Letters in the Tamil Alphabet
The Tamil alphabet is an abugida script used to write the Tamil language. It has 12 vowels (உயிரெழுத்து, uyireḻuttu, “soul-letters”), 18 consonants (மெய்யெழுத்து, meyyeḻuttu, “body-letters”) and one special character, the ஃ (ஆய்த எழுத்து, āytha eḻuttu). ஃ is called “அக்கு”, akku and is classified in Tamil orthography as being neither a consonant nor a vowel. However, it is listed at the end of the vowel set.
The script is syllabic, not alphabetic. This means that each character represents a syllable, not just a single sound. The Tamil alphabet is also unique in that it has no capitalization.
Here is a table of the Tamil alphabet, with the corresponding English pronunciation of each letter:
Letter | Pronunciation |
---|---|
அ | a |
ஆ | aa |
இ | i |
ஈ | ii |
உ | u |
ஊ | uu |
எ | e |
ஏ | ee |
ஐ | ai |
ஒ | o |
ஓ | oo |
ஔ | au |
க | ka |
ங | nga |
ச | cha |
ஞ | nya |
ட | ta |
ண | na |
த | tha |
ந | na |
ப | pa |
ம | ma |
ய | ya |
ர | ra |
ற | ra |
ல | la |
ள | la |
வ | va |
ழ | zha |
ஸ | sa |
ஹ | ha |
The Tamil alphabet is used to write a variety of texts, including Tamil literature, science, and religion. It is also used in government and business.
Here are some examples of Tamil words and phrases:
- வணக்கம் (Vanakkam) – Hello
- நன்றி (Nanri) – Thank you
- பரவாயில்லை (Paravaayillai) – You’re welcome
- ஆம் (Aam) – Yes
- இல்லை (Illai) – No
- உங்களை நான் நேசிக்கிறேன் (Ungalai naan nesikkiraen) – I love you
- காலை வணக்கம் (Kaalai vanakkam) – Good morning
- மாலை வணக்கம் (Maalai vanakkam) – Good evening
- வாருங்கள் (Vaarungal) – Welcome
The Tamil alphabet is a beautiful and expressive writing system. It is also a very important part of Tamil culture and heritage.
How Many Letters Are in the Alphabet? – English, Greek, Arabic & More
How Many Letters Are There In The Alphabet: When we think about the alphabet, the first one that might come to mind for many is the English alphabet. However, languages around the world have their unique alphabets, each with a different number of letters.
In this article, we’ll explore the number of letters in various global alphabets, like English, Greek, Arabic, Russian, Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, and Thai, along with their pronunciation and history.
Table of Content
- Letters in Different Alphabets
- How many letters are there in the English language
- History of English Alphabet
- Letters in the Greek Alphabet
- Letters in the Russian Alphabet
- Letters in the Arabic Language
- Letters in the Hebrew Alphabet
- Letters in the Hindi Alphabet (Devanagari Script)
- Letters in the Bengali Alphabet
- Letters in the Tamil Alphabet
- Letters in the Thai Alphabet
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