The use of the script originally used for one language to write another language is not new nor is it unique to Syriac and Malayalam. For the purposes of clarity this post will be exclusively about the use of a modified (or enhanced) version of the East Syriac (Maḏnḥāyā) script to write the Malayalam language (and its variants) over the centuries. The terms alphabet and script are often used interchangeably below but they do not always mean the same thing. What would you call Egyptian hieroglyphics and Chinese/Japanese/etc Kanji ? Also note that in some written languages the vowels are separate characters by themselves always and in some take different forms when they are added to consonants like in many Indian languages. An example of a script with a consistent spelling, grammar and logic being used by many different spoken languages (instead of dialects) is Chinese. For the same Kanji (Chinese Characters) written you can speak it in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese, Hokkien, etc. An ex...
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