Learn to READ Malayalam - using vinyl ("LP" record) covers and such movie-based resources

Let's resolve the quiz first

Terrific job, V_Sji!

Really proud of you!!

Part 1:

ഉ - ഓ - എ - അ - ഔ - ഋ - അ: - ഈ - ഐ - ഒ - ഊ - ആ - ഇ - ഏ - അം
u - O - ye - a - au - hru - aha - ee - ai - o - oo - aa - e - yE - am

உ - ஓ - எ - அ - ஔ - ரி/ரு - ஃ -ஈ - ஐ - ஒ - ஊ - ஆ - இ - ஏ - அம்

उ - ओ - ए - अ - औ - ऋ - अ: - ई - ऐ - ओ - ऊ - आ - इ - ए - अं

Thank you saar, all under your guidance. I now feel getting a little hang of it.

Part II

1. ഉറക്കം - உறக்கம் - उरक्कम - uRakkam (sleep, a human necessity)

2. ഓസ്ട്രേലിയ - ஓஸ்ட்ரேலிய - ओस्ट्रेलिय - OstrEliya (Australia)

3. എറണാകുളം - எறணாகுளம் - एरणाकुलम -eRaNAkuLam (Ernakulam, district in Kerala)

4. അയ്യപ്പൻ - அய்யப்பன் - अय्यप्पन -ayyappan (Sabarimalai Ayyappan, the famous Kerala deity)

5. ഔവ്വയാർ - ஔவ்வயார் - औव्वयार -auvvayAr (Avvaiyar, the poetess)

6. ഋത്വിക് റോഷൻ - (ஹ்)ரித்விக் றோஷன் - ऋत्विक रोषन - Hrithvik ROshan (Hrithik Roshan, actor)

7. ഈറോഡ് - ஈரோட் - ईरोड -eerOd (Erode, town in TN)

8. ഐ.വി. ശശി - ஐ.வி.ஷஷி - ऐ . वि . शशि - ai.vi.shashi ( I V Sasi, this "ശ" - "sha" - is neither s nor shh but in-between, director)

9. ഒ.എൻ.വി. കുറുപ്പ് - ஒ . என். வி. குறுப்பு - ओ एन वि कुरुप्पु - o.en.vi.kuRuppu (O N V Kurup, the lyricist of pazhassi rAjA )

10. ഊത്തപ്പം - ஊத்தப்பம் - ऊत्तप्पम -ooththappam (South Indian "pan cake", mouth watering)

11. ആയുർവേദം - ஆயுர்வேதம் - आयुर्वेदम -aayurvEdham (Ayurvedic medical system)

12. ഇസ്‌ലാം - இஸ்லாம் - इस्लाम -islAm (Islam, belief system)

13. ഏഷ്യാനെറ്റ് - ஏஷ்யாநெற்ற் - एष्यानेट -EshyAnett (Asianet, TV channel)

14. അംബിക - அம்பிக - अम्बिक -ambika (Ambika, actress)

Lesson 6 First group of consonants ക ഖ ഗ ഘ ങ

For people who are familiar with Hindi, the grouping of consonants in Malayalam won't pose any problem as they are about 99% same. The only exception that I can think of is the la / La / zha / ra/ Ra business that Malayalam inherited from Thamizh.

OTOH, for those who know only Thamizh & English, this grouping could be something new to learn - though not very difficult if we follow thru regularly in this thread

In Thamizh, there's just one க (ka). This has to be used for ga / kha / gha sounds also. (In original Thamizh, the same letter has to be used for "ha" sound too The current Thamizh of course has a new character to handle that "ha" sound - ஹ...however, that's out of topic for this lesson)

Malayalam, OTOH, has 4 equivalent letters, exactly like Hindi : ka / kha / ga / gha

ക = ka = क = க

ഖ = kha = ख

ഗ = ga = ग

ഘ = gha = घ

The fifth alphabet in this group is "n(g)a" which is the second consonant in Thamizh after ka : ங

ങ = n(g)a = ङ = ங

Please note that the characters shown above are not consonants themselves but added with additional "a" sound. So, these are actually combination of consonant + vowel (uyir mey).

For the pure consonant, the above characters will have a half-moon-like symbol on top :

ക് ഖ് ഗ് ഘ് ങ് (k,kh,g,gh,ng)

I'll post some words to exercise & familiarize with this family separately, along with any vinyl covers I can get hold of

Small tip for Thamizh people :

ക looks very similar to க

But watch out for the next one ഖ which is exactly same as Thamizh "va" but sounds "kha" in Malayalam!

Also, it is better to familiarize with doubling of consonants at this point of time as it'll help expedite the learning process

Combination of same letter (homo koottezhuththu) is used extensively in Malayalam, much like Hindi. Let us look at such combinations for this group in this post (such will be applicable to most groups and the concept will help very much going forward).

We know ക് + അ = ക and that's how we arrived at the first set of characters in this lesson.

Now, it's possible to also do ക് + ക, which is what I called homo-combo - this results in ക്ക! (க்க)

This one is very similar to such thing in Hindi " क्क "

Likewise, ഗ് + ഗ = ഗ്ഗ.

Don't ask me why they add to the side in some places and on top in other places

Well, we have one more from this group :

ങ് + ങ = ങ്ങ (ங்ங)

Malayalam being a mellinam-heavy language, you'll encounter this ങ്ങ character very frequently

(I'm not aware of "doubling of the other two", namely ഖ & ഘ. If anything, it's very rare to see in real life. OTOH, those are combined in other ways, which we'll figure out later when learning what I'll call "hetero-combo" )

Another information :

There are "old" and "new" style scripts in use in Malayalam. Though most websites use the new style, it won't be unusual to encouter some in old style.

Also, in printed media / handwritten form, people may still use old script. We'll cover here and there such things but due to limitation of resource (I use only google transliteration tool), I won't be able to show all the old style characters that may come up in vinyl covers Please learn such things "on-the-fly"!

That way, don't be surprised if you come across ൿ instead of ക് - both are same. The half-moon style is the new script and unicode.

OK, time for exercise words :

കണ്ണ് = கண்ணு = कणणु = kaNNu (eye)

കഴുത = கழுத = कलुत = kazhutha (donkey)

ഖണ്ഡം = கண்டம் = खंडं = khandam (piece)

ഖര = கர = खर = khara (solid)

ഗണപതി = கணபதி = गणपति = Ganapathi (Ganesh the deity)

ഗതി = கதி = गति = gathi (course / path)

ഘടകം = கடகம் = घटकम = ghatakam (part / aspect)

ഘടന = கடன = घटन = ghatana (composition / put together / structure)

For ങ, let me use the more popular "doubled" form that occurs in the middle of words (and not in the beginning) :

ഞങ്ങൾ = ஞங்ஙள் = ञङ्ङल = jnangngaL (We)

നിങ്ങൾ = நிங்ஙள் = निङ्ङल = ningngaL (you in plural)

So they use periya 'Ra' for ROshan rather than chinna 'ra'. Good to know this.
nnga is more complicated.

Since I am able to write and read hindi (not very fast), I think it should be little easy for me to follow almost similar grammar (4 kas) in malayalam.

Thanks app ji for the consonant tutorial and the corresponding words and the intricacies. Will practice at home.

As we are now into consonants, there won't be many vinyls with first letter of titles from our current lesson.

Accordingly, I'll be highlighting in different color the letter as it occurs in the movie title

ഗര്ജ്ജനം - கர்ஜ்ஜனம் - garjjanam (movie also made as garjanai in Thamizh, meaning roar)

You may notice the difference between how unicode does the "r -ര് " and what's there on the vinyl (just a dot on top of ജ, which is old style)



കഥ ഇതുവരെ - கத இதுவரெ - katha ithuvare (Story so far)



സംഘര്ഷം - ஸங்கர்ஷம் - sangharsham

Here you see another form of the same consonant r, it's not ര് or റ് but ർ

Sample for the use of " ക്ക"

പാൽക്കടൽ = பால்க்கடல் = paalkkadal (sea of milk, I think)

I've located a few more vinyl covers that could help in memorizing letters from this ka-ga group

Interestingly, most have ഗ (ga) occuring in them

Look at this സംഗമം (sangamam - ஸங்கமம் - संगमं )



Also another, which is very similar but another prefix :

രാഗസംഗമം (rAga sangamam - ராகஸங்கமம் - रागसंगमं )



That musical name sends us another musical name :

രാഗം താനം പല്ലവി (rAgam thAnam pallavi - ராகம் தானம் பல்லவி -रागम तानम पल्लवी)

One more for the letter ഗ :

രജനി ഗന്ധി = ரஜனி கந்தி = rajani gandhi = रजनी गंधी

Please note it is not gAndhi (thAththA) but gandhi

I think it means the flower (we had it in our garden at Palakkad)...

Let's have one for our ക appearing in the middle of a word...

ഭൂകമ്പം = bhookambam = பூகம்பம் = भूकम्बम (Earthquake)

We have discussed only the combination of the vowel അ with consonants so far. That is typical for Thamizh / Malayalam & Hindi. This is because pronouncing just the consonants won't be easy on the tongue or ears.

One of our school teachers tried that - but adding some extra syllables and making it sound musical, like ikku-ingu-ichchu-inju-ippu-immu etc for the Thamizh consonants க் ங் ச் ஞ் ப் ம் but I hated it those days For me the other style was a lot more musical & palatable :

கசடதபற வல்லினம்

ஙஞநமணன மெல்லினம்

யரலவழள இடையினம்

நாம் யாவருமே ஓரினம்

That way, the letter അ goes with consonants by default during alphabet learning. (I guess it's the same way with other Indian languages derived from Sanskrit as well, such as Gujarati / Punjabi / Bengali / Telugu / Kannada).

Well, it's customory to teach later the other vowel combinations. i.e.

ആ ഇ ഈ ഉ ഊ എ ഏ ഐ ഒ ഓ ഔ

Since we are using the vinyl covers (and other pictures) as a tool in our learning, I want to also insert the "other vowel" combinations a little early.

That is, I don't want to wait to cover ALL the consonants and then get into this combination with vowels.

Since the new Malayalam character format (as well as unicode) has simplified this combination business a lot, I would like to run that part right now - i.e. before we get into the next group of consonants by the end of this week.

So, I plan to run some of these combos thru out this week to expedite the learning process

Watch out for the simplest one in the next post, combining ആ with consonants!

Combining the second vowel ആ with consonants is exactly similar to how it's done in Thamizh / Hindi.

That is, first add the short vowel അ to remove the halfmoon mark on top.

Then, elongate the "a" sound to "aa" by adding another, extra symbol on the RIGHT HAND SIDE of the character.

Let me illustrate with kaa (കാ) :

First we have this consonant "k" = ക്

When we add the first vowel, അ, it becomes ka = ക (Look, the halfmoon on top is gone)

When add the second vowel ആ, or for that matter any other vowel to a consonant, the first step is to remove that "halfmoon" symbol and then do the second step.

In the case of ആ, the second step is to add a "thuNaikkAL" (a character called "support column") to the right.

That way, kaa = കാ

Some may recall the extra character on the right from the vowel "O" (ഓ) Yes, that is the same one!

So, for adding the ആ sound to any consonant, we need to have that support character on the RHS!

Look at the following for the group that we've learnt last week :

കാ = கா = kaa / kA = का

ഖാ = khaa / khA = खा

ഗാ = gaa / gA = गा

ഘാ = ghaa / ghA = घा

ങാ = ஙா = ngaa / ngA = ङ्ा (google won't let me type that letter in Hindi , but this is the way to addthat extra pillar on the right)

I have a vinyl picture to illustrate this :

ഗാനം = gaanam / gAnam = கானம் = गानं (means, SONG)

Extending the concept of ക, കാ to the addition of next two vowels ഇ & ഈ now...

Please look at the following consonant + vowel combinations to illustrate this alliance :

ക് + ഇ = കി

ക് + ഈ = കീ

As we can see, the first step is same - that of "removing the half-moon symbol" from the top.

The second step is very similar, add a symbol on the right. One for the short "ഇ - i" and another for the long "ഈ - ee".


The symbol is very similar in both cases, a hook that looks like the walking stick. Just that the longer sound also has a small bulb on top


(For those who know Thamizh, it's kind of inverted. There the same letters are கி கீ where the "bulb" is in the bottom of the walking stick and the stick significantly shortened In Hindi, the walking stick is placed in left for short sound and on the right for long sound, complicating things...कि & की )


Let me do this combo business for all the 5 consonants from this group :


കി , ഖി, ഗി, ഘി , ങി (ki, khi, gi, ghi, ngi)

കീ, ഖീ, ഗീ , ഘീ, ങീ (kee, khee, gee, ghee, ngee)

Once I get hold of some vinyl picks, will post here

Few vinyls for demonstrating this consonants alloying with vowels ഇ ഈ :

ഹംസഗീതം (hamsageetham / ஹம்சகீதம் / हम्सगीतम)



ജ്വാലാമുഖി (jwAlAmukhi / ஜ்வாலாமுகி / ज्वालामुखी)

In the next vinyl below, we'll find a minor variation from what we've seen in the above two pictures.

Those two were single consonant additions to e/ee vowels.

The one below has consonant doubling i.e. kk - ക്ക് AND adding to the vowel ഇ:

ക് + ക് = ക്ക്

ക്ക് + ഇ = ക്കി

Simple, isn't it? But significant space saver

Now, look at this vinyl ഇണക്കിളി (iNakkiLi / இணக்கிளி / इणक्कीली )

Looks like iLamaikkAlangaL / vetRi vizhA Sasikala...

OK, we've seen ക് alloying with അ ആ ഇ ഈ and becoming ക, കാ, കി, കീ

Now, it's time for the alliance with ഉ ഊ !

As anyone familiar with Thamizh and Hindi knows, it's always tricky alliance for consonants when they deal with these two vowels (உ ஊ / उ ऊ ). That is because the resultant characters may follow different visual patterns

It used to be that way in Malayalam too (actually much worse) in the "OLD" style of writing. Every combination produced some new kind of character and one had to remember many.

However, with the "NEW" style, they've standardized by a simple RHS addition of "walking stick with a single or twin bulb at the bottom" That is what is used in unicode also and we'll learn that here.

WARNING : OLD STYLE IS STILL USED IN SOME PRINT MEDIA / VINYL COVERS ETC and you may have to familiarize with those as needed. Please feel free to raise doubts in this thread and I'll be happy to help / explain / clarify I don't, however, plan to spend energy formally teaching the old style at this time.

OK, here are some samples of consonants alloying with ഉ ഊ by adding in the right hand side a "walking stick with bulbs" :

ക് + ഉ = കു ku /कु / கு

ക് + ഊ = കൂ koo / कू / கூ

Pretty simple, isn't it?

Likewise, let us build for the other consonants of this "ka" group as well :

ഖു ഖൂ (khu , khoo -खु, खू)

ഗു ഗൂ (gu , goo - गु , गू)

ഘു ഘൂ (ghu , ghoo - घु , घू)

ങു ങൂ (ngu , ngoo - can't type in Hindi at google, ஙு ஙூ )

Though I said earlier about not teaching old style, would like to add a tip here :

In OLD Malayalam letters, they added just a single bulb or twin bulb below the letter in many cases.

In some other cases, they added an extra dent for kuRil and a whole round in the bottom for nedil, much like Thamizh (that is, like that ஙூ).

I would strongly recommend not using such style and follow the "walking stick with bulb" technology

Look at this vinyl :

ഗുരുജീ ഒരു വാക്കു (guruji oru vAkku / गुरूजी ओरु वाक्कु / குருஜீ ஒரு வாக்கு)

Focus on how both ഗു and ക്കു characters appear in the OLD style on the picture:

Thanks a lot app ji. I have at-least written down all the alphabets you thought.