✏️ Romanizing Malayalam, while seemingly straightforward, presents several complexities due to the unique characteristics of the Malayalam script and the limitations of the Roman alphabet. The major issue is that many Malayalam words sound similar when romanized, leading to potential confusion and misinterpretation.
To address these issues, we need to establish a few guidelines for romanization (Manglish). Unlike the native script, there is no universally accepted standard for romanizing Malayalam. The following points will help you while transcribing the lyrics in Roman.
1. Provide Contextual Clues:
When ambiguity arises, use additional information or context to clarify the meaning of the song. Understanding the song's meaning will help you write it in Roman more accurately.
2. Slang Issues:
Malayalam is spoken differently across various regions in Kerala, each using a wide variety of slang and different pronunciations. Therefore, do not use a common word format. The words should match the regional tone.
Major districts in Kerala like Trivandrum, Malappuram, Thrissur, Kasargod, and Kozhikode use different words for the same meaning.
- Example: എന്തര് – Entharu / Yentharu
3. Level of Accuracy:
Maintain a close approximation or an exact representation of the original Malayalam sounds. Avoid overly complex romanizations that might hinder readability.
4. Avoid Machine Transliterations:
Do not use Google Translate, Kutty Pencil, or any AI sites (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini) to transliterate Malayalam script to Roman, as these are not 100% efficient and contain errors.
5. Consistent and User-Friendly System:
Use a consistent and user-friendly romanization system. Do not complicate the words.
- Example: കാതൽ / Possible romanization could be “Kathal” (but there are more similar representations like Kaathal, Kadhal). While we cannot debate which one is most accurate, we can pick the most commonly used word.
This is the trickiest area in Malayalam romanization. We can create a table for the most commonly used words, but it requires more time and significant input from the Malayalam curator community to build this.
Original Script | Available Roman Words | Close Accurate representation |
കാതൽ | Kathal, Kaathal, Kadhal | Kathal |
മേഘം | Megham, Mekham | Megham |
കഥ | Katha, Kadha | Kadha |
ശിശിരങ്ങൾ | Sisirangal, Shishirangal | Shishirangal |
ദൂരെ | Dhoore, Doore | Doore |
പുഞ്ചിരി | Punchiri, Punjiri | Punchiri |
പറയുമ്പോൾ | Parayumpol, Parayumbol | Parayumbol |
As we work on tasks, we can expand the table of contents, because we'll encounter new complicated words in the Malayalam songs, for any confusion.
💬 You can reach me on Slack via @Akhil Unni (Akhil K.S)