தமிழ் Orthography
| Vowels: | |||
| a | அ | अ | Short ‘a’, pronounced like ‘u’ in cut |
| ā | ஆ | आ | Long ‘a’, pronounced like ‘a’ in father [aa] |
| i | இ | इ | Short ‘i’, pronounced like ‘e’ in English |
| ī | ஈ | ई | Long ‘i’, pronounced like ‘ee’ in see [ee] |
| u | உ | उ | Short ‘u’, pronounced like ‘u’ in put |
| ū | ஊ | ऊ | Long ‘u’, pronounced like ‘oo’ in food [oo] |
| ṛ | – | ऋ | Short vocalic ‘r’, pronounced like ‘ri’ in merrily |
| ṝ | – | ॠ | Long vocalic ‘r’ |
| ḷ | – | ऌ | Short vocalic ‘l’, pronounced like ‘lry’ in revelry (not to be confused with the Tamil consonant ள், which is also transliterated as ḷ) |
| ḹ | – | ॡ | Long vocalic ‘l’ |
| e | எ | (ऎ) | Short ‘e’, pronounced like ‘e’ in else |
| ē | ஏ | ए | Long ‘e’, pronounced like ‘ai’ in aid |
| ai | ஐ | ऐ | Diphthong ‘ai’, pronounced like ‘ai’ in aisle |
| o | ஒ | (ऒ) | Short ‘o’, pronounced like ‘o’ in cot |
| ō | ஓ | ओ | Long ‘o’, pronounced like ‘o’ in dote |
| au | ஔ | औ | Diphthong ‘au’, pronounced like ‘ou’ in sound |
| Consonantal diacritics: | |||
| ḵ | ஃ | – | Tamil āytam, indicating gutturalization of the preceding vowel, pronounced like ‘ch’ in loch |
| ṁ | – | ं | Sanskrit anusvāra, indicating nasalization of the preceding vowel, pronounced like ‘m’ or (when followed by certain consonants) ‘ṅ’, ‘ñ’, ‘ṇ’ or ‘n’ |
| ḥ | – | ः | Sanskrit visarga, indicating frication (or lengthened aspiration) of the preceding vowel, pronounced like ‘h’ followed by a slight echo of the preceding vowel |
| Consonants: | |||
| k | க் | क् | Velar plosive, unvoiced and unaspirated |
| kh | (க்) | ख् | Velar plosive, unvoiced but aspirated |
| g | க் | ग् | Velar plosive, voiced but unaspirated |
| gh | (க்) | घ् | Velar plosive, voiced and aspirated |
| ṅ | ங் | ङ् | Velar nasal |
| ch | ச் | च् | Palatal plosive, unvoiced and unaspirated (pronounced like ‘c’ in cello or ‘ch’ in chutney) |
| chh | (ச்) | छ् | Palatal plosive, unvoiced but aspirated |
| j | ச் [ஜ்] | ज् | Palatal plosive, voiced but unaspirated |
| jh | (ச்) | झ् | Palatal plosive, voiced and aspirated |
| ñy | ஞ் | ञ् | Palatal nasal |
| ṭ | ட் | ट् | Retroflex plosive, unvoiced and unaspirated |
| ṭh | (ட்) | ठ् | Retroflex plosive, unvoiced but aspirated |
| ḍ | ட் | ड् | Retroflex plosive, voiced but unaspirated |
| ḍh | (ட்) | ढ् | Retroflex plosive, voiced and aspirated |
| ṇN | ண் | ण् | Retroflex nasal |
| t | த் | त् | Dental plosive, unvoiced and unaspirated |
| th | (த்) | थ् | Dental plosive, unvoiced but aspirated |
| d | த் | द् | Dental plosive, voiced but unaspirated |
| dh | (த்) | ध् | Dental plosive, voiced and aspirated |
| n | ந் | न् | Dental nasal |
| p | ப் | प् | Labial plosive, unvoiced and unaspirated |
| ph | (ப்) | फ् | Labial plosive, unvoiced but aspirated |
| b | ப் | ब् | Labial plosive, voiced but unaspirated |
| bh | (ப்) | भ् | Labial plosive, voiced and aspirated |
| m | ம் | म् | Labial nasal |
| y | ய் | य् | Palatal semivowel |
| r | ர் | र् | Dental tap (in Tamil phonology) or retroflex trill (in Sanskrit phonology) |
| l | ல் | ल् | Dental lateral approximant |
| v | வ் | व् | Labial semivowel |
| ṙ zh | ழ் | – | Retroflex central approximant (transliterated as ḻ in the Tamil Lexicon, and commonly transcribed as zh) |
| ḷ L | ள் | (ळ्) | Retroflex lateral approximant |
| ṯ | ற் | – | Alveolar plosive, unvoiced (pronunciation of ற only when it is muted, that is, not followed by a vowel) |
| ḏṟ R | ற் | – | Alveolar plosive, voiced (pronunciation of ற only when it follows ன்) |
| ṟ | ற் | – | Alveolar trill (pronunciation of ற when it follows and precedes a vowel) |
| ṉ | ன் | – | Alveolar nasal |
| ś shh | (ச்) [ஶ்] | श् | Palatal aspirated sibilant, pronounced somewhat like ‘s’ in sure (or ‘sh’ in she) |
| ṣ sh | (ச்) [ஷ்] | ष् | Retroflex aspirated sibilant, pronounced somewhat like ‘s’ in sure (or ‘sh’ in she), but with the tongue curled further back |
| s | ச் [ஸ்] | स् | Dental aspirated sibilant, pronounced like ‘s’ in see |
| h | க் [ஹ்] | ह् | Voiced glottal fricative |
~