Script 5: the 216 compound letters
Goal: By the end you can work out any compound letter and explain how the alphabet reaches 247 letters.
Draft lesson: not yet reviewed by a fluent Tamil speaker.
Warm-up
புத்தகம்
puttakam
book
நாய்
nāy
dog
குடை
kuṭai
umbrella
18 × 12 = 216
Every one of the 18 consonants can join every one of the 12 vowels. That gives 216 compound letters (உயிர்மெய்). You do not memorise 216 shapes: you know the consonant, you know the sign, and you put them together. 12 vowels + 18 consonants + 216 compounds + 1 special letter = 247.
- ம
- மா
- மி
- மீ
- மு
- மூ
- மெ
- மே
- மை
- மொ
- மோ
- மௌ
நாய்
nāy
dog
புத்தகம்
puttakam
book
Shapes to watch
Most signs attach the same way to every consonant. The u and ū signs are the exception, and டி and டீ curl over the top of ட. Read these slowly at first.
- கு
- டு
- மு
- ரு
- நு
- து
- டி
- டீ
குடை
kuṭai
umbrella
முகம்
mukam
face
துணி
tuṇi
cloth
வண்டி
vaṇṭi
cart, vehicle
The 247th letter: ஃ
ஃ is called ஆய்தம் (āytam). It is neither a vowel nor a consonant, and it is rare in everyday words. Today you will mostly see it before ப to write the sound f in borrowed words.
- ஃ
எஃகு
eḵku
steel
ஃபோன்
ḵpōṉ
phone (borrowed word)
Try it
Question 1 of 7
How many compound letters (உயிர்மெய்) are there?
Use it
Open the alphabet chart in the Script studio and read one full row of the grid aloud, for example the ம row. Then pick a second row and do the same.
Culture note
Tamil children have long learned their letters through ஆத்திசூடி (Āttisūḍi), a set of one-line sayings by the poet Avvaiyar arranged in alphabetical order. The first line begins with அ: அறம் செய விரும்பு, “Wish to do what is right.”
Recap
Key words
- புத்தகம் · book
- நாய் · dog
- குடை · umbrella
Rules
- 18 consonants × 12 vowels = 216 compound letters. Total alphabet: 247.
- Read a compound letter as consonant + sign. Watch the irregular u and ū shapes.
- ஃ (ஆய்தம்) is the one special letter. ஃப writes the sound f in borrowed words.