Tamil Vowels: The Twelve Uyir Ezhuthukkal

Tamil calls its vowels உயிர் எழுத்துக்கள் (uyir ezhuthukkal), meaning "soul letters". There are twelve of them.

The twelve vowels

Letter	Romanised	Length
அ	a	short
ஆ	aa	long
இ	i	short
ஈ	ee	long
உ	u	short
ஊ	oo	long
எ	e	short
ஏ	ae	long
ஐ	ai	diphthong
ஒ	o	short
ஓ	oa	long
ஔ	au	diphthong

Short and long pairs

Tamil distinguishes short and long vowels, and the difference changes meaning. The pairs are அ / ஆ, இ / ஈ, உ / ஊ, எ / ஏ and ஒ / ஓ.

Short	Long
கல் (kal), stone	கால் (kaal), leg
மலை (malai), mountain	மாலை (maalai), evening

Short e and o

Tamil has short எ and ஒ, and long ஏ and ஓ. Notice how Tamil marks length in the letters themselves, with no extra sign.

The diphthongs

ஐ and ஔ are diphthongs. ஐ sounds like ai in "aisle". ஔ is rare, appearing in a few words.

The aytham

Besides the twelve vowels, Tamil has one special character, ஃ (aaytham), used in a few words and loanwords.

Learning tips

1. Learn the pairs together, short with long.
2. Say each aloud and hold long vowels longer.
3. Notice where vowels appear in words you meet.
4. Use the dictionary to see every word in proper Tamil script.

Look up any Tamil word with English Tamil Dictionary →