Tamil alphabets consists of 12 vowels and 18 consonants.
Vowels
Apart from 12 vowels we have an additional character ஃ (ak).This character is not a vowel but we use for the sake of our convenience and so we use them among vowels. Vowels are further classified into Short Vowels ( Kuril ) and Long Vowels ( Nedil ).
அ | a | Short Vowel |
ஆ | aa | Long Vowel |
இ | i | Short Vowel |
ஈ | ii | Long Vowel |
உ | u | Short Vowel |
ஊ | uu | Long Vowel |
எ | e | Short Vowel |
ஏ | ee | Long Vowel |
ஐ | ai | Long Vowel |
ஒ | o | Short Vowel |
ஓ | oo | Long Vowel |
ஔ | au | Long Vowel |
ஃ | ak | Special Character |
Consonants
There are 18 pure consonants in Tamil.
Tamil Consonants | Pronounciation | Example |
க் | k | kite |
ங் | ng | mango |
ச் | ch | batch |
ஞ் | eng | messenger |
ட் | it | cat |
ண் | inn | sandal |
த் | th | strength |
ந் | inth | Not found in English,but as in Tamil ‘Panthu’ |
ப் | ip | flap |
ம் | im | time |
ய் | iy | yolk |
ர் | ir | roll |
ல் | ll | bell |
வ் | iv | van |
ழ் | izh | Not found in English,but as in Tamil ‘Vazhga’ |
ள் | il | pull |
ற் | iR | partner |
ன் | in | sin |
These 18 consonants are of three kinds. Every letters in pure consonants has a dot on top of it.If the dot is removed it is pronounced with ‘a’ sound
வல்லினம் – Vallinam / Hard
இடையினம் – Idaiyinam / Middle
மெல்லினம் – Mellinam / Soft
- A word will never begin with the letters like ங , ண , ழ , ள , ற and ன.
- ஸ்ரீ is a Symbolic character.
- There is no equivalent for consonant ழ in any other non Dravidian Languages.