The Tamil alphabet: 247 letters, simply explained

Seeing Tamil script for the first time, you notice round, flowing shapes and wonder how anyone reads words from them. The good news: the system is more logical than it looks. Here is how the 247 letters fit together – and why one of them, ழ, is a symbol for so many Tamils.

12 + 18 + 216 + 1 = 247

The Tamil alphabet (தமிழ் எழுத்துகள்) has four groups:

• 12 vowels (உயிர் எழுத்துகள், uyir – “life”): அ ஆ இ ஈ உ ஊ எ ஏ ஐ ஒ ஓ ஔ
• 18 consonants (மெய் எழுத்துகள், mey – “body”), for example க் ங் ச் ம் ழ்
• 216 syllables (உயிர்மெய், uyirmey): each of the 18 consonants combined with each of the 12 vowels
• 1 special sign, the aytham ஃ

The names alone reveal the thinking: vowels are the “life”, consonants the “body”. Only together, as “life-body”, do they form a complete syllable.

How the syllables are built

Nobody has to memorise 247 separate signs. The syllables follow a pattern: the consonant stays recognisable, and the vowel is added as a small mark before, after or attached to it. க (ka) becomes கா (kaa), கி (ki), கு (ku), கெ (ke) and so on. Once you know the 12 vowels and 18 consonants, you can work out most syllables.

There are also a few Grantha letters such as ஜ (ja), ஷ (sha), ஸ (sa) and ஹ (ha). They are used for loanwords and names from Sanskrit and other languages and are not part of the classic 247.

ழ – the letter few people can pronounce

One letter is special: ழ, often written as “zha”. You make the sound by curling the tip of the tongue back without fully touching the palate – somewhere between an English “r” and a soft “l”. Hardly any other language has it in this form.

And it sits in the most important word of all: தமிழ் – Tamil. It also appears in பழம் (pazham, fruit), மழை (mazhai, rain) and வாழ்க (vaazhga, “long live …”). For many in the diaspora, ழ is a small test and a big sign: if you say it right, you learned the language at home. That is why our ZHA cap carries just this one letter.

A script with more than 2,000 years of history

The oldest Tamil inscriptions are written in Tamil-Brahmi and date from the last centuries before the Common Era. Over many centuries they evolved into today’s round shapes – probably also because people wrote on palm leaves, which tore easily along straight lines. The oldest surviving grammar, the Tolkappiyam, already describes the sounds of the language in great detail. Read more in our article Tamil – the oldest living language in the world.

Tips for learning

• Start with the 12 vowels, then the 18 consonants
• Read one familiar word a day: அம்மா (Amma, mother), அப்பா (Appa, father), வணக்கம் (Vanakkam, hello)
• Ask your parents and grandparents – they are the best teachers
• Many Tamil schools in the diaspora offer weekend classes in language and culture

Writing Tamil means carrying on a story that is more than 2,000 years old. Our Language & Script collection brings these letters into everyday life – from Zurich to Toronto.