Tamil Typing - consonants and vowels

Consonants and vowels are the fundamental building blocks of any language, including Tamil. Understanding these components is crucial for typing and writing in Tamil. Let's start with an introduction to consonants and vowels in the Tamil script:

Consonants (உயிரெழுத்து):

In Tamil, consonants are called "உயிரெழுத்து" (Uyirezhuthu), which means "life letters." These are the primary sounds in the language and are essential for forming words.

Tamil has 18 consonants: க (ka), ங (ṅa), ச (ca), ஞ (ña), ட (ṭa), ண (ṇa), த (tha), ந (na), ப (pa), ம (ma), ய (ya), ர (ra), ல (la), வ (va), ழ (ḻa), ள (ḷa), ற (ṟa), and ன (ṉa).

Vowels (மெய்யெழுத்து):

Vowels in Tamil are called "மெய்யெழுத்து" (Meiyezhuthu), meaning "body letters." These sounds combine with consonants to create syllables and words.

Tamil has 12 vowels: அ (a), ஆ (ā), இ (i), ஈ (ī), உ (u), ஊ (ū), எ (e), ஏ (ē), ஐ (ai), ஒ (o), ஓ (ō), and ஔ (au).

In Tamil, words are typically composed of a combination of consonants and vowels. When typing in Tamil, you need to understand how to combine these elements to form words and sentences correctly.

Here are some key points to keep in mind while typing in Tamil:

To type a consonant, simply type the corresponding English letter. For example, to type "க" (ka), you would type "k."

To type a vowel, use the English letter or key that corresponds to the vowel sound. For instance, "அ" (a) is typed using "a," and "இ" (i) is typed using "i."

To combine a consonant and a vowel to form a syllable, type the consonant first and then the vowel. For example, "க" (ka) is formed by typing "k" and then "a."

To type standalone vowels, you can directly type the corresponding English letter for the vowel.

Some Tamil characters require the use of additional keys, such as "ங" (ṅa), "ஞ" (ña), "ட" (ṭa), "ண" (ṇa), "ழ" (ḻa), "ள" (ḷa), "ற" (ṟa), and "ன" (ṉa). You may need to refer to a Tamil keyboard layout or use a virtual keyboard that supports Tamil typing to access these characters.

Learning the Tamil script and how to type in Tamil may take some practice, but once you become familiar with the consonants and vowels, you can effectively type in the language and communicate in Tamil.