Tamil Consonants: The Eighteen Mei Ezhuthukkal

Tamil calls its consonants மெய் எழுத்துக்கள் (mei ezhuthukkal), "body letters". There are eighteen.

The eighteen consonants

Group	Letters
Hard (வல்லினம், vallinam)	க், ச், ட், த், ப், ற்
Soft (மெல்லினம், mellinam)	ங், ஞ், ண், ந், ம், ன்
Medium (இடையினம், idaiyinam)	ய், ர், ல், வ், ழ், ள்

The small dot on top of each letter is the pulli (புள்ளி), and it shows the consonant on its own, with no vowel.

With the inherent vowel

Written without the dot and with the inherent அ vowel, they are:

க ங ச ஞ ட ண த ந ப ம ய ர ல வ ழ ள ற ன

These are in the order you will meet in a dictionary.

The groups

• Hard consonants are strong stops.
• Soft consonants are nasals.
• Medium consonants include glides and liquids.

Matching pairs

Each hard consonant (except ற) has a nasal partner in the soft group:

Hard	Soft partner
க	ங
ச	ஞ
ட	ண
த	ந
ப	ம
ற	ன

Fewer letters than Hindi

Tamil has no separate letters for voiced and aspirated sounds, so it needs fewer characters than many other Indian scripts. One letter covers more than one sound, as the next articles explain.

Learning tips

1. Learn one group at a time.
2. Say the letters aloud with the vowel அ.
3. Notice the three similar l and r sounds.
4. Use the dictionary to practise recognising letters in words.

Look up any Tamil word with English Tamil Dictionary →