z for zagam/jagam

z for zagam
jagam is world
There is no za/ja  in Tamil. So either words in z is written as sa(ச) or with ja/za ஜ(letter not in original Tamil) is used. 


ஜகம்=jagam


ஜ=ja/za


க=ga


ம்=m

y for yaanai

y for yaanai
yaanai means elephant.

யானை 
யா=yaa
னை =nai
The vowel sign for ai is written before the consonant as in the case of nai, where ன is written after the vowel sign.
so pai is பை(means bag), kai is கை(means hand), பறவை (paravai means bird).

x for xtra

x for xtra 
எக்ஸ்ட்ரா is extra.
x is non-existent in Tamil. So any English words with x are as எக்ஸ்=eks.
So the word extra is written as எக்ஸ்ட்ரா. 

w for vaazhai

w for vaazhai
V and w are the same in Tamil represented by வ. 
vaazhai means banana - normally vaazhai maram means banana tree.
vaazhai pazham means - banana fruit(that we eat)

வாழை பழம் 

பழம் means fruit

So to say 

I like banana.

எனக்கு வாழை பழம் பிடிக்கும். enakku vaazhai pazham pidikkum.

எனக்கு - I

like is pidikkum (பிடிக்கும்)

எனக்கு ________ பிடிக்கும்.

So say you like something/someone replace the __________ with the word

So to say I like you.

எனக்கு உன்னை பிடிக்கும். enakku unnai pidikkum.

unnai(means you)

எனக்கு ஆப்பிள் பிடிக்கும். (enakku aappil pidikkum) - I like apple.

The sentence formation is subject object and verb. (sov) unlike in English where it is svo(subject verb object). The verb is written at the end of the sentence. There are no capital letters and there is no joined up letters.

V for valai

V for valai

valai means net
Silandhi valai is spider's net
vaLayal is bangles.
In Tamil there are three sounds for la,

la,      La,  zha
ல ள ழ
பால் - paal - milk
கல் - kal - stone
மக்கள் - makkaL - people
மகள் - magaL - daughter
To form plurals of words gaL is added.
பறவை(paravai) - பறவைகள்(paravaigal) (birds)
குரங்கு(kurangu) - குரங்குகள்(kurangugal) (monkeys)
வளையல்(vaLayal) - வளையல்கள்(vaLayalgaL) (bangles)
Tamil is written with the special zha. 
தமிழ்=Tamizh
Since there is no equivalent in English to the Tamil zh, Tamizh is written Tamil in English.

u for ural

u for ural
உரல் is hand grinder

உ=u
ர=ra
ல்=l

T for tangkam

T for Tangkam
டங்கம் means chisel


Although there are very few words starting with ta(ta as in tata) as opposed to words starting with tha(tha as in thunder), ta commonly occurs with the non vowel counterpart like in the following words
கட்டம் - kattam means square
சட்டம் - sattam means law
பட்டம் - pattam means kite/degree(studies)
திட்டம் - thittam means plan
வட்டம் - vattam means circle
மாவட்டம் - maavattam means district

s for sangam

S for sangam
sangam means association/society/institution

சங்கம்
ச=sa
ங்=ng
க=ga
ம்=m


ச is used for both sa and cha. 

R for radam

R for Radam
radam means chariot

ரதம்

ர=ra
த=da
ம்=m

Q for kurangu

Q does not exist in Tamil language. So I am using ku instead of Q(kyu).

குரங்கு
கு=ku
ர=ra
ங்=ng
கு=gu
Please note that although the first letter and final letter are same, as I said earlier, க can take two sounds namely ka and ga. In this case first letter takes the ka sound and in the final letter it takes the ga sound.

ka + u  = ku
க  + உ = கு
ga + u  = gu
So,  குரங்கு  is kurangu 

p for paappaa

P for Paappaa
Pappa means baby

பாப்பா

பா=paa

ப்=ip

பா=paa

ப is also used to write ba. 

I think I can introduce few consonants in Tamil today.

ர         ச           க          த      ட      ப      ம

ra                     sa/cha                 ka/ga                 tha/da          ta/da         pa/ba           ma

               

o for ottagam

o for ottagam
ottagam means camel

ஒட்டகம்
ஒ=o
ட்=it
ட=ta
க=ga
ம்=m
The vowel sign for ஒ is shown below
க + ஒ =கொ
ka+o=ko
The long vowel ஓ is shown below
க + ஓ =கோ

m for maram

m for maram
maram means tree

மரம்

ம-ma

ர=ra

ம்=m

For more vocabulary and vocabulary games visit www.languagereef.com

The most easiest of Tamil consonants to learn must be ta/da which looks like a English L but the horizontal line is a big longer than L. Also, there are no capital letters or joined writing in Tamil. For more Tamil lessons, visiti

http://www.languagereef.com/lr/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=48&Itemid=67

l for london

l for laNdan

லண்டன் means London
ல=la
ண்=N
ட=da
ன்=n
இலங்கை (ilangai)  means Sri Lanka
இ=i
ல=la
ங்=ng
கை=gai
There are 12 vowels in Tamil.
They are 
அ(a as in ) ஆ (aa as in America)

இ(i as in pin) ஈ(ee as in see)
உ(u) ஊ(oo as in soon)
எ (e as game) ஏ(E)
ஐ(ai as in high) 
ஒ(o as hole) ஓ(O as in hope)
ஔ(au as in house)

In the above, the first vowel is the short vowel followed by long vowel.
There is a special letter ஃ called ayutha ezhuthu.
ezhuthu means letter/alphabet.
vowels are called uyir(life) ezhuthu and consonants are called maiezhuthu(body).
uyir means life and uyir ezhuthu and mai ezhuthu combine to form uyirmaiezhuthukkal.
To make plurals of words, we use kal/gal. 
for example, singular malar(flower) becomes plural malargal(flowers).
kaar - kaargal
kappal - kappalgal
megam - meganggal

k for kaal

k for kaal
kaal means leg
கால்

கா=kaa
ல்=l
The dot on the letter la denotes absence of the vowel a.
ல்=l
ல=la
கா=kaa
க(ka) and கா(kaa)
காலம்=kaalam

J for jalam

J for jalam
ஜலம் means water
ஜ=ja
ல=la
ம்=m
Although Tamil script does not have the consonant ja, there are some special consonants as described in an earlier post that are used to write words of foreign origin like jalam (which is a sanskrit word for water).
ஜனனி(janani-mother)
Some people prefer to use Tamil consonants instead of these derived consonants to maintain the purity of the language.
If we compare the Tamil consonants compared to that of other Indian language scripts like Hindi, Telugu, Kannada etc, Tamil has only 18 consonants. While the ja series in other languages have four sounds, Tamil has just one letter to cover all of them
cha Cha ja jha(च छ ज झ)
ச - sa/cha-is used for sa and cha
So the foreign consonant ஜ is used to for ja and jha
sanikkizhamai(saturday)
சனிக்கிழமை
கிழமை - is day

i for ilai

i for ilai
ilai means leaf

இலை
இ=i
லை=lai
ல+ஐ=லை
la+ai=lai
When Tamil vowels are written in order, i(இ) is the third vowel. It is a short vowel. The long vowel corresponding to i is ee is written as ஈ. Actually this single vowel word has a meaning by itself. ஈ is the name for housefly in Tamil. Please remember the vowel sign for ai although written before the consonant is sounded after the consonant.
அலை(alai) is wave.
கலை(kalai) is art.
மலை(malai) is mountain
வலை(valai) is net
கவலை(kavalai) is sadness etc

h for Hari

h for Hari
ஹரி
ஹ=ha
ரி=ri
It is a boy's name in India. It is also one of the names of God Vishnu. It is of Hindi and Sanskrit origin. Hari also means lion.
In Tamil, the consonant ha (ஹ) is a sound from grantha. It is not included in the 18 natural consonants of Tamil. 


The other foreign consonants that are being used in Tamil are
ஜ(ja), ஸ(sa), ஷ(sha), க்ஷ(ksha)
These alphabets are used to write north indian/sanskrit words that are being used in Tamil.
The vowel signs for these consonants is similar to that of ordinary consonants.
க கா கி கீ கு கூ கெ கே கை கொ கோ கௌ
ka    kaa     ki      kee  ku     koo       ke       kE        kai          ko              kO              jow

g for ganga

g for ganga
கங்கா - Ganga(Ganges in English) is a trans-boundary river between India and Bangladesh.

Varanasi/Ganga

Image from Wiki
க-ga/ka
ங்=ng
கா=gaa/kaa
In this case, the consonant represents the sound ga in both the starting and ending of the word. As mentioned earlier while compared to other Indian languages which have 36 consonants Tamil has only 18. So some alphabets are used for two sounds. க is one such consonant. It has ka sound in words like kaadu(காது), kann(கண்) while in words like ganga it has a ga sound. Tamil has no capital letters or running handwriting. The letters are always written separate and there are no conjuncts like other Indian languages. So it is an easier language to learn compared to other Indian languages. But to know how the words sounds like whether it kaadu or gaadu, you have to by heart the word and I think there are no hard and fast rules. Most of the words which start is க have it sound as ka rather than ga.
க - >கா
ka->kaa
while the vowel sign is shown by removing the dot from the consonant, for the long aa vowel it is written seperately as shown below.
க் -  க  - கா
ik - ka - kaa
The other translieration, vowels and vowel signs for ka are shown below
 a          aa        e    ee    u        oo        e      E      ai      o       O         au
அ ஆ இ ஈ உ ஊ எ    ஏ   ஐ   ஒ       ஓ     ஔ 
க  கா கி கீ கு கூ கெ கே கை கொ கோ கௌ

For more information about Tamil and vocabulary and other to learn other Indian languages visit www.languagereef.com

F for pani

F for pani

Unfortunately in Tamil, there is no pha/fa. So to write words which have this sound (mostly words of foreign origin), pha/fa is replaced by pa. 
So I have used a word for pa. P for pani(பனி). It means dew, snow, frost, fog or mist.

E for Eni

E for Eni(read as long a and ni)
ஏணி
ஏ-E as in Everest
ணி- nee as in Knee(it is called mundru(3) suzhi (loops) na)

ஏ is a long vowel,

எ is the corresponding short vowel.

எலி- eli - mouse

The vowels when they occur at the start of a word are written as vowels in independent form while when they come with consonants they take the form of a vowel sign. The vowel sign for both எ and ஏ occur before the consonant.

For example, ke

கெ and kE(the long vowel E) is கே. Note although both vowel signs occur before the consonant they should be spelled after it. So it is ke and kE and ek and Ek. This is quite different from English. So keep this in mind. For the vowel signs for e and E are written before the consonant.

d for damaaram

d for damaaram
டமாரம் = small drum

ட=da/ta
மா=maa
ர=ra
ம்=m
The letter ட has two sounds namely ta and da. For example, in the word பட்டம் it is pattam(kite) while in the word படம் padam and பாடம் is paadam. In only few word it occurs at the start.

c for cingam

c for cingam

சிங்கம்

ச - ca

சி-si

ங்-ng

க-ga

ம்-m

க-ga/ka

க has two sounds namely ka and ga. In this word,cingam it is ga.

consonant - consonant sa+vowel i

It has the c sound like in nice rather than in car.

ச - சி

Please note than a dot on a consonants means absence of vowels.

b for bambaram

ப for bambaram

பம்பரம்

ba-m-ba-ra-m
( ப -ba,  ம் -m, ப -ba,ர -ra ,ம்- m )

This is a famous traditional game played in the streets by kids in India. While wooden (tops) bambarams are famous now there are many plastic tops too.
The following link explains more about this game and also a video to show how it is played.
http://www.traditionalgames.in/home/property-games/bambaram-pamparam

A for Ammaa

அ for Ammaa

Ammaa is mother in Tamil

அம்மா

a-m-maa 

( அ-a,ம்-m, ம-ma,மா-maa)

To denote long vowels(aa) we use the  

All consonants have inherent a sound to it. Absense of vowel sound is denoted by a dot on the consonant. It is "m" ம் (absense of a as opposed to  ம )

A quick introduction to Tamil

Tamil is my second language in school. I grew up in Tamil Nadu, where Tamil is the official language. It is a language spoken by nearly 74 million native speakers in India. It is a South Indian language. 

Some key features of Tamil

1. It is written from left to right(like English)
2. It follows Abudiga system of writing(It is segmental writing system where consonant and vowels are written as a unit)
3. It does not have capital letters
4. Vowels take two forms independent form and as sign with they occur with consonants
5. It is a phonetic language(once you know the syllabary you know to read almost everything in Tamil)
6. It has 11 vowels(achchulu) and 18 consonants(opposed to 37 in other Indian Languages). So some letters share two sounds. For example ப is used for both pa and ba sounds.

For more vocabulary visit www.languagereef.com