1
- U+0D0E എ Malayalam letter E Lo L 1.1
- U+0D0F ഏ Malayalam letter ee Lo L 1.1
- U+0D10 ഐ Malayalam letter ai Lo L 1.1
- U+0D12 ഒ Malayalam letter O Lo L 1.1
- U+0D13 ഓ Malayalam letter oo Lo L 1.1
- U+0D14 ഔ Malayalam letter au Lo L 1.1
Consonants
Alternate romanizations are shown as aliases for some letters to clarify their identity.
- U+0D15 ക Malayalam letter ka Lo L 1.1
- U+0D16 ഖ Malayalam letter kha Lo L 1.1
- U+0D17 ഗ Malayalam letter ga Lo L 1.1
- U+0D18 ഘ Malayalam letter gha Lo L 1.1
- U+0D19 ങ Malayalam letter nga Lo L 1.1
- U+0D1A ച Malayalam letter ca Lo L 1.1
- aka cha
- U+0D1B ഛ Malayalam letter cha Lo L 1.1
- aka chha
- U+0D1C ജ Malayalam letter ja Lo L 1.1
- U+0D1D ഝ Malayalam letter jha Lo L 1.1
- U+0D1E ഞ Malayalam letter nya Lo L 1.1
- aka nha
- U+0D1F ട Malayalam letter tta Lo L 1.1
- aka ta
- U+0D20 ഠ Malayalam letter ttha Lo L 1.1
- aka tta
- U+0D21 ഡ Malayalam letter dda Lo L 1.1
- aka hard da
- U+0D22 ഢ Malayalam letter ddha Lo L 1.1
- aka hard dda
- U+0D23 ണ Malayalam letter nna Lo L 1.1
- aka hard na
- U+0D24 ത Malayalam letter ta Lo L 1.1
- aka tha
- U+0D25 ഥ Malayalam letter tha Lo L 1.1
- aka ttha
- U+0D26 ദ Malayalam letter da Lo L 1.1
- aka soft da
- U+0D27 ധ Malayalam letter dha Lo L 1.1
- aka soft dda
- U+0D28 ന Malayalam letter na Lo L 1.1
- U+0D2A പ Malayalam letter pa Lo L 1.1
- U+0D2B ഫ Malayalam letter pha Lo L 1.1
- U+0D2C ബ Malayalam letter ba Lo L 1.1
- U+0D2D ഭ Malayalam letter bha Lo L 1.1
- U+0D2E മ Malayalam letter ma Lo L 1.1
- U+0D2F യ Malayalam letter ya Lo L 1.1
- U+0D30 ര Malayalam letter ra Lo L 1.1
- U+0D31 റ Malayalam letter rra Lo L 1.1
- U+0D32 ല Malayalam letter la Lo L 1.1
- U+0D33 ള Malayalam letter lla Lo L 1.1
- U+0D34 ഴ Malayalam letter llla Lo L 1.1
- aka zha
- U+0D35 വ Malayalam letter va Lo L 1.1
- U+0D36 ശ Malayalam letter sha Lo L 1.1
- aka soft sha
- U+0D37 ഷ Malayalam letter ssa Lo L 1.1
- aka sha
- U+0D38 സ Malayalam letter sa Lo L 1.1
- U+0D39 ഹ Malayalam letter ha Lo L 1.1
Addition for Sanskrit
- U+0D3D ഽ Malayalam sign avagraha Lo L 5.1
- aka praslesham
Dependent vowel signs
- U+0D3E ാ Malayalam vowel sign aa Mc L 1.1
- U+0D3F ി Malayalam vowel sign i Mc L 1.1
- U+0D40 ീ Malayalam vowel sign ii Mc L 1.1
- U+0D41 ു Malayalam vowel sign u Mn NSM 1.1
- U+0D42 ൂ Malayalam vowel sign uu Mn NSM 1.1
- U+0D43 ൃ Malayalam vowel sign vocalic r Mn NSM 1.1
- U+0D44 ൄ Malayalam vowel sign vocalic rr Mn NSM 5.1
- U+0D46 െ Malayalam vowel sign e Mc L 1.1
- * stands to the left of the consonant
- U+0D47 േ Malayalam vowel sign ee Mc L 1.1
- * stands to the left of the consonant
- U+0D48 ൈ Malayalam vowel sign ai Mc L 1.1
- * stands to the left of the consonant
Two-part dependent vowel signs
These vowel signs have glyph pieces which stand on both sides of the consonant; they follow the consonant in logical order, and should be handled as a unit for most processing.
- U+0D4A ൊ Malayalam vowel sign o Mc L 1.1
- U+0D4B ോ Malayalam vowel sign oo Mc L 1.1
- U+0D4C ൌ Malayalam vowel sign au Mc L 1.1
- * archaic form of the /au/ dependent vowel
- ref U+0D57 ൗ Malayalam au length mark (Malayalam)
Various signs
- U+0D4D ് Malayalam sign virama Mn NSM 1.1
- aka chandrakkala (the preferred name)
- aka vowel half-u
- U+0D57 ൗ Malayalam au length mark Mc L 1.1
- * used alone to write the /au/ dependent vowel in modern texts
- ref U+0D4C ൌ Malayalam vowel sign au (Malayalam)
Additional vowels for Sanskrit
- U+0D60 ൠ Malayalam letter vocalic rr Lo L 1.1
- U+0D61 ൡ Malayalam letter vocalic ll Lo L 1.1
Dependent vowels
- U+0D62 ൢ Malayalam vowel sign vocalic l Mn NSM 5.1
- U+0D63 ൣ Malayalam vowel sign vocalic ll Mn NSM 5.1
Digits
- U+0D66 ൦ Malayalam digit zero Nd L 1.1
- U+0D67 ൧ Malayalam digit one Nd L 1.1
- U+0D68 ൨ Malayalam digit two Nd L 1.1
- U+0D69 ൩ Malayalam digit three Nd L 1.1
- U+0D6A ൪ Malayalam digit four Nd L 1.1
- U+0D6B ൫ Malayalam digit five Nd L 1.1
- U+0D6C ൬ Malayalam digit six Nd L 1.1
- U+0D6D ൭ Malayalam digit seven Nd L 1.1
- U+0D6E ൮ Malayalam digit eight Nd L 1.1
- U+0D6F ൯ Malayalam digit nine Nd L 1.1
Malayalam numerics
- U+0D70 ൰ Malayalam number ten No L 5.1
- U+0D71 ൱ Malayalam number one hundred No L 5.1
- U+0D72 ൲ Malayalam number one thousand No L 5.1
Fractions
- U+0D73 ൳ Malayalam fraction one quarter No L 5.1
- U+0D74 ൴ Malayalam fraction one half No L 5.1
- U+0D75 ൵ Malayalam fraction three quarters No L 5.1
Date mark
- U+0D79 ൹ Malayalam date mark So L 5.1
Chillu letters
- U+0D7A ൺ Malayalam letter chillu nn Lo L 5.1
- U+0D7B ൻ Malayalam letter chillu n Lo L 5.1
- U+0D7C ർ Malayalam letter chillu rr Lo L 5.1
- * historically derived from the full letter ra
- * also used for chillu r
- U+0D7D ൽ Malayalam letter chillu l Lo L 5.1
- * historically derived from the full letter ta
- * used for chillu t and chillu d
- U+0D7E ൾ Malayalam letter chillu ll Lo L 5.1
- U+0D7F ൿ Malayalam letter chillu k Lo L 5.1
Andrew Dalby's Dictionary of Languages
http://unicode.org
Some prose may have been lifted verbatim from unicode.org,
as is permitted by their terms of use at http://www.unicode.org/copyright.html