Learn the Tamil Alphabet

தமிழ் எழுத்துக்கள்

Learn to read the Tamil Alphabet (தமிழ் எழுத்துக்கள்): all 31 letters with names, sounds and audio, plus flashcards, listening, typing and matching practice.

Letter	Name	Latin letters	Sound
அ	A	a	short a, like the u in cup
ஆ	Aa	ā	a as in father, held long
இ	I	i	i as in sit
ஈ	Ii	ī	ee as in see
உ	U	u	u as in put; at the end of a word it is said with flat, unrounded lips
ஊ	Uu	ū	oo as in moon
எ	E	e	e as in pet
ஏ	Ee	ē	ay as in say, but held steady without the glide
ஐ	Ai	ai	ai as in aisle
ஒ	O	o	o as in pole, but short
ஓ	Oo	ō	o as in go, held long without the glide
ஔ	Au	au	ow as in cow
க	Ka	k	k at the start of a word; a soft g or h between vowels
ங	Nga	ṅ	ng as in sing; almost always right before க
ச	Sa	c	usually s as in sun; ch at the start of some words; j after ஞ
ஞ	Nya	ñ	ny as in canyon
ட	Ta	ṭ	a retroflex t: curl the tongue tip back to the roof of the mouth; sounds like d between vowels
ண	Nna	ṇ	a retroflex n: curl the tongue tip back, then say n
த	Tha	t	a soft dental t, tongue against the back of the teeth; like th in this between vowels
ந	Na	n	a dental n, tongue touching the back of the teeth; mostly at the start of words
ப	Pa	p	p; b between vowels or after m
ம	Ma	m	m as in mother
ய	Ya	y	y as in yes
ர	Ra	r	a light tapped r, as in Spanish pero
ல	La	l	l as in leaf
வ	Va	v	between v and w: lips almost touch the upper teeth
ழ	Zha	ḻ	a special Tamil sound: curl the tongue tip far back and say a soft r without tapping, close to the r in American girl
ள	Lla	ḷ	a retroflex l: curl the tongue tip back, then say l
ற	Rra	ṟ	a strong trilled r; doubled றற sounds like tr
ன	Rna	ṉ	n as in English no; usually in the middle or at the end of a word
ஃ	Aytham	ḵ	a rare breathy h, like ch in Scottish loch; in loanwords ஃப spells f

Learn the Tamil Alphabet

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