Learn Tamil > Part 1 > Introduction > Thamil Alphabet

Thamil Alphabet

Forming Letters

Tamil has many letters, but most of them are derived from the 12 vowels and 18 consonants. In the table below, the vowels are the letters in the first row. The consonants are the letters in the first column. Some consonants are hard to pronounce on their own.

The other 216 letters are made by combining the sounds of a vowel and a consonant. Even in writing, they are viewed as the addition of a vowel and consonant. Ex:

க் + அ = க
ப் + இ = பி

This fact will be very useful with the grammar.

Thamil Alphabet

ங்

ங

ஙா

ஙி

ஙீ

ஙு

ஙூ

ஙெ

ஙே

ஙை

ஙொ

ஙோ

ஙௌ

ஞி

ஞீ

ஞு

ஞூ

ஞெ

ஞே

ஞை

ஞொ

ஞோ

ஞௌ

= "irregularly written" (see below)

= not commonly used

Sounds have been recorded row by row. For another version of a chart with the alphabet, click here (84 kb).

Note: The ெ, ே, and ா characters by themselves are not considered letters. What constitutes a letter is whatever appears in one of the above boxes.

As you can see, letters ending in an உ or ஊ sound are each written differently. In the chart above, letters with a green background are written much differently than the other letters ending in the same vowel sound.

Vowel Sounds

Words are said to “end in a vowel sound” because the final letter is the combination of a consonant and a vowel. Specifically, if word is said to “end in an அ sound”, the final letter of the word is க, ங, ச…. If a word ends in an ஆ sound, the final letter is கா, ஙா, சா…. The pattern follows for the rest of the vowels.

ஆ, ஈ, ஊ, ஏ, and ஓ are said to have “long vowel sounds”. அ, இ, உ, எ, ஐ, ஒ, and ஔ are said to have “short vowel sounds.

Consonant Clusters

In Tamil, some letters often appear together. The ending vowel sound in each “consonant cluster” may vary. Some of the letters commonly seen together include:

ங்க
ஞ்ச
ண்ட
ந்த
ம்ப
ன்ற

Beginning a Word

Words do not begin with ண or ன. However, words may begin with ந, but words do not end with ந. As a result, ந generally appears at the beginning or in the middle of a word, while ண and ன generally appear in the middle or at the end of a word.

None of the letters ண, ர, ல, ழ, ள, ற, and ன should be the first letter of a word. Instead, இ must precede the letter.