How it works
The Malayalam alphabet to copy, letter by letter: the 13 vowels with അം and അഃ, the 36 consonants, the vowel signs shown on ക, the chillu letters, five rare letters and the old digits.
Read the full guide
Chillu letters
ക is read ka, and a sign changes the vowel: കി ki, കു ku. A bare consonant is written with the mark ്, the chandrakkala. A few consonants have a letter of their own for it, a chillu: ൻ, ർ, ൽ, ൾ, ൺ. No vowel ever follows a chillu, and each is one character with its own code point.
Where the signs stand
Malayalam runs left to right, yet the signs of e, ē and ai stand to the left of their consonant: കെ, കേ, കൈ. The signs of o and ō have a part on each side: കൊ, കോ. The first 25 consonants make five rows of five, ക ka to മ ma.
- ഔ au has two signs: ൗ in modern writing and ൌ in older texts.
- The old numerals, no longer in common use, have a sign each for 10, 100 and 1000, ൰ ൱ ൲: 11 is ൰൧.
- ഩ ṉa and ഺ ṯa turn up rarely, in scholarly texts.
Questions and answers
How many letters are in the Malayalam alphabet?
It depends on what is counted. This page has 13 vowels, 36 consonants and 9 chillu letters; Wikipedia gives 15 vowel letters and 42 consonant letters for the modern alphabet.
Which are the Malayalam 56 letters?
On this chart a count of 56 is the vowel row of 15 (13 vowels with അം and അഃ), the 36 consonants and the 5 chillu letters in modern use.
Is there a Malayalam alphabet chart with English letters?
Yes, the one above. The spelling under each letter is in Latin letters by ISO 15919: ക is ka, ഖ kha, ഴ ḻa.
What kinds of Malayalam characters are there?
Vowels, called svaram, each with a letter for the start of a word and a sign for use after a consonant, and consonant letters, called vyañjanam. The chillu letters, the marks ം and ഃ and the digits are extra.
Does the Malayalam language alphabet have capital letters?
No. The alphabet is unicase: each letter has one form, with no capital and small pair.