Tamil Letters & Alphabet Guide

Complete reference for Tamil vowels, consonants and numbers with English pronunciation

About Tamil Script: Tamil is written in the Tamil script, one of the oldest scripts in the world with a history of over 2,000 years. It has 12 vowels (Uyir), 18 consonants (Mei), and 216 combined letters (Uyirmei). Tamil is the official language of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.

Vowels (Uyir) Consonants (Mei) Numbers Try Tamil Typing →

Tamil Vowels — உயிர் எழுத்துக்கள் (Uyir)

Tamil	Transliteration	Pronunciation	Example Word
அ	a	as in "about"	அம்மா (amma - mother)
ஆ	aa / A	as in "father"	ஆகாயம் (aakaayam - sky)
இ	i	as in "sit"	இல்லம் (illam - home)
ஈ	ee / I	as in "see"	ஈசன் (Eesan - God)
உ	u	as in "put"	உப்பு (uppu - salt)
ஊ	oo / U	as in "food"	ஊர் (oor - village)
எ	e	as in "bed"	எலி (eli - rat)
ஏ	E	as in "they"	ஏணி (Eni - ladder)
ஐ	ai	as in "kite"	ஐந்து (aindhu - five)
ஒ	o	as in "hot"	ஒட்டகம் (ottakam - camel)
ஓ	O	as in "go"	ஓடு (Odu - run)
ஔ	au	as in "cow"	ஔவை (Auvai - a poet)

Tamil Consonants — மெய் எழுத்துக்கள் (Mei)

Tamil	Type to get	Pronunciation	Example Word
க	ka	k / g / h sound	கால் (kaal - leg)
ங	nga	ng as in "sing"	ங (nga)
ச	cha / sa	ch / s / j sound	சாலை (saalai - road)
ஞ	nya	ny as in "canyon"	ஞாயிறு (nyaayiru - sun)
ட	Ta	retroflex t / d	டமரு (tamaru - drum)
ண	Na	retroflex n	பண்ணை (pannai - farm)
த	ta / da	t / d / th sound	தலை (thalai - head)
ந	na	n as in "not"	நதி (nathi - river)
ப	pa	p / b sound	பால் (paal - milk)
ம	ma	m as in "man"	மனிதன் (manithan - person)
ய	ya	y as in "yes"	யானை (yaanai - elephant)
ர	ra	r (flap)	ரதம் (ratham - chariot)
ல	la	l as in "lip"	லோகம் (lokam - world)
வ	va	v as in "van"	வானம் (vaanam - sky)
ழ	zha	unique Tamil sound	வழி (vazhi - way)
ள	La	retroflex l	கள்ளு (kaLLu - toddy)
ற	Ra	trilled r	றொட்டி (rotti - bread)
ன	na	alveolar n	நன்றி (nandri - thanks)

Tamil Numbers — எண்கள்

Number	Tamil	Pronunciation
0	சுழியம்	suliyam
1	ஒன்று	ondru
2	இரண்டு	irandu
3	மூன்று	moondru
4	நான்கு	naangu
5	ஐந்து	aindhu
6	ஆறு	aaru
7	ஏழு	ezhu
8	எட்டு	ettu
9	ஒன்பது	onbathu
10	பத்து	paththu
100	நூறு	nooru
1000	ஆயிரம்	aayiram

Start Typing in Tamil: Now that you know the letters, try our free English to Tamil Typing tool. Type any word in English phonetically and press Space — it converts to Tamil script instantly. No keyboard layout knowledge needed.

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