Script 2: hard and nasal consonants
Goal: By the end you can read twelve consonants and know what the dot on top means.
Draft lesson: not yet reviewed by a fluent Tamil speaker.
Warm-up
கண்
kaṇ
eye
பல்
pal
tooth
மரம்
maram
tree
The dot on top
A consonant written with a dot on top (called புள்ளி, puḷḷi) is the bare sound: க் is k. Without the dot the letter carries the vowel a: க is ka. So கண் is ka + ṇ.
- க்
- க
- ண்
- ண
கண்
kaṇ
eye
பல்
pal
tooth
Six hard consonants (வல்லினம்)
Tamil uses one letter where English uses two: க covers both k and g. At the start of a word or when doubled it is a crisp k. In the middle of a word it softens, closer to g or h. The same idea holds for ச, ட, த and ப.
- க
- ச
- ட
- த
- ப
- ற
சட்டை
caṭṭai
shirt
தலை
talai
head
படம்
paṭam
picture
பறவை
paṟavai
bird
Six nasal consonants (மெல்லினம்)
Each hard consonant has a nasal partner made at the same place in the mouth. You will often see them side by side: ங்க, ஞ்ச, ண்ட, ந்த, ம்ப, ன்ற.
- ங
- ஞ
- ண
- ந
- ம
- ன
மணி
maṇi
bell
நரி
nari
fox
மான்
māṉ
deer
சங்கு
caṅku
conch shell
Try it
Question 1 of 7
What does the dot on top of க் do?
Use it
Open the Script studio and trace க, ச, த, ப, ம and ந three times each. Say the sound as you draw.
Culture note
Tamil grammar sorts its eighteen consonants into three families by how they sound: வல்லினம் (hard), மெல்லினம் (soft, the nasals) and இடையினம் (medium). The grouping goes back to the Tolkāppiyam, the oldest surviving Tamil grammar, and schoolchildren still learn it today.
Recap
Key words
- கண் · eye
- பல் · tooth
- மரம் · tree
Rules
- A dot (புள்ளி) on a consonant removes the built-in vowel a: க = ka, க் = k.
- Hard consonants: க ச ட த ப ற. Nasal consonants: ங ஞ ண ந ம ன.
- One Tamil letter can sound crisp (k) at the start of a word and softer (g, h) in the middle.