Tamil Typing - A Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering the Keyboard PART 4: Typing Special Tamil Symbols and Script Rules

Unique Tamil Symbols and Typing Rules

The Tamil script includes several unique symbols and special characters that play important roles in accurate and meaningful writing. Understanding these symbols helps improve your Tamil typing fluency and ensures grammatical precision.

Special Tamil Symbols

• ௹ (Rupee Symbol) – Represents the Indian currency in Tamil texts, often used in financial or commercial contexts.

• ௗ (Au Length Marker) – Used to indicate an extended vowel sound, particularly in words where the vowel “ஔ” needs to be elongated.

• ஃ (Aytam) – A distinctive and rarely used letter found mainly in classical Tamil. It represents a soft glottal sound and appears in a few ancient or literary words.

Essential Tamil Typing Rules

• No Separate Aspirated Consonants:
  Tamil script does not differentiate between aspirated and unaspirated consonants. For instance, there is only one form for “Ka” — the script does not have a distinct “Kha.”

• Vowel Markers Follow Consonants:
  When typing vowels with consonants, the vowel sign always follows the consonant.
  Example: “க” + “ீ” = “கீ” (pronounced as kee).

• No Uppercase or Lowercase Distinction:
  Tamil has a uniform case system, meaning there are no uppercase or lowercase letters as in English.

By understanding and applying these rules, you can ensure that your Tamil typing is both linguistically accurate and stylistically correct, preserving the integrity of the script.