Tamil alphabet
| Tamil தமிழ் |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | |
| Languages |
Tamil Kanikkaran Badaga Irula Paniya Sanskrit Saurashtra |
|
Time period
|
c. 700 – present |
|
Parent systems
|
Brahmi script
|
|
Sister systems
|
Malayalam Sinhala Tigalari Grantha Dhives akuru Vatteluttu Pallava Kolezhuthu Malayanma Kannada Telugu |
| Direction | Left-to-right |
| ISO 15924 | Taml, 346 |
|
Unicode alias
|
Tamil |
| U+0B80–U+0BFF | |
The Tamil script (தமிழ் அரிச்சுவடி; tamiḻ ariccuvaṭi; IPA for Tamil: [aɾiˈ͡tʃːuʋaɖi]) is an abugida script that is used by Tamils and Tamil speakers in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere to write the Tamil language, as well as to write the liturgical language Sanskrit, using consonants and diacritics not represented in the Tamil alphabet. Certain minority languages such as Saurashtra, Badaga, Irula, and Paniya language are also written in the Tamil script.
The Tamil script has 12 vowels (உயிரெழுத்து; uyireḻuttu; "soul-letters"), 18 consonants (மெய்யெழுத்து; meyyeḻuttu; "body-letters") and one special character, the ஃ (ஆயுத எழுத்து; āyutha eḻuttu; Tamil version of Visarga). ஃ is pronounced as "akku" or "அக்கு" and is classified in Tamil grammar as being neither a consonant nor a vowel. However, it is listed at the end of the vowel set. The script is syllabic, not alphabetic. The complete script, therefore, consists of the thirty-one letters in their independent form, and an additional 216 combinant letters representing a total 247 combinations (உயிர்மெய்யெழுத்து; uyirmeyyeḻuttu; "soul-body-letters") of a consonant and a vowel, a mute consonant, or a vowel alone. These combinant letters are formed by adding a vowel marker to the consonant. Some vowels require the basic shape of the consonant to be altered in a way that is specific to that vowel. Others are written by adding a vowel-specific suffix to the consonant, yet others a prefix, and finally some vowels require adding both a prefix and a suffix to the consonant. In every case the vowel marker is different from the standalone character for the vowel.
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Wikipedia