Arabi Malayalam script (Malayalam:അറബി-മലയാളം, Arabi Malayalam: عَرَبِ مَلَیٰاۻَمْ), also known asPonnani script,^[1][2][3] is a writing system — a variant form of theArabic script with specialorthographic features — for writingArabi Malayalam, aDravidian language in southern India.^[4][5] Though the script originated and developed inKerala, today it is predominantly used inMalaysia andSingapore by the migrant Muslim community.^{[citation needed]}

Until the 20th century, the script was widely taught to all Muslims in the primary education madrasahs of Kerala.^[6] Arabi-Malayalam is currently used in some of the primary educationmadrasahs ofKerala andLakshadweep.^[7][8]

There were many complications to write Malayalam, a Dravidian language, using letters covering Arabic, aSemitic language. Only 28 letters were available from Arabic orthography to render over 53 phonemes of Malayalam. It was overcome by following the pattern of creating additional letters established forPersian.^[9] The letters such aspa,gha,kha,ṅa,ña,ḻa,ga,ca were not available in the Arabic alphabets. The characters which stand forḻa,ca,pa,ga (ഴ, ച, പ, ഗ) areگ ,پ ,چ ,ژ respectively in Arabi Malayalam.

Notes

1. Alternatively, historically, the following diacritic has been used for representing Malayalam lettersഎ andഏ (romanized ase andē) and that isاࣣ / ◌ࣣ,اࣣیـ / ◌ࣣیـ / ◌ࣣی (Similar to orthographic conventions inArabi-Tamil.

Similar toUrdu orthography, Arabi Malayalam alphabet includesdigraphs meant to representaspirated consonants. These are formed by following a letter with the letterhe (ھ). While in Urdu, there are two separate lettershe,Gol he as an independent letter, andDo-chashmi he as part of aspirated consonant digraphs, this distinction is not necessarily made in Arabi-Malayalam.

Notes

1. This letter is also used for representing the semi-vowelഋ, ൃ (r̥), and when geminated with theshaddah diacritic, its corresponding elongated formൠ, ൄ (r̥̄).
2. When the Malayalam letterറ is geminated (usually in the form റ+റ, possibly in the form ൻ + റ, but also in scholarly documents byറ്റ, ഺ), in Arabi Malayalam, it is written with the letterڔّ.
3. This letter is also used for representing the semi-vowelഌ, ൢ (l̥), and when geminated with theshaddah diacritic, its corresponding elongated formൡ, ൣ (l̥̄).

Most of theMappila Songs were written, for the first time, in Arabi-Malayalam script. The earliest known such work is theMuhyidheen Mala, written in 1607.^[6]

Many literary works written in Arabi Malayalam still have not been transliterated to the Malayalam script, and some estimates put the number at almost 90 percent. These works, romantic ballads, folk tales and battle songs, contain some of the impressive literary achievements byMappilas over the centuries.^[4]

The first Arabi Malayalam scripted novel,Chahar Dervesh, Malayalam translation of a Persian work, was published in 1883.^[13] Intellectuals such asMoyinkutty Vaidyar translated, and then transliterated significant number of works in Sanskrit - such asAshtanga Hridaya,Amarakosa,Pancatantra and even the legends about the Hindu kingVikramaditya - into Arabi Malayalam.^[14] Sanskrit medical texts - such asUpakarasara,Yogarambha andMahasara - were also translated, and then transliterated into Arabi-Malayalam by scholars like Abdurahiman Musaliar ofPonnani Putiyakattu.^[14] Arabi Malayalam script periodicals made remarkable contributions to the reform movement amongst the Mappilas in the early 20th century.

Below are several sample texts in Arabi Malayalam orthography, in standard Malayalam Script, and transliterated into Latin as perISO 15919.^[11]

• Arabi Malayalam, a dialect of Malayalam used byMappila Muslims
• Beary language
• Arwi

• Arabi Malayalam
• Islamic culture
• Arabic alphabets
• Arabic alphabets for South Asian languages

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