Language/Tamil/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

Learn the alphabet and how to pronounce the letters in Tamil:

Consonants - Tamil Alphabet and Pronunciation

b

like 'b' in "bed"

c

like 's' in "supper", 'k' in "kid"

d

like 'd' in "dog"

f

like 'ph' in "phone"

g

like 'g' in "go", 'j' in "jello"

h

like 'h' in "help" (often silent in the UK and other Commonwealth countries)

j

like 'dg' in "edge"

k

like 'c' in "cat"

l

like 'l' in "love"

m

like 'm' in "mother"

n

like 'n' in "nice"

p

like 'p' in "pig"

q

like 'q' in "quest" (with "u", almost always)

r

like 'r' in "row", like 'r' in "feather" (often silent in the UK and other Commonwealth countries at end of word)

s

like 'ss' in "hiss", like 'z' in "haze"

t

like 't' in "top"

v

like 'v' in "victory"

w

like 'w' in "weight"

x

like 'cks' in "kicks", like 'z' in "haze" (at beginning of a word)

y

like 'y' in "yes", like 'ie' in "pie", like 'ee' in "flee"

z

like 'z' in "haze"

IPA table

Consonant

Letter	க்	ங்	ச்	ஞ்	ட்	ண்	த்	ந்	ப்	ம்	ய்	ர்	ல்	வ்	ழ்	ள்	ற்	ன்	ஜ்	ஶ்	ஷ்	ஸ்	ஹ்	க்ஷ்
IPA	[k], [ɡ], [x], [ɣ], [h]	[ŋ]	[t͡ʃ], [d͡ʒ], [ʃ], [s], [ʒ], [z]	[ɲ]	[ʈ], [ɖ], [ɽ]	[ɳ]	[t̪], [d̪], [ð]	[n̪]	[p], [b], [β]	[m]	[j]	[ɾ]	[l]	[ʋ]	[ɻ]	[ɭ]	[r], [t], [d]	[n]	[d͡ʒ]	[ɕ], [ʃ]	[ʂ]	[s]	[h]	[kʂ]

Vowels - Tamil Alphabet and Pronunciation

Vowel

Letter	அ	ஆ	இ	ஈ	உ	ஊ	எ	ஏ	ஐ	ஒ	ஓ	ஔ
IPA	[ʌ]	[ɑː]	[i]	[iː]	[u], [ɯ]	[uː]	[e]	[eː]	[ʌj]	[o]	[oː]	[ʌʋ]