Vatteluttu

*Vatteluttu*
Vatteluttu;
	Vatteluttu in modern Vatteluttu typeface
Script type	Abugida
Direction	Left-to-right
Languages	Tamil; Malayalam;
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian hieroglyphs Proto-Sinaitic Pheonician Aramaic Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi Vatteluttu; ; ; ; ; ;
Child systems	Koleluttu (script); Malayayma/Malayanma;
Sister systems	Pallava-Chola Script;
	This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

Vatteluttu (Tamil: வட்டெழுத்து, Vaṭṭeḻuttu and Malayalam: വട്ടെഴുത്ത്, Vaṭṭeḻuttŭ, IPA: [ʋɐʈːeɻut̪ːɨ̆]), also transliterated as Vattezhuthu, was an alphasyllabic or syllabic writing system of south India (Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and Sri Lanka formerly employed for writing the Tamil and Malayalam languages.^[5]^[6] The script is a sister system of the Pallava-Chola alphabet.^[5] The script was patronized by the Pallava, Pandya and Chera rulers of southern India.^[7]

Vatteluttu belonged to the "southern group" of Brahmi derivatives (Southern Brahmi, generally associated with Dravidian languages of south India).^[5]^[8] The script was used in inscriptions and manuscripts of south India for centuries.^[4] It is closely related to the Tamil script (although it is more cursive than the Tamil script, with letters with a single curvilinear stroke).^[5] The direction of writing in Vatteluttu is from left to right. It notably omits the virama vowel muting device.^[5]

^ "Vatteluttu". Omniglot. 2023.
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Freeman, Rich (2003). "The Literary Culture of Premodern Kerala". In Sheldon, Pollock (ed.). Literary Cultures in History. University of California Press. pp. 441 and 481. ISBN 9780520228214.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Coulmas, Florian (1999) [1996]. "Vatteluttu Script". The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems. Blackwell Publishing. pp. 227–28 and 542. ISBN 9780631214816.
^ Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (2025). "Tamil Language". Encyclopædia Britannica.
^ Mahadevan, Iravatham (2003). Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century AD. Harvard University Press. pp. 210–213. ISBN 978-0-674-01227-1.
^ Cite error: The named reference Krishnamurti2003p84 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1] "Vatteluttu". Omniglot. 2023.

[:0-2] Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:1-3] Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:4-4] Freeman, Rich (2003). "The Literary Culture of Premodern Kerala". In Sheldon, Pollock (ed.). Literary Cultures in History. University of California Press. pp. 441 and 481. ISBN 9780520228214.

[coulmas-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Coulmas, Florian (1999) [1996]. "Vatteluttu Script". The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems. Blackwell Publishing. pp. 227–28 and 542. ISBN 9780631214816.

[:2-6] Krishnamurti, Bhadriraju (2025). "Tamil Language". Encyclopædia Britannica.

[Mahadevan2003p210-7] Mahadevan, Iravatham (2003). Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century AD. Harvard University Press. pp. 210–213. ISBN 978-0-674-01227-1.

[Krishnamurti2003p84-8] Cite error: The named reference Krishnamurti2003p84 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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Vatteluttu
Vatteluttu in modern Vatteluttu typeface^[1]
Script type	Abugida
Direction	Left-to-right
Languages	Tamil Malayalam
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian hieroglyphs Proto-Sinaitic Pheonician Aramaic Brahmi^[2] Tamil-Brahmi^[2] Vatteluttu
Child systems	Koleluttu (script)^[3] Malayayma/Malayanma^[4]
Sister systems	Pallava-Chola Script^[5]
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.