දෙමළ අක්ෂර මාලාව

දෙමළ අක්ෂර මාලාව (; ; ; ) යනුවෙන් හැඳින්වෙන්නේ  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. at p. 324 Certain minority languages such as Saurashtra, Badaga, Irula, and Paniya are also written in the Tamil script.

Characteristics
The Tamil script has 12 vowels (; ;  "soul-letters"), 18 consonants (; ;  "body-letters") and one special character, the  (; ; Tamil version of Visarga).  is pronounced as "akku" or "அக்கு" and is classified in Tamil grammar as being neither a consonant nor a vowel.University of Madras Tamil Lexicon, page 148: " [   n  . < ¹ +. 1. The letter , as being regarded as neither a vowel nor a consonant; . () 2. Consonants; "] However, it is listed at the end of the vowel set. The script is syllabic, not alphabetic. The complete script, therefore, consists of the 31 letters in their independent form and an additional 216 combinant letters, for a total of 247 combinations (; ; "soul-body-letters") of a consonant and a vowel, a mute consonant, or a vowel alone. The 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 still other 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.

The Tamil script is written from left to right.

History

The Tamil script, like the other Brahmic scripts, is thought to have evolved from the original Brahmi script. The earliest inscriptions which are accepted examples of Tamil writing date to a time just after the Ashokan period. The script used by such inscriptions is commonly known as the Tamil-Brahmi, or "Tamili script", and differs in many ways from standard Ashokan Brahmi. For example, early Tamil-Brahmi, unlike Ashokan Brahmi, had a system to distinguish between pure consonants (m, in this example) and consonants with an inherent vowel (ma, in this example). In addition, according to Iravatham Mahadevan, early Tamil Brahmi used slightly different vowel markers, had extra characters to represent letters not found in தானாக  Sanskrit, and omitted letters for sounds not present in Tamil such as voiced consonants and aspirates. Inscriptions from the 2nd century use a later form of Tamil-Brahmi, which is substantially similar to the writing system described in the Tolkāppiyam, an ancient Tamil grammar. Most notably, they used the puḷḷi to suppress the inherent vowel. The Tamil letters thereafter evolved towards a more rounded form, and by the 5th or 6th century, they had reached a form called the early vaṭṭeḻuttu.

The modern Tamil script does not, however, descend from that script. In the 6th century, the Pallava dynasty created a new script for Tamil, and the Grantha alphabet evolved from it, adding the Vaṭṭeḻuttu alphabet for sounds not found to write Sanskrit. Parallel to Pallava script a new script (Chola-Pallava script, which evolved to modern Tamil script) again emerged in Chola territory resembling the same glyph development like Pallava script, but it did not evolve from that. By the 8th century, the new scripts supplanted Vaṭṭeḻuttu in the Chola resp. Pallava kingdoms which lay in the north portion of the Tamil-speaking region. However, the Vaṭṭeḻuttu was still continued to be used in the southern portion of the Tamil-speaking region, in the Chera and Pandyan kingdoms until the 11th century, when the Pandyan kingdom was conquered by the Cholas.

With the fall of Pallava kingdom, the Chola dynasty pushed the Chola-Pallava script as the de facto script. Over the next few centuries, the Chola-Pallava script evolved into the modern Tamil script. The Grantha and its parent script influenced the Tamil script notably. The use of palm leaves as the primary medium for writing led to changes in the script. The scribe had to be careful not to pierce the leaves with the stylus while writing because a leaf with a hole was more likely to tear and decay faster. As a result, the use of the puḷḷi to distinguish pure consonants became rare, with pure consonants usually being written as if the inherent vowel were present. Similarly, the vowel marker for the kuṟṟiyal ukaram, a half-rounded u which occurs at the end of some words and in the medial position in certain compound words, also fell out of use and was replaced by the marker for the simple u. The puḷḷi did not fully reappear until the introduction of printing, but the marker kuṟṟiyal ukaram never came back into use although the sound itself still exists and plays an important role in Tamil prosody.

The forms of some of the letters were simplified in the 19th century to make the script easier to typeset. In the 20th century, the script was simplified even further in a series of reforms, which regularised the vowel markers used with consonants by eliminating special markers and most irregular forms.

Relationship with other Indic scripts
The Tamil script differs from other Brahmi-derived scripts in a number of ways. Unlike every other Bramic script, it does not regularly represent voiced or aspirated stop consonants as these are not phonemes of the Tamil language even though voiced and fricative allophones of stops do appear in spoken Tamil. Thus the character  k, for example, represents  but can also be pronounced  or  based on the rules of Tamil grammar. A separate set of characters appears for these sounds when the Tamil script is used to write Sanskrit or other languages.

Also unlike other Brahmi scripts, the Tamil script rarely uses typographic ligatures to represent conjunct consonants, which are far less frequent in Tamil than in other Indian languages. Where they occur, conjunct consonants are written by writing the character for the first consonant, adding the puḷḷi to suppress its inherent vowel, and then writing the character for the second consonant. There are a few exceptions, namely  kṣa and  śrī.

ISO 15919 is an international standard for the transliteration of Tamil and other Indic scripts into Latin characters. It uses diacritics to map the much larger set of Brahmic consonants and vowels to the Latin script. Tamil can be transliterated into English by using ISO 15919, since English uses the Latin script for writing.

 Letters 

Basic consonants
Consonants are called the "body" (mei) letters. The consonants are classified into three categories: vallinam (hard consonants), mellinam (soft consonants, including all nasals), and itayinam (medium consonants).

There are some lexical rules for formation of words. The Tolkāppiyam describes such rules. Some examples: a word cannot end in certain consonants, and cannot begin with some consonants including r-, l- and ḻ-; 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. (Historically, one n was pronounced as an alveolar consonant, as is still true in Malayalam.)

The order of the alphabet (strictly abugida) in Tamil closely matches that of the nearby languages both in location and linguistics, reflecting the common origin of their scripts from Brahmi.

Table: Tamil consonants.
 Consonant  ISO 15919  Category  IPA     vallinam  , , , , ,      mellinam       vallinam  , , , , ,      mellinam       vallinam  , ,      mellinam       vallinam  , , ,      mellinam       vallinam  , , ,  ம்    mellinam       idaiyinam       idaiyinam       idaiyinam       idaiyinam       idaiyinam       idaiyinam       vallinam  , ,      mellinam  

Grantha consonants used in Tamil
The Tamil speech has incorporated many phonemes which were not part of the Tolkāppiyam classification. The letters used to write these sounds, known as "grantha", are used as part of Tamil. These are taught from elementary school and incorporated in the Tamil Nadu Government encoding called Tamil All Character Encoding (TACE16).

Table: Grantha consonants in Tamil.
 Consonant  ISO 15919  IPA         ,                      

There is also the compound ஸ்ரீ (śrī), equivalent to श्री in Devanagari.

In recent times four combinations of Tamil basic letters are generally used to depict sounds of English letters 'f', 'z', and 'x' and the 'kh' sound in Arabic/Persian. This is helpful for writing English and Arabic names and words in Tamil. The combinations are ஃப for f, ஃஜ for z, ஃஸ் for x, and ஃக் for kh. For example: asif = , aZaarudheen = , rex = , Genghis Khan = .

There has also been effort to differentiate voice and unvoiced consonants through superscripted and subscripted integers - one, two, three and four standing for the unvoiced, unvoiced aspirated, voiced, voiced aspirated, respectively - this was used to transcribe Sanskrit words in Tamil, in Sanskrit-Tamil books.http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2010/10256r-extended-tamil.pdfhttp://www.unicode.org/L2/L2010/10407-ext-tamil-follow2.pdf For example:
க₁ - Ka
க₂ - Kha
க₃ - Ga
க₄ - Gha
This extension of Tamil script is not yet recognized by Unicode. The place where the numbers should be placed is immediately neighbouring the root consonant character; Unicode currently renders those as கௌ₂ or க₂ௌ on possible permutations.

Vowels
Vowels are also called the 'life' (uyir) or 'soul' letters. Together with the consonants (mei, which are called 'body' letters), they form compound, syllabic (abugida) letters that are called 'living' letters (uyir mei, i.e. letters that have both 'body' and 'soul').

Tamil vowels are divided into short and long (five of each type) and two diphthongs.

Isolated form

Table: Tamil vowels (Isolated form).
 Vowel  ISO 15919  IPA                         ,                                    

Compound form
Using the consonant 'k' as an example:

 Formation  Compound form  ISO 15919  IPA க் + அ  க     க் + ஆ  கா     க் + இ  கி     க் + ஈ  கீ     க் + உ  கு    ,  க் + ஊ  கூ     க் + எ  கெ     க் + ஏ  கே    க் + ஐ  கை     க் + ஒ  கொ     க் + ஓ  கோ    க் + ஔ  கௌ    

The special letter  (called akh) is the visarga. It traditionally served a purely grammatical function, but in modern times it has come to be used as a diacritic to represent foreign sounds. For example,  is used for the English sound f, not found in Tamil.

The long (nedil) vowels are about twice as long as the short (kuṟil) vowels. The diphthongs are usually pronounced about one and a half times as long as the short vowels, though some grammatical texts place them with the long (nedil) vowels.

As can be seen in the compound form, the vowel sign can be added to the right, left or both sides of the consonants. It can also form a ligature. These rules are evolving and older use has more ligatures than modern use. What you actually see on this page depends on your font selection; for example, Code2000 will show more ligatures than Latha.

There are proponents of script reform who want to eliminate all ligatures and let all vowel signs appear on the right side.

Unicode encodes the character in logical order (always the consonant first), whereas legacy 8-bit encodings (such as TSCII) prefer the written order. This makes it necessary to reorder when converting from one encoding to another; it is not sufficient simply to map one set of codepoints to the other.

 Compound table of Tamil letters 

The following table lists vowel (uyir or life) letters across the top and consonant (mei or body) letters along the side, the combination of which gives all Tamil compound (uyirmei) letters.

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↓அஆஇஈஉஊஎஏஐஒஓஔக்ககாகிகீகுகூகெகேகைகொகோகௌங்ஙஙாஙிஙீஙுஙூஙெஙேஙைஙொஙோஙௌச்சசாசிசீசுசூசெசேசைசொசோசௌஞ்ஞஞாஞிஞீஞுஞூஞெஞேஞைஞொஞோஞௌட்டடாடிடீடுடூடெடேடைடொடோடௌண்ணணாணிணீணுணூணெணேணைணொணோணௌத்ததாதிதீதுதூதெதேதைதொதோதௌந்நநாநிநீநுநூநெநேநைநொநோநௌப்பபாபிபீபுபூபெபேபைபொபோபௌம்மமாமிமீமுமூமெமேமைமொமோமௌய்யயாயியீயுயூயெயேயையொயோயௌர்ரராரிரீருரூரெரேரைரொரோரௌல்லலாலிலீலுலூலெலேலைலொலோலௌவ்வவாவிவீவுவூவெவேவைவொவோவௌழ்ழழாழிழீழுழூழெழேழைழொழோழௌள்ளளாளிளீளுளூளெளேளைளொளோளௌற்றறாறிறீறுறூறெறேறைறொறோறௌன்னனானினீனுனூனெனேனைனொனோனௌ

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↓அஆஇஈஉஊஎஏஐஒஓஔaāiīuūeēaioōauஶ்śஶஶாஶிஶீஶுஶூஶெஶேஶைஶொஶோஶௌஜ்jஜஜாஜிஜீஜுஜூஜெஜேஜைஜொஜோஜௌஷ்ṣஷஷாஷிஷீஷுஷூஷெஷேஷைஷொஷோஷௌஸ்sஸஸாஸிஸீஸுஸூஸெஸேஸைஸொஸோஸௌஹ்hஹஹாஹிஹீஹுஹூஹெஹேஹைஹொஹோஹௌக்ஷ்kṣக்ஷக்ஷாக்ஷிக்ஷீக்ஷுக்ஷூக்ஷெக்ஷேக்ஷைக்ஷொக்ஷோக்ஷௌ

 Numerals and symbols 

Apart from the numerals (0-9), Tamil also has numerals for 10, 100 and 1000. Symbols for day, month, year, debit, credit, as above, rupee, numeral are present as well.
  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  100  1000                          
  day  month  year  debit  credit  as above  rupee  numeral  time  quantity                    

 In Unicode 

The Unicode range for Tamil is U+0B80–U+0BFF. Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points. Most of the non-assigned codepoints are designated reserved because they are in the same relative position as characters assigned in other South Asian script blocks that correspond to phonemes that don't exist in the Tamil script.

Like other South Asian scripts in Unicode, the Tamil encoding was originally derived from the ISCII standard.  Both ISCII and Unicode encode Tamil as an abugida. In an abugida, each basic character represents a consonant and default vowel.  Consonants with a different vowel or bare consonants are represented by adding a modifier character to a base character.   Each codepoint representing a similar phoneme is encoded in the same relative position in each South Asian script block in Unicode, including Tamil. Although Unicode represents Tamil as an abugida all the pure consonants (consonants with no associated vowel) and syllables in Tamil can be represented by combining multiple Unicode codepoints, as can be seen in the Unicode Tamil Syllabary below.

In Unicode 5.1, named sequences were added for all Tamil pure consonants and syllables.  Unicode 5.1 also has a named sequence for the Tamil ligature SRI (śrī), ஶ்ரீ . The name of this sequence is TAMIL SYLLABLE SHRII, and is composed of the Unicode sequence U+0BB6 U+0BCD U+0BB0 U+0BC0.

+ Unicode Tamil Syllabary Vowels →Consonants↓ அ0B85 ஆ0B86 இ0B87 ஈ0B88 உ0B89 ஊ0B8A எ0B8E ஏ0B8F ஐ0B90 ஒ0B92 ஓ0B93 ஔ0B94 க்0B950BCD க0B95  கா0B950BBE கி0B950BBF கீ0B950BC0 கு0B950BC1 கூ0B950BC2 கெ0B950BC6 கே0B950BC7 கை0B950BC8 கொ0B950BCA கோ0B950BCB கௌ0B950BCC ங்0B990BCD ங0B99  ஙா0B990BBE ஙி0B990BBF ஙீ0B990BC0 ஙு0B990BC1 ஙூ0B990BC2 ஙெ0B990BC6 ஙே0B990BC7 ஙை0B990BC8 ஙொ0B990BCA ஙோ0B990BCB ஙௌ0B990BCC ச்0B9A0BCD ச0B9A  சா0B9A0BBE சி0B9A0BBF சீ0B9A0BC0 சு0B9A0BC1 சூ0B9A0BC2 செ0B9A0BC6 சே0B9A0BC7 சை0B9A0BC8 சொ0B9A0BCA சோ0B9A0BCB சௌ0B9A0BCC ஞ்0B9E0BCD ஞ0B9E  ஞா0B9E0BBE ஞி0B9E0BBF ஞீ0B9E0BC0 ஞு0B9E0BC1 ஞூ0B9E0BC2 ஞெ0B9E0BC6 ஞே0B9E0BC7 ஞை0B9E0BC8 ஞொ0B9E0BCA ஞோ0B9E0BCB ஞௌ0B9E0BCC ட்0B9F0BCD ட0B9F  டா0B9F0BBE டி0B9F0BBF டீ0B9F0BC0 டு0B9F0BC1 டூ0B9F0BC2 டெ0B9F0BC6 டே0B9F0BC7 டை0B9F0BC8 டொ0B9F0BCA டோ0B9F0BCB டௌ0B9F0BCC ண்0BA30BCD ண0BA3  ணா0BA30BBE ணி0BA30BBF ணீ0BA30BC0 ணு0BA30BC1 ணூ0BA30BC2 ணெ0BA30BC6 ணே0BA30BC7 ணை0BA30BC8 ணொ0BA30BCA ணோ0BA30BCB ணௌ0BA30BCC த்0BA40BCD த0BA4  தா0BA40BBE தி0BA40BBF தீ0BA40BC0 து0BA40BC1 தூ0BA40BC2 தெ0BA40BC6 தே0BA40BC7 தை0BA40BC8 தொ0BA40BCA தோ0BA40BCB தௌ0BA40BCC ந்0BA80BCD ந0BA8  நா0BA80BBE நி0BA80BBF நீ0BA80BC0 நு0BA80BC1 நூ0BA80BC2 நெ0BA80BC6 நே0BA80BC7 நை0BA80BC8 நொ0BA80BCA நோ0BA80BCB நௌ0BA80BCC ப்0BAA0BCD ப0BAA  பா0BAA0BBE பி0BAA0BBF பீ0BAA0BC0 பு0BAA0BC1 பூ0BAA0BC2 பெ0BAA0BC6 பே0BAA0BC7 பை0BAA0BC8 பொ0BAA0BCA போ0BAA0BCB பௌ0BAA0BCC ம்0BAE0BCD ம0BAE  மா0BAE0BBE மி0BAE0BBF மீ0BAE0BC0 மு0BAE0BC1 மூ0BAE0BC2 மெ0BAE0BC6 மே0BAE0BC7 மை0BAE0BC8 மொ0BAE0BCA மோ0BAE0BCB மௌ0BAE0BCC ய்0BAF0BCD ய0BAF  யா0BAF0BBE யி0BAF0BBF யீ0BAF0BC0 யு0BAF0BC1 யூ0BAF0BC2 யெ0BAF0BC6 யே0BAF0BC7 யை0BAF0BC8 யொ0BAF0BCA யோ0BAF0BCB யௌ0BAF0BCC ர்0BB00BCD ர0BB0  ரா0BB00BBE ரி0BB00BBF ரீ0BB00BC0 ரு0BB00BC1 ரூ0BB00BC2 ரெ0BB00BC6 ரே0BB00BC7 ரை0BB00BC8 ரொ0BB00BCA ரோ0BB00BCB ரௌ0BB00BCC ல்0BB20BCD ல0BB2  லா0BB20BBE லி0BB20BBF லீ0BB20BC0 லு0BB20BC1 லூ0BB20BC2 லெ0BB20BC6 லே0BB20BC7 லை0BB20BC8 லொ0BB20BCA லோ0BB20BCB லௌ0BB20BCC வ்0BB50BCD வ0BB5  வா0BB50BBE வி0BB50BBF வீ0BB50BC0 வு0BB50BC1 வூ0BB50BC2 வெ0BB50BC6 வே0BB50BC7 வை0BB50BC8 வொ0BB50BCA வோ0BB50BCB வௌ0BB50BCC ழ்0BB40BCD ழ0BB4  ழா0BB40BBE ழி0BB40BBF ழீ0BB40BC0 ழு0BB40BC1 ழூ0BB40BC2 ழெ0BB40BC6 ழே0BB40BC7 ழை0BB40BC8 ழொ0BB40BCA ழோ0BB40BCB ழௌ0BB40BCC ள்0BB30BCD ள0BB3  ளா0BB30BBE ளி0BB30BBF ளீ0BB30BC0 ளு0BB30BC1 ளூ0BB30BC2 ளெ0BB30BC6 ளே0BB30BC7 ளை0BB30BC8 ளொ0BB30BCA ளோ0BB30BCB ளௌ0BB30BCC ற்0BB10BCD ற0BB1  றா0BB10BBE றி0BB10BBF றீ0BB10BC0 று0BB10BC1 றூ0BB10BC2 றெ0BB10BC6 றே0BB10BC7 றை0BB10BC8 றொ0BB10BCA றோ0BB10BCB றௌ0BB10BCC ன்0BA90BCD ன0BA9  னா0BA90BBE னி0BA90BBF னீ0BA90BC0 னு0BA90BC1 னூ0BA90BC2 னெ0BA90BC6 னே0BA90BC7 னை0BA90BC8 னொ0BA90BCA னோ0BA90BCB னௌ0BA90BCC ஶ்0BB60BCD ஶ0BB6  ஶா0BB60BBE ஶி0BB60BBF ஶீ0BB60BC0 ஶு0BB60BC1 ஶூ0BB60BC2 ஶெ0BB60BC6 ஶே0BB60BC7 ஶை0BB60BC8 ஶொ0BB60BCA ஶோ0BB60BCB ஶௌ0BB60BCC ஜ்0B9C0BCD ஜ0B9C  ஜா0B9C0BBE ஜி0B9C0BBF ஜீ0B9C0BC0 ஜு0B9C0BC1 ஜூ0B9C0BC2 ஜெ0B9C0BC6 ஜே0B9C0BC7 ஜை0B9C0BC8 ஜொ0B9C0BCA ஜோ0B9C0BCB ஜௌ0B9C0BCC ஷ்0BB70BCD ஷ0BB7  ஷா0BB70BBE ஷி0BB70BBF ஷீ0BB70BC0 ஷு0BB70BC1 ஷூ0BB70BC2 ஷெ0BB70BC6 ஷே0BB70BC7 ஷை0BB70BC8 ஷொ0BB70BCA ஷோ0BB70BCB ஷௌ0BB70BCC ஸ்0BB80BCD ஸ0BB8  ஸா0BB80BBE ஸி0BB80BBF ஸீ0BB80BC0 ஸு0BB80BC1 ஸூ0BB80BC2 ஸெ0BB80BC6 ஸே0BB80BC7 ஸை0BB80BC8 ஸொ0BB80BCA ஸோ0BB80BCB ஸௌ0BB80BCC ஹ்0BB90BCD ஹ0BB9  ஹா0BB90BBE ஹி0BB90BBF ஹீ0BB90BC0 ஹு0BB90BC1 ஹூ0BB90BC2 ஹெ0BB90BC6 ஹே0BB90BC7 ஹை0BB90BC8 ஹொ0BB90BCA ஹோ0BB90BCB ஹௌ0BB90BCC க்ஷ்0B950BCD0BB70BCD</span> க்ஷ0B950BCD0BB7 </span> க்ஷா0B950BCD0BB70BBE</span> க்ஷி0B950BCD 0BB7 0BBF</span> க்ஷீ0B950BCD 0BB7 0BC0</span> க்ஷு0B950BCD0BB70BC1</span> க்ஷூ0B950BCD0BB70BC2</span> க்ஷெ0B950BCD0BB70BC6</span> க்ஷே0B950BCD0BB70BC7</span> க்ஷை0B950BCD0BB70BC8</span> க்ஷொ0B950BCD0BB70BCA</span> க்ஷோ0B950BCD0BB70BCB</span> க்ஷெள0B950BCD0BB70BCC</span>

 Programmatic access 
 Tamil script can be manipulated using the Python library called open-Tamil.

See also
Simplified Tamil script
Tamil phonology
Tamil Keyboard
Tamil Braille
Tamil letters (on Tamil Wikibooks)
Tamil numerals
Tamil units of measurement
Grantha script
Tamil bell

Notes

References



External links

 Tamil Alphabet & Basics (PDF)
 Phonetics of spoken Tamil
 Unicode Chart - For Tamil (PDF)
 TACE 16 (PDF)
 Tamil Letters

Script, Tamil
Category:Brahmic scripts
Category:Tamil script
Category:Scripts encoded in Unicode 1.0