Pallava alphabet

Pallava;
	125px
Type	Abugida
Languages	Tamil, Prakrit, Sanskrit, Old Malay
Time period	6th century AD to 9th century AD
Parent systems	Brāhmī Southern Brāhmī Pallava; ;
Sister systems	Vatteluttu alphabet
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The Pallava script, a Brahmic script, was developed under the Pallava dynasty of Southern India around the 6th century AD.

Southeast Asian scripts such as Javanese,^[1] Kawi, Baybayin, Mon, Burmese,^[2] Khmer,^[3] Tai Tham, Thai^[4] Lao,^[5] and the New Tai Lue alphabets are either direct or indirect derivations from the Pallava alphabet.^[6]

Form

The form shown here is based on examples from the 7th century AD. Letters labeled * have uncertain sound value, as they have little occurrence in Southeast Asia. (Chart of images based on Pallava glyphs presented at SkyKnowledge.com.)

Consonants

Each consonant has an inherent /a/, which will be sounded if no vowel sign is attached. If two consonants follow one another without intervening vowel, the second consonant is made into a subscript form, and attached below the first.

ka

kha

ga

gha

ṅa

ca

cha

ja

jha*

ña

ṭa

ṭha*