Tamil Vowels & Consonants — All Letters with Audio

The 12 Tamil Vowels (உயிர் எழுத்துகள்)

Tamil vowels come in short and long pairs, and learning the distinction is essential since it changes word meaning. Each vowel has its own sound and picture association:

• அ (A, as in "up") — அம்மா (Mother)
• ஆ (Ā, as in "father") — ஆடு (Goat)
• இ (I, as in "it") — இலை (Leaf)
• ஈ (Ī, as in "eel") — ஈ (Fly)
• உ (U, as in "put") — உடல் (Body)
• ஊ (Ū, as in "ooze") — ஊர் (Town)
• எ (E, as in "egg") — எலி (Mouse)
• ஏ (Ē, as in "angel") — ஏணி (Ladder)
• ஐ (Ai, as in "ice") — ஐந்து (Five)
• ஒ (O, as in "omit") — ஒட்டகம் (Camel)
• ஓ (Ō, as in "open") — ஓடம் (Boat)
• ஔ (Au, as in "out") — ஔஷதம் (Medicine)

The 18 Tamil Consonants (மெய் எழுத்துகள்)

Tamil consonants include several sounds unique to the language. The varga consonants (க, ச, ட, த, ப, ம) each have hard and soft pronunciations depending on position. Most distinctively, Tamil has ழ (a retroflex approximant unique to Tamil and Malayalam), ள (retroflex lateral), ற (alveolar trill) and ண (retroflex nasal) — sounds with no equivalent in English or other Indian languages. The Vowels category is free; Consonants is part of the premium set.