Editing Malayalam script (section)

===Characteristics===
The basic characters can be classified as follows:
* [[Vowel]]s ({{lang|ml|സ്വരം}}, ''svaram'')
*# Independent vowel letters
*# Dependent vowel signs ({{lang|ml|സ്വരചിഹ്നം}},''svarachinnam'')
* [[Consonant]] letters ({{lang|ml|വ്യഞ്ജനം}}, ''vyañjanam'')

An independent vowel letter is used as the first letter of a word that begins with a vowel. A consonant letter, despite its name, does not represent a pure consonant, but represents a consonant + a short vowel /a/ by default. For example, {{lang|ml|ക}} is the first consonant letter of the Malayalam alphabet, which represents /ka/, not a simple /k/. A vowel sign is a [[diacritic]] attached to a consonant letter to indicate that the consonant is followed by a vowel other than /a/. If the following vowel is /a/, no vowel sign is needed. The [[phoneme]] /a/ that follows a consonant by default is called an [[inherent vowel]]. In Malayalam, its phonetic value is [[Roundedness|unrounded]] {{IPAblink|ɐ}},<ref name="Ref_a">Canepari (2005), pp. 396, 140.</ref> or {{IPAblink|ə}} as an [[allophone]]. To denote a pure consonant sound not followed by a vowel, a special diacritic ''[[virama]]'' is used to cancel the inherent vowel. The following are examples where a consonant letter is used with or without a diacritic.
* {{lang|ml|ക്}} /k/ = /k/ which is a consonant sound
*{{lang|ml|ക}} ''ka'' = {{lang|ml|ക്}} /k/ + {{lang|ml|അ}} vowel sign a
*{{lang|ml|കി}} ''ki'' = {{lang|ml|ക്}} /''k/'' + {{lang|ml|ഇ}} vowel sign ''i''
* {{lang|ml|കു}} ''ku'' = {{lang|ml|ക്}} /''k/'' + {{lang|ml|ഉ}} vowel sign ''u''
* {{lang|ml|കൈ}} ''kai'' = {{lang|ml|ക്}} /''k/'' + {{lang|ml|ഐ}} vowel sign ''ai''

Malayalam alphabet is [[unicase]], or does not have a [[letter case|case]] distinction. It is written from left to right, but certain vowel signs are attached to the left (the opposite direction) of a consonant letter that it logically follows. In the word {{lang|ml|കേരളം}} ([[Kerala|''Kēraḷam'']]), the vowel sign {{lang|ml| േ}} (''ē'') visually appears in the leftmost position, though the vowel ''ē'' logically follows the consonant ''k''.