Tamil script

There are some lexical rules for formation of words. Some examples: a word cannot end in a consonant, and cannot begin with the consonant 'r'; there are two consonants for the dental 'n', which one should be used depends on whether the 'n' occurs at the start of the word. The overdot, as in the image, notes that the trailing a is to be combined with the next consonant - that is it is a pure consonant.

THAMIZH or Tamil Language தமிழ் மொழி

Tamil is spoken by 62 million in Tamil Nadu state, union territory of Puducherry (Pondicherry) and neighboring states. It is stated as 20th in the Ethnologue list of most-spoken languages worldwide. Also spoken in Bahrain, Fiji, Germany, Malaysia (Peninsular), Mauritius, Netherlands, Qatar, Reunion, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, UAE, United Kingdom. Total number of speakers is estimated to be 74 million including second language users (1999 WA).

Dialects: ADI DRAVIDA, AIYAR, AIYANGAR, ARAVA, BURGANDI, KASUVA, KONGAR, KORAVA, KORCHI, MADRASI, PARIKALA, PATTAPU BHASHA, TAMIL, SRI LANKA TAMIL, MALAYA TAMIL, BURMA TAMIL, SOUTH AFRICA TAMIL, TIGALU, HARIJAN, SANKETI, HEBBAR, MANDYAM BRAHMIN, SECUNDERABAD BRAHMIN.

The oldest documented Dravidian Indian language is Tamil, with a substantial body of literature, particularly the Cankam poetry, going back to the first century A.D. Kannada and Telugu developed extensive bodies of literature after the sixth century, while Malayalam split from Tamil as a literary language by the twelfth century. In spite of the profound influence of the Sanskrit language and Sanskritic culture on the Dravidian languages, a strong consciousness of the distinctness of Dravidian languages from Sanskrit remained. All four major Dravidian languages had consciously differentiated styles varying in the amount of Sanskrit they contained.

Tamil alphabet

There are some lexical rules for formation of words. Some examples: a word cannot end in certain consonants, and cannot begin with some consonants including 'r' 'l' and 'll'; there are two consonants for the dental 'n' - which one should be used depends on whether the 'n' occurs at the start of the word and on the letters around it.

If you use only Tamil words to speak Tamil there is no need of the extra sounds in other languages like sanskrit. There are letters in Tamil Grantham for the extra sounds. Tamil Grantham was developed to write the Sanskrit words in olden days for which there is no equivalent letters in ancient Tamil. Sound “Zha” - ழ was only present in Tamil till 6th Centure and later added in Malayalam only.

Vowels

Vowel	Name	Sound	Phonetic
அ	அகரம்	Short a	ʌ
ஆ	ஆகாரம்	Long A	ɑː
இ	இகரம்	Short i	i
ஈ	ஈகாரம்	Long I	iː
உ	உகரம்	Short u	u
ஊ	ஊகாரம்	Long U	uː
எ	எகரம்	Short e	e
ஏ	ஏகாரம்	Long E	eː
ஐ	ஐகாரம்	Dipthong AI	ʌj
ஒ	ஒகரம்	Short o	o
ஓ	ஓகாரம்	Long O	oː
ஔ	ஒளகாரம்	Dipthong AU	ʌʋ
ஃ	அஃகேனம்		h

Note: The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is designed to represent only those qualities of speech that are part of oral language: phones, phonemes, intonation and the separation of words and syllables.

Special letter ஃ (pronounced 'akh') is rarely used by itself - normally serves purely grammatical function as independent vowel form of the dot on consonants that suppresses the inherent 'a' sound in plain consonants.

The long ('nedil') vowels are about twice as long as the short ('kuRil') vowels. The dipthongs are usually pronounced about 1.5 times as long as the short vowels, though some grammatical texts place them with the long ('nedil') vowels.

Consonants

த -வல்லினம்
மி -மெல்லினம்
ழ் - இடையினம்
வல்லினம் க ச ட த ப ற வெனவாறே
மெல்லினம் ங ஞ ண ந ம ன வெனவாறே
இடையினம் ய ர ல வ ழ ள வெனவாறே
[தொல்காப்பியம், எழுத்ததிகாரம்.]

(1) க ச ட த ப ற - 6 letters Vallinam
(2) ங ஞ ண ந ம ன - 6 letters mellinam
(3) ய ர ல வ ழ ள - 6 letters idayinam

Borrowed consonants

Also called"Grantha" letters, these letters are used almost exclusively for writing words that are borrowed from Sanskrit (or sometimes other languages such as English). Seeing one of these letters in a word is a good indication that the word is probably borrowed from Sanskrit (or Hindi) though of course not all such words include these letters.
ஶ் | ஜ் | ஷ் | ஸ் | ஹ் | க்ஷ் | ஶ்ரீ
ɕ, | ʃ | ʤ | ʂ | s | ɦ | kʂ

ஜ ja; ஷ sha; ஸ sa; ஹ ha; க்ஷ ksha; ஶ்ரீ Sri

தமிழ் எழுத்துக்கள்

Interesting Facts on Tamil

25% of the letters in Tamil have a standalone meaning. For example:
ஈ; கை; கோ ; சௌ; டூ; தா; தீ; தை; நீ; பூ; பை; போ; வா; வை; மா; மை

All of the uyir letters can be mapped to one or other animal/bird sound.
Tamil is one of those languages in which is written phonetically.
Tamil has a term to denote from 1/165580800 (Anu) to denote 10 to the power of 21 (Aambal).
There are a lot of error correction mechanisms to ensure that the data/information is not lost or corrupt when orally transmitted. Ethugai-Monai is one such.

In straight sentences, the meaning will remain intact even if we change the order of the words.
நான் அடித்தேன் அவனை - I beat him
அவனை நான் அடித்தேன் - him I beat
அடித்தேன் அவனை நான் - beat him I
அவனை அடித்தேன் நான் - Him beat I
நான் அவனை அடித்தேன் - I him beat
அடித்தேன் நான் அவனை - beat I him
All combinations give us the same meaning in Tamil, but not in English.

Carnatic Music

Tamil letters are also used to indicate the notes of Carnatic music. The notes are: Note Sound Full Name Pronounciation Value and Comments

ஸ	sa	ஷட்ஜம்	Shadjam	First note, only one possible value. Sometimes referred to as the 'mother' note - all Ragas have this note.
ரி	ri	ரிஷபம்	Rishabam	Second note, three possible values.
க	ga	காந்தாரம்	Gāndhāram	Third note, three possible values (one of which coindices with the third ri).
ம	ma	மத்யமம்	Madhyamam	Fourth note, two possible values.
ப	pa	பஞ்சபம்	Panchamam	Fifth note, only one possible value. Sometimes referred to as the 'father', though not all ragas have this note.
த	dha	தைவதம்	Dhaivatham	Sixth note, three possible values.
நி	ni	நிஷாதம்	Nishādam	Seventh note, three possible values (one of which coincides with the third dha).

The 'values' of the note here can be taken to mean semitones. There is some overlap between the possible values - this eventually leads to the octave containing 12 semitones, as in Western music. One can see from the names of the notes that they are borrowed from Sanskrit.

Tamil Unicode Table

தமிழ் என்னும் சொல்லுக்குத் த்ரவிட என்பதே மூலம் என்ற கருத்தை முன் வைத்தவர்களுள் கால்டுவெல் முக்கியமானவர். இவர் த்ரவிட என்பது திரமிட என்றாகி அது பின்னர் த்ரமிள ஆகத் திரிந்து பின்னர் தமிள, தமிழ் என்று ஆனது என்கிறார்.

Tamil Nadu is exotic for its ancient history with its ancient monuments, temples and architecture, hill stations, waterfalls, national parks, local cuisine and wildlife combined with scenic panorama. It is known for Pongal or harvest festival with Jallikattu, Kanchipuram sari, the dolls and paintings in Thanjavur

It is the historical home of the famous Chera, Chola, Pandya and Pallava kingdoms. Vijaynagar empire also ruled parts of Tamilnadu after muslim rule. The ancient, literary rich, classical Tamil is the official language in Tamil Nadu. Sangam Period is the glorious pride and rich cultural heritage of ancient south India

People in Tamil Nadu have great taste for arts and culture. Carnatic music, Bharathanatyam dance form, folk music and rural dance forms (Kolattam, Karagam and Mayilattam) are colourful, vibrant and energetic with inspirational thoughts and about social issues.

The major rivers are Kaveri, Palar, Cheyyar, Ponnaiyar, Meyar, Bhavani, Amravati, Vaigal, Chittar and Tamaraparni.

Cities:
Chennai (Madras) — the capital of Tamil Nadu, known for beaches and landmarks like Fort St. George.
Kanchipuram - Kapaleshwarar, Kailasanthar, Ekambareshvarar, Kamakshi amman
Mamallapuram — Sea Shore Temples and modern stone carvers
Coimbatore — the textile capital of South India
Salem — Important Industrial center.
Erode — center of an agricultural area.
Tiruchirappalli — famous for temples Jambukeswarar, Rock Fort and Srirangam Renganathar Temple
Thanjavur — fine old architecture and exquisite handicrafts, big temple, Gangaikonda Cholapuram
Madurai — Meenakshi Amman Temple, great historical and cultural importance
Tirunelveli — A Hub and Gateway Southernpart of Tamilnadu.
Tuticorin — - Known as a Pearl City and has a Harbour
Rameshwaram - Temples, link to Srilanka
Kanniyakumari — the southern most tip of the Indian mainland, Sunrise-set