6 A GRAMIMAR OF THE
like gh; when doubled, very strong like kk. Great attention should
be paid to this rule, as in many cases, the difference between Neuter,
Active, and Causal Verbs, cannot be distinguished if this character
be not correctly pronounced; thus ആകുന്നു with the single ക,
signifies to be: with the double ക്ക it means to make.
4th. ത, in the beginning of words, is to be pronounced as in the
table: in the middle of words something like th: when doubled, like
all double letters, very forcibly. When ത is prefixed to the conso-
nant മ, it is pronounced like it; thus ആത്മാവ Altmawă, not At-
mawă.
5th. റ, when doubled, takes the sound of tt, as ആറ āră,
River, ആറ്റിന്റെ āttīnday.
6th. അം Besides the pronunciation given to this character in
the table, it is to be observed that when nasal letters occur in the
middle of a word, this character, or rather the o, is often substituted
for them. In such cases it must be pronounced like the letter which
it represents.3
7th. Consonants often combine, so as to form a syllable of them-
selves; in such cases all the consonants, except the one placed last in
combination, drop their inherent vowel sounds, but retain and unite the
consonantal sounds of the several letters of which the syllable is compos-
ed; and are to be pronounced according to the order in which the letters
3 By reference to the arrangement of the letters, of the Alphabet; it
will be seen that each of the first five classes has its own peculiar
nasal letter. It is also to be observed that when a syllable in a word
closes with a nasal letter and is followed by a consonant, the nasal
letter ought to be changed to the nasal of the order to which the fol-
lowing consonant belongs: but the authority of custom, both in
teaching and writing Malayalim, requires that, in most cases, the ം
should be substituted for such nasal letters; although, as observed
above, the sound of the nasal represented is retained: thus, ഭംഗി is
pronounced Bunggy not Bumgy, because the sound of the nasal
letter belonging to the order of gutturals is ng.
For the further illustration of this subject I shall add the following
examples of words written indifferently with the nasals of their
own order, or with ം; thus,
| ഭയംകരം, | പഞ്ചായം, | പണ്ടായം, | ചെന്താമര, | അമ്പലം, |
| ഭയംകരം, | പംച്ചായം, | പംടായം, | ചെംതാമര, | അംപലം, |
