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agniveerupi@sbi,
agniveer.eazypay@icici

Agniveer® is serving Dharma since 2008. This initiative is NO WAY associated with the defence forces scheme launched by Indian Govt in 2022

Learn Tamil Alphabets – Part 3 (Consonant + Vowel combos)

Now in this thread, will study Consonant + Vowel combos:
In Devanagari: क् क का कि की कु कू के कै को कौ etc

In Tamil, something similar but with some specialties.

To proceed, make sure you completed threads on Tamil vowels & consonants. At least keep them ready for reference.

First form is simple.
க் with a dot over க means no -A pronunciation at end. Like Halant in Devanagari often shown by क् or half letter at start of क्या.

There is no Bindi/ Anusvaar in Tamil. The dot represents half-consonant (Halant). Even nasal tones are shown by half consonants of Na like ன் ண் ந் ஞ்.

So Bandar will be பந்தர்
ப – Ba ब
ந் – n (of த series)
த – da द
ர் – r र

Next is for A அ and Aa ஆ For A, you just write plain alphabet.

For Aa, க becomes கா Again easy to remember if you know Devanagari or Bangla. There you add one vertical line. Here we add a thick strong pillar because Tamil has a strong history of nurturing Sanskrit.

This is true for all consonants. To add Aa sound, add the thick pillar. I will use a book “Learn Tamil in 30 days’ and some online sources for giving word examples now. Try what following are and what they mean:
பாழம்
கண்
நகரம்
பக்கம்
அம்மா
காகம்
மரணம்
பயம்
லாபம்

For i sound, in Hindi or Bangla we use कि or কি. The की or কী is used for longer ee.

In Tamil we use கி for SHORTER i sound (இ)

For longer, ee (ஈ) we use கீ (an ‘e’ on top of alphabet)

Lets see examples of i and ee after consonant:
கி கீ Ki Kee
ஙி ஙீ சி சீ Si See
ஞி ஞீ டி டீ Ti Tee
ணி ணீ Ni Nee
தி தீ Di Dee
பி பீ Pi Pee
மி மீ Mi Mee
யி யீ Yi Yee
ரி ரீ Ri Ree
லி லீ Li Lee
றி றீ Ri Ree
ஜி ஜீ Ji Jee
ஷி ஷீ Shi Shee
ளி ளீ Li Lee
ஹி ஹீ Hi Hee
க்ஷ க்ஷீ Kshi Kshee

Let us skip u and uu (कु कू) for now. Tamil literates will know why I am doing so. Now let us focus on adding following sounds to consonant (क ক K க)

1. K + e = Ke = के = কে = கெ
Just add Buddha’s ear before consonant. Similar to Bangla.

For a longer e sound (ஏ and not எ), K + ‘e”e’ = केए (without break) = கே Similar to கெ. Just that the Buddha’s ear has now 2 ear-rings. One on top and one on bottom.

This works for ALL consonants in Tamil.

3. For ai sound (ஐ)
K + ai = कै = কৈ = கை
Just add a Spring before the consonant. Spring twists your tongue to make you say ‘Ai O’. Again works for all consonants

Nai = நை, னை, ணை etc
Pai = பை
Lai = ளை
Mai = மை
Rai = ரை
Vai = வை
Sai = சை

4. For o sound (ஒ) K + o = को = কো = கொ
Same as Devanagari or Bangla where ko means adding symbol for Ka and Ko together.

5. For longer ‘o”o’ sound (ஓ)
K + ‘o”o’ = कोओ (without break) = கோ Similar to கொ except that now we have Buddha’s two ear-rings for longer ‘o”o’

6. For ou sound (ஔ) – bound, round, sound K + ou = कौ = কৌ = கௌ This is again simple. You keep Buddha’s simple ear on left and add ள on right.

Since ள is also used for ‘La’, it can be confusing at times. For example,
Kela = கே + ள = கெள = Kou
But perhaps such situations are rare and mostly other la like ல or ழ is used.
So it doesn’t cause much issue.

Now what remains are sounds of u and oo. For example Ku, Koo or कु, कू or কু, কূ

This has some complexities. Because form varies as per consonant. But there is a very simple hack.

The hack is that if you find any other symbol attached to a consonant apart from those we studied so far, it is either u or oo. And since both differ ONLY by length of pronunciation, in regular use it HARDLY matters! With this u can now read Tamil easily!

Don’t worry, we will master u, oo also. But even if you cant, just start reading some texts and you will not find any problems if you just assume that the letter you can’t decipher is either u or oo after a consonant.

I suggest doing some practice now before we cover u and oo.

If you follow my instructions in sequence right from vowels to consonants to consonant+vowel combo, in within a week you are sure to master #Tamil script. Just keep reading once in a while and you will acquire a lifetime skill!

Sanjeev Newar
Sanjeev Newarhttps://sanjeevnewar.com
I am founder of Agniveer. Pursuing Karma Yog. I am an alumnus of IIT-IIM and hence try to find my humble ways to repay for the most wonderful educational experience that my nation gifted me with.

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