Malayalam Letter Uu

It writes long «oo», unlike short ഉ.

At a syllable start, use the standalone letter ഊ. After a consonant, attach the dependent sign ൂ, as in കൂ; short u uses separate letter ഉ.

ഊ’s form evolved with Malayalam writing. The earliest cited record, the Vazhappally inscription (about 830 CE), uses Vatteluttu, an older regional script. Malayalam later drew on Grantha, a writing tradition used for Sanskrit; both traditions trace back to Brahmi. The 1971 reform split older fused consonant-plus-short/long-u spellings for printing and typing, so readers taught in different periods may expect different forms.