From: mchundat@essex.ecn.uoknor.edu (Mathai Chundattu)
Subject: Re: malayaaLam aksharamaala
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 18:28:58 GMT
Organization: Engineering Computer Network, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

In article <Bx8zr1.IKC@sun3.vlsi.uwaterloo.ca> arun@sun14.vlsi.uwaterloo.ca (Arun Achyuthan) writes:
>
>May I suggest some modifications?

Thanks for your suggestions.

When representing the malayalam letters in english, I had the following
things in mind.

1. It must be similar to the way malayalees write the malayalam words in
   english. There are definite differences between how the Devnagri
   script is transcribed and the way we transcribe malayalam. Most of
   the conventions that I listed were collected by observing names of
   persons, places, boards in front of shops etc. I find such
   combinations easier to read.

2. I tried to reduce the use of uppercase letters. They reduce the
   readability of a passage. A possible combination of lower case
   letters is easier to read and write than some uppercase combinations.
   I will describe it later.

>
>>cha		csa		ja		jha		nJa
>>chaaya-tea  csaaya-image   jalam-water jhalam-the river	 nJaan- I
>>ccha        -----------         jja      ---------              nnJa
>
>ca              cha             ja              jha             nJa

I am still in favor of the original group. The 'ch' in your name
Achyuthan is never spelled as 'c' in kerala. The reason, I think, is
that the first of this group is the most common, and it is spelled with
'ch' always. The 'csa' is a rare letter. It sounds like ch+S. It looks
like the union of cha and Sa in malayalam also. So I joined both and
took the h out of the union.

>
>(this is the convention used in many printed materials)
>
>>
>>da 		dta		da		dda (?)		Na
>>kaad-forest padtanam-study  daadi-daddy peeddam-chair	paNam-money
>>tta, Ta       ----------          dda       -------             NNa
>
>Ta              Tha             Da              Dha             Na
>
>(same as above)
>>
>>tha		tda		Da		dha		na (?)
>>thala-head  katda-story   kaDanam-sorrow   dhanam-wealth     naaya-dog
>>ttha        -----------         DDa         -----------      	nna            
>
>ta              tha             da              dha             na

The above two groups are really confusing. First, the 'th' in your name
is spelled as 'th' always. The single 't' is ready-made for the 't' in
kaat (wind). The first of the first group is best represented by 'da'
because that is kind of soft letter when you utter it. See the spellings
of potthanikkad, palakkad, etc. The next letter 'dta' basically the
letter which looks like a 0 is best represented by 'dta' because the
stress comes in the second half of the letter. The opposite
configuration 'tda' is best suited to the second of next group the 'tda'
in katda (story). Here the stress in on the first half of the letter.
The third of second group Da is written usually as da in kerala. But
here we will make it Da to distinguish from da of the first group. 
Hence there is no need to change the second group. The third and fourth
of the first group are also very rarely used. Let's keep the third the
same and the fourth as you mentioned.

>
>>
>>ya		  ra		la		va		Sa	
>>yaagam-sacrifice  ira-victim   ala-wave      vala-net  Sari-correct
>>yya               --------      lla            vva            SSa
>>   
>>sha		sa		ha		La		zha
>>varsham-year sathyam-truth  haranam-division  vaLa-bracelet puzha-river
>>---------       ssa           ---------         LLa          -------- 
>> 
>>Ra
>>thaRa-base
>>----------
>
>What about double 'R', as in kATT~ (wind)? TT is not good, as it is
>confusing. What anout RR (they way it is written in Malayalam)?

As I mentioned earlier the 't' is very good for the double RR.

>
>>Mathai Chundattu   mchundat@essex.ecn.uoknor.edu
>>--------------------------------------------------------------
>>-- 
>>
>>
>
>Arun Achyuthan

Mathai
--