The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Malayalam pronunciations. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Malayalam phonology for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Malayalam.

Consonants
IPAMalayalamISO 15919English approximation
k ക k sky
kʰ ഖ kh key
ɡ ഗ g ago
ɡʱ ഘ gh loghouse
ŋ ങ ṅ sink
t͡ʃ ച c church
t͡ʃʰ ഛ ch church
d͡ʒ ജ j object
d͡ʒʱ ഝ jh hedgehog
ɲ ഞ ñ canyon
ʈ[a] ട ṭ butter (retroflex)
ʈʰ[a] ഠ ṭh pothole (retroflex)
ɖ[a] ഡ ḍ puddle (retroflex)
ɖʱ[a] ഢ ḍh redhead but retroflex
ɳ ണ/ൺ[b] ṇ pun but retroflex
t̪[a] ത t thank but plosive
t̪ʰ[a] ഥ th withhold but plosive
d̪[a] ദ d that but plosive
d̪ʱ[a] ധ dh withhold but voiced and plosive
n̪ ന n month
n ഩ/ന[c]/ൻ[b] ṉ spin
p പ p spin
pʰ ഫ[d] ph pin
f f fin
b ബ b about
bʱ ഭ bh clubhouse
m മ m mall
j യ/-്യ[e] y yes
ɾ ര/-്ര[f] r American English atom
l ല/ൽ[b] l list
ʋ വ/-്വ[e] v curve
ʃ ശ ś shoe
ʂ ഷ ṣ shoe (retroflex)
s സ s so
h ഹ h head
ɭ ള/ൾ[b] ḷ pull (retroflex)
ɻ ഴ ḻ range
r റ/ർ[b]/-്ര[f] ṟ Scottish English run
t[a] റ്റ ṯ stalk
nd[a] ൻ്റ ṉḏ indicate
Vowels
IPA MalayalamISO 15919English approximation
ɐ അ a fun (short)
ə[g] അ a about
aː ാ, ആ ā father (long)
i ി, ഇ i sit (short)
iː ീ, ഈ ī seat (long)
u ു, ഉ u full (short)
uː ൂ, ഊ ū fool (long)
r̩ ൃ, ഋ r̥ caterer
e െ, എ e bet (short)
eː േ, ഏ ē there (long)
o ൊ, ഒ o got (short)
oː ോ, ഓ ō story (long)
ai ൈ, ഐ ai mile
au ൗ, ൌ[h], ഔ au foul
ɨ ്, ു്[i] ŭ potato
Suprasegmentals
IPA
ˈ stress
(placed before stressed syllable)

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Malayalam contrasts dental [t̪] and [d̪] with retroflex [ʈ] and [ɖ] (as well as aspirated variants). Both sets sound like /t/ and /d/ to most English speakers although the dental [t̪] and [d̪] are used in place of the English /θ/ and /ð/ for some speakers with th-stopping. There is also an unvoiced alveolar [t] in Malayalam while the voiced alveolar [d] can occur after [n].
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Pure consonant without implicit vowel. Found within consonant clusters and at the ends of words.
  3. ↑ modern orthography uses ന for both /n̪/ and /n/, and ഩ is no longer used.
  4. ↑ ഫ is used for both /f/ and /pʰ/.
  5. 1 2 Post-base ligature element.
  6. 1 2 Pre-base ligature element, realized as /r/ or /ɾ/ depending on the preceding consonant.
  7. ↑ [ə] may occur as an allophone of /a/ in some word-medial and final positions.
  8. ↑ archaic, modern orthography uses ൗ instead
  9. ↑ only occurs word finally in standard Malayalam and has no distinct letter, ു് representation is rare

See also

allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Malayalam