Tamil alphabet
Meet the Tamil letters, hear their sounds, and see how vowels and consonants fit together. Choose a starting point and keep the charts beside your practice.
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How Tamil letters work
Independent vowels have their own letters. Attached vowel signs combine with consonants: compare க் with கா (kaa). Read the whole form, including marks above, below, or beside it.
This beginner set covers 12 vowels and 18 consonants from the course. It is not a complete inventory of every written form.
Tamil vowel chart
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| அ | a | Short open a; keep it brief. | Listen |
| ஆ | aa | Hold the open a, roughly the vowel in father. | Listen |
| இ | i | Short i, roughly the vowel in sit. | Listen |
| ஈ | ee | Long ee, roughly the vowel in see. | Listen |
| உ | u | Short rounded u; keep it shorter than oo. | Listen |
| ஊ | oo | Long rounded oo, roughly the vowel in moon. | Listen |
| எ | e | Short e; keep the sound steady. | Listen |
| ஏ | ae | Long e: hold e without the English ay glide. | Listen |
| ஐ | ai | Glide from a toward i, roughly the vowel in eye. | Listen |
| ஒ | o | Short rounded o; keep the sound steady. | Listen |
| ஓ | oh | Long o: hold o without an English ow glide. | Listen |
| ஔ | au | Glide from a toward u, roughly the vowel in how. | Listen |
Tamil consonant chart
Hard consonants (Vallinam)
The six traditional hard consonants. The dot removes the vowel; sounds can change within words.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| க் | k | k as in skip. The pulli dot means no following a. | Listen |
| ச் | ch | ch as in match; this letter can also have an s-like sound in words. | Listen |
| ட் | ṭ | Curl the tongue tip back for ṭ; different from dental th. | Listen |
| த் | th | Touch the upper teeth with the tongue for th; this is a stop, not English th. | Listen |
| ப் | p | p as in spin, without a strong puff of air. | Listen |
| ற் | ṟ | An alveolar r sound, distinct in spelling from ர்; doubled ற்ற has a stop-like reading. | Listen |
Nasal consonants (Mellinam)
Six nasal letters. Keep n, ṇ and ṉ distinct in spelling; the hints show tongue position.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ங் | ng | ng as at the end of sing; a nasal from the back of the mouth. | Listen |
| ஞ் | ny | A single palatal nasal, roughly ny in canyon. | Listen |
| ண் | ṇ | Curl the tongue tip back for this nasal ṇ. | Listen |
| ந் | n | Dental n: the tongue touches the upper teeth. | Listen |
| ம் | m | Close both lips for m; there is no following a. | Listen |
| ன் | ṉ | Alveolar ṉ: tongue at the ridge behind the teeth; distinct from ந் and ண். | Listen |
Middle consonants (Idaiyinam)
Six traditional middle consonants. Compare l, ḷ and zh carefully.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ய் | y | y as in yes, without adding a vowel. | Listen |
| ர் | r | A quick tongue-tip tap; keep it distinct from ற் in writing. | Listen |
| ல் | l | l with the tongue near the upper teeth. | Listen |
| வ் | v | A sound between English v and w. | Listen |
| ழ் | zh | Curl the tongue back without making a stop; zh is not English z plus h. | Listen |
| ள் | ḷ | Curl the tongue tip back for ḷ; air passes around its sides. | Listen |
A small daily reading routine
- Choose a few written forms and compare their English hints.
- Cover the hints and identify the letters in a different order.
- Practise with matching, mixing, flashcards, or a visual quiz.
Next try vowel combinations and beginner words.
Prepared by Learn Akshara from our beginner Tamil curriculum. English spellings are approximate learning aids. Writing-system reference: The Unicode Standard, South Asian Scripts. AI-generated pronunciation is a learning aid, not a guarantee of accuracy. See our audio sources and credits.