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

Now the last one for this lesson, for the Ra / റ letter in somewhat tough combo (doubling + vowel) :

മറ്റൊരു കര്ണ്ണൻ / maRRoru karNNan / மற்றொரு கர்ண்ணன் / मर्रोरू कर्णणन

Quiz time again

For the last set of consonants that we've learnt last week...

1. യക്ഷഗാനം

2. രാജാവിന്റെ മകൻ

3. ലവകുശ

4. വരവേൽപ്പ്

5. വൈശാലി

6. ശ്യാമ

7. സന്മനസ്സുള്ളവര്‍ക്ക് സമാധാനം

8. ഷാജി കൈലാസ്

9. ഹിസ് ഹൈനസ്സ് അബ്ദുള്ള

10. ലളിത

11. പുഴയോരത്തിൽ

12. പാറ

(Mostly movie names, a couple of film personalities, first line of an IR song, MSV's native place)

As usual, let's give 2 days to solve these and I'll post exact tranliterations on Thursday

As we approach the end of "Phase 1" i.e. Learn to Read Malayalam course, let me explain the game plan for the balance of this phase (i.e what happens after resolving the quiz above) :

-A last lesson on hetero-combos. Probably the most challenging part for new readers, especially those who know only English & Thamizh where there's no concept of such "combo" characters

-Few more vinyl pics to illustrate some complicated combo letters

-Quiz on hetero-combo letters

-Another final quiz for Phase 1

-Concluding remarks for the Phase 1 and intro to another new thread which will focus on a few aspects as below :

1. "Practice sessions" to build the actual reading skills / speed based on the alphabets learnt in Phase 1 i.e. our current thread. I assure it won't be simply a series of boring exercises but ones enriched with tips / tricks / techniques plus valuable information gathered from experts who research / specialize in language teaching.
   
2. By the same sessions, also build a decent amount of vocabulary of the language that will help one understand around 50-75% of everyday conversations.
   
3. Minimal info on sentence constructs / grammar to enable some speaking of the language. (No plans to make this a full-fledged-language-course, however!)
   

-So, keep an eye on the proceedings!

1. yakshagaanam
2. raajaavinte makan
3. lavakusha (lavakusa?)
4. varavELppu
5. vaishaali
6. shyaama
7. sanmanssuLLavarkku samaadhaanam
8. shaaji kailas
9. his highness abdhuLLa
10. laLita
11. puzhayOraththil
12. paaRa

Great job, V_Sji!

You cracked all of them - I guess you're ready for "graduation"

Here are the answers / exact transliterations :

1. യക്ഷഗാനം - yakshagAnam (movie) / யக்ஷகானம் / यक्षगानं

2. രാജാവിന്റെ മകൻ - rAjAvinRe makan (movie) / ராஜாவின்றெ மகன் / राजाविंरे मकन

3. ലവകുശ - lavakusha (movie) / லவகுஷ / लवकुश

4. വരവേൽപ്പ് - varavElppu (movie) / வரவேல்ப்பு / वरवेल्प्पु

5. വൈശാലി -vaishAli (movie) / வைஷாலி / वैशालि

6. ശ്യാമ - shyAma (movie) / ஷ்யாம / श्याम

7. സന്മനസ്സുള്ളവര്‍ക്ക് സമാധാനം - sanmanassuLLavarkku samAdhhAnam (movie) / ஸன்மனஸ்ஸுள்ளவர்க்கு ஸமாதானம் / सन्मनस्सुल्लवर्क्कु समाधानं

8. ഷാജി കൈലാസ് - shhAji kailAs (director) / ஷாஜி கைலாஸ் / षाजी कैलास

9. ഹിസ് ഹൈനസ്സ് അബ്ദുള്ള - his hainass abdhuLLa (movie, His Highness Abdulla) / ஹிஸ் ஹைனஸ்ஸ் அப்துள்ள / हिस हैनस्स अब्दुल्ल

10. ലളിത - laLitha (dancer, sis of Padmini) / லளித / ललित

11. പുഴയോരത്തിൽ - puzhayOraththil (IR song) / புழயோரத்தில் / पुलयोरत्तिल

12. പാറ - pARa (also called elappuLLi, MSV native) / பாற / पार

While we have more than one of the consonants from this group in some words, I've highlighted only one letter for each question in RED, for distinct identity

Lesson 12 - Hetero Combo of consonants

Let's do some recap reg. combinational letters.

Point 1 - consonants can be combined together by adding a symbol on the side or the bottom.

We have already discussed about "doubling" of consonants in the corresponding lessons. (We'll discuss later about combination of one consonant to another which will follow similar pattern).

For example, for ക് + ക് gets a new character "ക്ക്". Likewise, ച് + ച് gets represented as "ച്ച്"

That way, the combination typically results in an extra fitting on the side or the bottom when a consonant doubles.

Please note that not every one of them gets a combo necessarily. Also, writing without combo characters is totally legal & correct but this is an extra convenience for space saving.

Point 2 - We can "seamlessly" add vowels to such combination of consonants as well.

For example, kkO can be represented as : ക്കോ . Here we have added a "rettai suzhikkombu" to the left and "thuNaikkAl" to the right of the doubled consonant ക്ക് and took out the "half-moon" on top, to get "kkO" sound.

Another example, ല്ലീ is "llee" where the consonant l got doubled (ല്ല്) and then vowel ee (ഈ) added.

Point 3 - We can also add "diacritics" with additional symbols in the case of ADDITION of three consonants, namely, യ, ര, വ. Look at a variety of examples below :

thva = ത്വ

thvee = ത്വീ

ththvee = ത്ത്വീ

pr (no vowel added) = പ്ര്

prO (with O added) = പ്രോ

gyA (g+y+A) = ഗ്യാ

The above three situations are already learnt and practiced (hopefully). So, the above discussion is only a recap.

Now, the ONLY NEW ADDITION in this lesson is understanding the possibility of adding two or more DIFFERENT consonants together and further adding a vowel / diacritic to that combo.

Let me illustrate this with the name of a country - INDIA - in Malayalam

It is written as " ഇന്ത്യ ". Here the first letter is a clean vowel, ഇ (i / இ / इ).

But the second character, is a combo of THREE CONSONANTS & ONE VOWEL. n+th+y+a!

n = ന് and when it gets added to th (ത്), we get a character for "nth" as ന്ത്‌. As one can see, the second consonant has got added to the right side of the first consonant and one vertical line is SWALLOWED to get the new character.

When you add "y" (യ്) to it, you get the RHS diacritic symbol for y and the character becomes ന്ത്യ്. This means, you don't see the shape of "യ്" anywhere but only get that SOUND.

Finally, when the vowel a (അ) gets added, you simply take away the HALF MOON superscript. Voila! You get "n-th-y-a" as simply "ന്ത്യ".

Essentially, these four are the MAX possible steps in the combination methodology. ADDING THREE DISSIMILAR CONSONANTS AND A VOWEL!

More in the next post...

It is not the intention to cover EVERY possible combination between consonants in this lesson. All we'll be looking at will be SOME combinations that will give an idea as to what to look for when reading Malayalam.

Since there are so many consonants and a variety of permuations / combinations possible, it will be too much to list all here and may not serve any useful purpose. All we're trying to do here is to understand the PRINCIPLES as to how these get combined together and use that knowledge to identify the variety of characters that we see when we read Malayalam.

Over a period of time, we'll become very familiar with the combinations and won't need much processing time to "figure out" what are the letters combined in this "figure"

Like I mentioned in the previous post, the max possibility is adding a couple of same or different consonants, then one of those y/r/v sounds and ONLY ONE vowel! (Obviously you cannot add more than ONE vowel to any combo letter).

Typically, when two consonats get added, the resultant character is a "fusion" "sandwich" "alloy" "amalgamation" of the ingradients. As we have seen above, joining ന് and ത് produces the offspring ന്ത്‌ which is "attaching the second one to the RHS of the first one so closely that the "wall" between them is taken out.

On other occasions, the "attaching" happens at the bottom. For example, joining of പ് (p) and ല് (l) begets പ്ല് where the second letter is attached to the bottom of the first one (note Malayalam borrows from Thamizh for "la" (ல) in this case, so I'm using this special case as example).

This first JOIN forms the basis on to which the vowels & diacritics (y,r,v) get added as needed.

Look at some combo samples below and I'll throw in a lot of words in the next post :

ക്ഷ = kshha / க்ஷ (haiyyA, combo even in Thamizh) / क्ष (combination of ക്+ഷ്+അ)

ണ്ട = Nta / ண்ட / णट (combination of ണ്‍ + ട് + അ)

ദ്ധം = ddham /த்தம்/ द्धं (combination of ദ് + ധ് + അം)

I guess we get the idea as to how the fusing happens. It'll be easier to understand when we see such combinations as part of word samples in my next post

Let's have a number of sample words to absorb this combo concept...

പഞ്ചാഗ്നി - panchAgni (five fires) / பஞ்சாக்னி / पंचाग्नि

The expanded version of the above Malayalam word is : പ ഞ് ചാ ഗ് നി...as you can see, there are two combo letters in the word, ഞ് + ചാ becoming ഞ്ചാ and ഗ് + നി becoming ഗ്നി

കരിമ്പ് - karimbu (sugarcane) / கரிம்பு / करिम्बु

Here the letters m (മ്) & b (ബ്) are added to get this new character മ്പ്. Addition of u / ഉ is not explicit due to "kutRiyalugaram" business. The word gets that sound anyways.

ഇന്ധനം - indhhanam (fuel) / இந்தனம் / इन्धनम

Here the combination of n (ന്) and dhh (ധ്) has resulted in a new character ന്ധ

ചന്ദനക്കുറി - chandhanakkuRi (sandal mark on forehead) / சந்தனக்குறி / चन्दनक्कुरि

A combination of n (ന്) and dh (ദ്) has resulted in a new character ന്ദ, case of breaking Berlin wall!

കുങ്കുമപ്പൂ - kunkumappoo (saffron flower) / குங்குமப்பூ / कुंकुमप्पू

Combination of ng (ങ്) with k (ക്) brings about a new character ങ്ക് and add u (ഉ) to get ngku ങ്കു

അബ്ദുൽ - abdhul (name) / அப்துல் / अब्दुल

First name of India's former president has a combo letter b-ബ് + dh-ദ് + u-ഉ = ബ്ദു

I guess the above examples give an idea how the combos happen in the side & top. Like we have seen above, it is not always RHS, sometimes LHS. Also, on occasions, simply removal of a circle etc.

Fortunately, the NEW MALAYALAM SCRIPT uses for less combo's than the older one. As the UNICODE uses the NEW script, most places that one comes across in the web is far easier to read than old printed material (as illustrated by those vinyl covers)!

Let me post vinyl covers illustrating "combo" letters in the next coming few days and we can progress towards a quiz for combo letters

Before I post some vinyls featuring 'hetero-combo' letters, let us recap all these variety of characters we've learnt to identify / read / type (or write) in this thread:

Vowels in this post, with just English / Thamizh transliterations for quick recall:

അ - a / அ

ആ - A / ஆ

ഇ - i or e / இ

ഈ - ee / ஈ

ഉ - u / உ

ഊ - oo / ஊ

ഋ - hri / hru / ஹ்ரி / ஹ்ரு

എ - (y)e / எ

ഏ - (y)E / ஏ

ഐ - ai / ஐ

ഒ - o / ஒ

ഓ - O / ஓ

ഔ - au / ஔ

അം - am / அம்

അ: - ah / ஃ

First group of consonants - the "K" series (with many derivatives) :

ക് - k - ക കാ കി കീ കു കൂ കൃ കെ കേ കൈ കോ കോ കൗ കം ക്ര ക്വ ക്യ ക്ക ങ്ക ക്ഷ

ഖ് - kh -ഖ ഖാ ഖി ഖീ ഖു ഖൂ ഖ്രു ഖെ ഖേ ഖൈ ഖൊ ഖോ ഖൗ ഖം ഖ്ര ഖ്വ ഖ്യ

ഗ് - g - ഗ ഗാ ഗി ഗീ ഗു ഗൂ ഗൃ ഗെ ഗേ ഗൈ ഗൊ ഗോ ഗൗ ഗം ഗ്ര ഗ്വ ഗ്യ ഗ്ഗ ഗ്ന ഗ്ല

ഘ് - gh - ഘ ഘാ ഘി ഘീ ഘു ഘൂ ഘ്രു ഘെ ഘേ ഘൈ ഘൊ ഘോ ഘൗ ഘം ഘ്ര ഘ്വ ഘ്യ

ങ് - ng - ങ ങാ ങി ങീ ങു ങൂ ങ്രു ങെ ങേ ങൈ ങൊ ങോ ങൗ ങം ങ്ര ങ്വ ങ്യ ങ്ങ

Second group of consonants (CH series) and their derivatives :

ച് - ച ചാ ചി ഛീ ചു ചൂ ച്രു ചെ ചേ ചൈ ചൊ ചോ ചൗ ചം ച്ര ച്വ ച്യ ച്ച ച്ല ച്ഛ

ഛ് - ഛ ഛാ ഛി ഛീ ഛു ഛൂ ഛ്രു ഛെ ഛേ ഛൈ ഛൊ ഛോ ഛൗ ഛം ഛ്ര ഛ്വ ഛ്യ

ജ് - ജ ജാ ജി ജീ ജു ജൂ ജ്രു ജെ ജേ ജൈ ജൊ ജോ ജൗ ജം ജ്ര ജ്വ ജ്യ ജ്ജ ജ്ല

ഝ് - ഝ ഝാ ഝി ഝീ ഝ്രു ഝെ ഝേ ഝൈ ഝൊ ഝോ ഝൗ ഝം

ഞ് - ഞ ഞാ ഞി ഞീ ഞു ഞൂ ഞ്രു ഞെ ഞേ ഞൈ ഞൊ ഞോ ഞൗ ഞം ഞ്ര ഞ്വ ഞ്യ ഞ്ഞ ഞ്ച ഞ്ല

Third group of consonants (T series) and derivatives / combos:

ട് - ട ടാ ടി ടീ ട ടൂ ട്രി ടെ ടേ ടൈ ടൊ ടോ ടം ട്ര ട്വ ട്യ ട്ട ട്ല

ഠ - ഠ ഠാ ഠി (difficult to type other derivatives in google transliterate)

ഡ് - ഡ ഡാ ഡി ഡീ ഡു ഡൂ ഡ്രു ഡെ ഡേ ഡൈ ഡൊ ഡോ ഡ്ര ഡ്വ ഡ്യ ഡ്ഡ

ഢ - ഢ (difficult to type other derivatives in google transliterate)

ണ് - ണ ണാ ണി ണീ ണു ണൂ ണ്രി ണെ ണേ ണൈ ണൊ ണോ ണം ണ്ര ണ്വ ണ്യ ണ്ണ ണ്മ ണ്ട

Fourth group of consonants and derivative samples (TH series)

ത് - ത താ തി തീ തു തൂ തൃ തെ തേ തൈ തൊ തോ തൗ തം ത്ര ത്വ ത്യ ത്ത ത്ല ത്ഭ ത്ഥ

ഥ് - ഥ ഥാ ഥി ഥീ ഥു ഥൂ ഥ്രു ഥെ ഥേ ഥൈ ഥൊ ഥോ ഥൗ ഥം ഥ്ര ഥ്വ ഥ്യ ഥ്ല

ദ് - ദ ദാ ദി ദീ ദു ദൂ ദ്രു ദെ ദേ ദൈ ദൊ ദോ ദൗ ദം ദ്ര ദ്വ ദ്യ ദ്ല ദ്ധ ദ്ധ്ല

ധ് - ധ ധാ ധി ധീ ധു ധൂ ധൃ ധെ ധേ ധൈ ധൊ ധോ ധൗ ധം ധ്ര ധ്വ ധ്യ ധ്ല ധ്ല്വ ധ്യോ

ന് - ന നാ നിനീ നു നൂ നൃ നെ നേ നൈ നൊ നോ നൗ നം ന്ര ന്വ ന്യ ന്ന ന്ത ന്ദ ന്ത്രി

Fifth group of consonants (P series) and derivative samples :

പ് - പ പാ പി പീ പു പൂ പ്രു പെ പേ പൈ പൊ പോ പൗ പം പ്ര പ്വ പ്യ പ്പ പ്ല

ഫ് - ഫ ഫാ ഫി ഫീ ഫു ഫൂ ഫ്രു ഫെ ഫേ ഫൈ ഫൊ ഫോ ഫൗ ഫം ഫ്ര ഫ്വ ഫ്യ ഫ്ലാ

ബ് - ബ ബാ ബി ബീ ബു ബൂ ബ്രു ബെ ബേ ബൈ ബൊ ബോ ബൗ ബം ബ്ര ബ്വ ബ്യ ബ്ബ ബ്ല ബ്ദ

ഭ് - ഭ ഭാ ഭി ഭീ ഭു ഭൂ ഭ്രു ഭെ ഭേ ഭൈ ഭൊ ഭോ ഭൗ ഭം ഭ്ര ഭ്വ ഭ്യ ഭ്ല

മ് - മ മാ മി മീ മു മൂ മൃ മെ മേ മൈ മൊ മോ മൗ മം മ്ര മ്വ മ്യ മ്ല മ്പ

Please feel free to ask if you cannot pronounce / read any of the derivatives above and I can give transliterations / example words...

Last set of consonants / derivatives / combos :

യ് - യ യാ യി യീ യു യൂ യ്രു യെ യേ യൈ യൊ യോ യൗ യം യ്ര യ്വ യ്യ യ്ല

ര് / ർ - ര രാ രി രീ രു രൂ ര്രു രെ രേ രൈ രൊ രോ രൗ രം ര്ര ര്വ ര്യ

ല് / ൽ - ല ലാ ലി ലീ ലു ലൂ ല്രു ലെ ലേ ലൈ ലൊ ലോ ലൗ ലം ല്ര ല്വ ല്യ ല്ല

വ് - വ വാ വി വീ വു വൂ വൃ വെ വേ വൈ വൊ വോ വൗ വം വ്ര വ്വ വ്യ വ്ല

ശ് - ശ ശാ ശി ശീ ശു ശൂ ശ്രു ശെ ശേ ശൈ ശൊ ശോ ശം ശ്ര ശ്വ ശ്യ ശ്ശ ശ്ല

ഷ് - ഷ ഷാ ഷി ഷീ ഷു ഷൂ ഷ്രു ഷെ ഷേ ഷൈ ഷൊ ഷോ ഷൗ ഷം ഷ്ര ഷ്വ ഷ്യ ഷ്ട ഷ്ല

സ് - സ സാ സി സീ സു സൂ സൃ സെ സേ സൈ സൊ സോ സൗ സം സ്ര സ്വ സ്യ സ്സ സ്ല സ്റ്റ

ഹ് - ഹ ഹാ ഹി ഹീ ഹു ഹൂ ഹൃ ഹെ ഹേ ഹൈ ഹൊ ഹോ ഹൗ ഹം ഹ്ര ഹ്വ ഹ്യ ഹ്ല

ള് / ൾ - ള ളാ ളി ളീ ളു ളൂ ള്രു ളെ ളേ ളൈ ളൊ ളോ ളം ള്ര ള്വ ള്യ ള്ള

ഴ് - ഴ ഴാ ഴി ഴീ ഴു ഴൂ ഴ്രു ഴെ ഴേ ഴൈ ഴൊ ഴോ ഴൗ ഴം ഴ്ര ഴ്യ ഴ്ള

റ് - റ റാ റി റീ റു റൂ റ്റു റെ റേ റൈ റൊ റോ റ്റൗ റാം റ്വ റ്യ റ്റ

Now that I have catalogued a number of characters / combos etc, we can start looking at some more vinyls and also have a quiz...

Possibly tomorrow

Before I post vinyls, two more additional points on Malayalam reading:

#1

I've so far not talked about the short form for "n(g)" which is simply the symbol "o" that gets used quite often (much like the half-moon mark in HINDI script for "ng" sounds). Example : മംഗളം = mangaLam / மங்களம் / मँगलम. One can see that the small "o" after മ is not fully pronounced as another "m" but as "n". In other words, here മം is not pronounced as "mum" but pronounced as "mun" as the next letter is ga / ഗ. This way it makes the sound of "n(g)" rather than "m(g)", much like in Hindi.

#2

This is typically in OLD Malayalam script and cannot be typed in Unicode. That is, a simple SPOT on top of a letter will add the consonant "R" prior to pronouncing the letter. For example, for "rg", the unicode format is "ര്ഗ്". However, in hand-written or otherwise format may simply put a spot / period (puLLi) on top of ഗ and it should read "rg". This is similar to the way things are written in Devanagari / Hindi, where R is replaced by a symbol on top : र्ग

We've earlier had vinyls that illustrate #1 but let me post the vinyl that illustrates the point #2 as the first one among the vinyls that I post for "hetero-combos" today

I want this post to be taken note of by all, as these are important rules to understand in reading Malayalam.

OK, here we go with the last set of vinyl covers that I intend to post in this thread...

First one, to illustrate #2 in the post above is this :

പ്രാർത്ഥന / prArththhana / ப்ரார்த்தன / प्रार्त्थन (prayer)

One sees a separate character for r in the unicode but on the vinyl cover, there'll be only a spot on top

Now, a vinyl cover with Unni Mary, for illustrating 'ngka' :

തച്ചോളി തങ്കപ്പൻ / thachchOLi thangkappan / தச்சோளி தங்கப்பன் / तच्चोलि तन्कप्पन

This must be an easy one for Thamizh reading people, but the vinyl cover is in OLD MALAYALM script and could throw in a minor variance, adding "ma" at the bottom to "ksh" as an all-in-one character (and thus an additional challenge) :

ഉദ്യാന ലക്ഷ്മി / udhyAna lakshmi / உத்யான லக்ஷ்மி / उद्यान लक्ष्मी

An easy case of "unicode meets vinyl" to illustrate "nma" :

ആയിരം ജന്മങ്ങൾ / Ayiram janmangngaL / ஆயிரம் ஜன்மங்ஙள் / आयिरम जन्मङ्गल (not correctly typed in Hindi, difficult to get this in Unicode)

Vinyl to illustrate "shht" :

ഭ്രഷ്ട് / bhrashtu / ப்ரஷ்டு / भ्रष्ट

This one is easy, illustrating "nj+cha" :

പഞ്ചാമൃതം / panjchAmrutham / பஞ்சாம்ருதம் / पंचामृतं

Look at this hetero-combo of k + tha, if one is not careful can mistake it as "kka" :

രക്തമില്ലാത്ത മനുഷ്യൻ / rakthamillAththa manushyan / ரக்தமில்லாத்த மனுஷ்யன் (literally, "man without blood" )



So, while not all vinyls are selected with "special care", I hand-pick some to illustrate specific points!

That's why each post should not be missed

An early Mammooty picture, to illustrate "n + tha" :

സാഗരം ശാന്തം / sAgaram shAntham / ஸாகரம் ஷாந்தம் / सागरं शान्तं