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{{About|the writing system|the language|Arabi Malayalam}}
{{Infobox writing system
|name=Arabi Malayalam
| altname = Ponnani Script
|type=[[Abjad]]
|languages= [[Malayalam]]
|time=c. 500 to the present
|fam1=[[Proto-Sinaitic alphabet|Proto-Sinaitic]]
|fam2=[[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]]
|fam3=[[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]]
|fam4=[[Nabataean alphabet|Nabataean]]
|fam5=[[Arabic alphabet]]
|sample=
|imagesize=
}}
'''Arabi Malayalam script''' ([[Malayalam script|Malayalam]]: <small>അറബി-മലയാളം</small>, Arabi Malayalam: عَرَبِ مَلَیَاۻَمٛ), also known as '''Ponnani script''',<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kunnath|first=Ammad|date=15 September 2015|title=The rise and growth of Ponnani from 1498 AD To 1792 AD|url=http://hdl.handle.net/10603/49524|publisher=Department of History|hdl=10603/49524}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Panakkal|first=Abbas|url=http://myto.upm.edu.my/find/Record/iium.u537621|title=Islam in Malabar (1460-1600) : a socio-cultural study /|date=2016|publisher=Kulliyyah Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kallen|first=hussain Randathani|title=TRADE AND CULTURE: INDIAN OCEAN INTERACTION ON THE COAST OF MALABAR IN MEDIEVAL PERIOD|url=https://www.academia.edu/22105661|language=en}}</ref> is a writing system — a variant form of the [[Arabic script]] with special [[orthography|orthographic]] features — for writing [[Arabi Malayalam]], a [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian language]] in southern India.<ref name="Miller"/><ref> Malayalam Resource Centre [https://archive.today/20120912185758/http://www.malayalamresourcecentre.org/Mrc/literature/contribution.html]</ref> Though the script originated and developed in [[Kerala]], today it is predominantly used in [[Malaysia]] and [[Singapore]] by the migrant Muslim community.<ref name="Arabic script for malayalam" />

Until the 20th century, the script was widely taught to all Muslims, including young women, in the primary education madrasahs of Kerala.<ref name=":0">Menon. T. Madhava. "A Handbook of Kerala, Volume 2", International School of Dravidian Linguistics, 2002. pp. 491-493.</ref><ref name="Arabic script for malayalam">National Virtual Translation Center - Arabic script for malayalam [http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/april/Malayalam.html#writ]</ref> Arabi-Malayalam is currently used in some of the primary education [[madrasahs]] of [[Kerala]] and [[Lakshadweep]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://lakshadweep.nic.in/depts/education/profile.htm|title=Arabi Malayalam in Lakshadweep|access-date=22 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005155923/http://lakshadweep.nic.in/depts/education/profile.htm|archive-date=5 October 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=archive201409121829>Samastha (Official Website) [http://samastha.info/index.php] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912182903/http://samastha.info/index.php |date=12 September 2014 }}</ref>

== Letters ==
There were many complications to write Malayalam, a Dravidian language, using letters covering Arabic, a Semitic 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 for Persian.<ref>Arabi-Malayalam - "E-Malabari" [https://web.archive.org/web/20080318235926/http://www.e-malabari.net/culture/arabimalayalam.htm]</ref> The letters such as {{lang|ml-Latn|pa}}, {{lang|ml-Latn|gha}}, {{lang|ml-Latn|kha}}, {{lang|ml-Latn|ṅa}}, {{lang|ml-Latn|ña}}, {{lang|ml-Latn|ḻa}}, {{lang|ml-Latn|ga}}, {{lang|ml-Latn|ca}} were not available in the Arabic alphabets. The characters which stand for {{lang|ml-Latn|ḻa}}, {{lang|ml-Latn|ca}}, {{lang|ml-Latn|pa}}, {{lang|ml-Latn|ga}} ({{lang|ml|ഴ, ച, പ, ഗ}}) are {{lang|ml-Arab|ژ, چ, پ, گ|rtl=yes}} respectively in Arabi Malayalam.
{| class="wikitable floatleft" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 85%; font-size: 100%; text-align: center; "
! colspan=3 |
|-
!Malayalam
!Arabi Malayalam
![[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
|-
|ഴ
|ژ
|{{IPA|ɻ}}
|-
|ച
|چ
|{{IPA|tʃ}}
|-
|പ
|پ
|{{IPA|p}}
|-
|ഗ
|گ
|{{IPA|ɡ}}
|-
! colspan=3 |<ref>Arabi-Malayalam - "E-Malabari" [https://web.archive.org/web/20080318235926/http://e-malabari.net/culture/arabimalayalam.htm]</ref>
|}
{{clear}}

[[File:ArabiMalayalam_alphabet.png|thumb|400px|right| Arabi Malayalam alphabet with Malayalam alphabet correspondences]]

===Vowels===
{{div col|colwidth=13em}}
<poem>
അ = اَ
ആ = آ
ഇ = اِ
ഈ = اِي
ഉ = اُ
ഊ = اُو
ഋ = رْ
എ = ا٘
ഏ = ا٘ي
ഐ = اَيْ
ഒ = اٗ
ഓ = اٗو
ഔ = اَوْ
അം = اَمْ
</poem>
{{div col end}}

===Consonants===
{{div col|colwidth=13em}}
<poem>
ക = ك/ک
ഖ = كھ
ഗ = گ
ഘ = گھ
ങ = ۼ
ച = چ
ഛ = چھ
ജ = ج
ഝ = جھ
ഞ = ڿ
ട = ڊ
ഠ = ڊھ
ഡ = ڗ
ഢ = ڗھ
ണ = ڹ
ത = ت
ഥ = تھ
ദ = د
ധ = دھ
ന = ن
പ = پ
ഫ = پھ/ف
ബ = ب
ഭ = بھ
മ = م
യ = ي
ര = ڔ
ല = ل
വ = و
ശ = ش
ഷ = ۺ
സ = س
ഹ = ھ/ﮭ
ള = ۻ
ഴ = ژ
റ = ر
റ്റ = ڔّ
</poem>
{{div col end}}

== Usage ==
Most of the [[Mappila Songs]] were written, for the first time, in Arabi-Malayalam script. The earliest known such work is the ''Muhyidheen Mala'', written in 1607.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Arabic script for malayalam" />[[File:Muhyadheen mala.jpg|thumb|Copy of the first book in Arabi-Malayalam called "Muhyadheen Mala"]]
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 by [[Mappila]]s over the centuries.<ref name="Miller">Miller, Roland. E., "Mappila" in "The Encyclopedia of Islam". Volume VI. E. J. Brill, Leiden. 1987. pp. 458-56.</ref>

The first Arabi Malayalam scripted novel, ''Chahar Dervesh'', Malaylam translation of a Persian work, was published in 1883.<ref>Sharafudeen, S. "Muslims of Kerala: a Modern Approach, "Kerala Historical Society, 2003. pp. 152</ref> Intellectuals such as [[Moyinkutty Vaidyar]] translated, and then transliterated significant number of works in Sanskrit - such as ''[[Ashtānga Hridayam|Ashtanga Hridaya]], [[Amarakosha|Amarakosa]], [[Panchatantra|Pancatantra]]'' and even the legends about the Hindu king [[Vikramaditya]] - into Arabi Malayalam.<ref name="survey">"Malayalam Literary Survey", Volume 16 (1) -17 (4), Kēraḷa Sāhitya Akkādami, 1994. pp. 88</ref> Sanskrit medical texts - such as ''Upakarasara'', ''Yogarambha'' and ''Mahasara'' - were also translated, and then transliterated into Arabi-Malayalam by scholars like Abdurahiman Musaliar of [[Ponnani]] Putiyakattu.<ref name="survey"/> Arabi Malayalam script periodicals made remarkable contributions to the reform movement amongst the Mappilas in the early 20th century. ''Al-Irshad'', published in 1923 by the ''Muslim Aikya Sangham'' played an important role in explaining the doctrines of Islam to the common Mappila and distinguishing between what the reformers called religious practices and "superstitions".<ref>"Journal of Kerala Studies", Volume 17, University of Kerala, 1990. pp. 134</ref>

==See also==
* [[Arabi Malayalam]], a dialect of Malayalam used by [[Mappila Muslims]]
* [[Beary language]]
* [[Arwi]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==

{{Topics related to Kerala}}
{{Arabic script}}

[[Category:Arabi Malayalam]]
[[Category:Islamic culture]]
[[Category:Arabic alphabets]]
[[Category:Arabic alphabets for South Asian languages]]

Arabi Malayalam script - Revision history

UpdateBot at 13:46, 3 June 2022