Editing Tamil language (section)

== Writing system ==
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{{main|Tamil script|Tamil braille}}
{{see also|Vatteluttu|Grantha script|Pallava script|Arwi|}}
[[File:History of Tamil script.jpg|thumb|upright=1.81|Historical evolution of Tamil writing from the earlier [[Tamil Brahmi]] near the top to the current [[Tamil script]] at bottom]]
[[File:Tirukkural manuscript.jpg|thumb|upright=1.81|''[[Tirukkural|Tirukkuṟaḷ]]'' [[palm leaf manuscript]]]]
After [[Tamil Brahmi]] fell out of use, Tamil was written using a script called [[Vatteluttu alphabet|{{IAST|vaṭṭeḻuttu}}]] amongst others such as [[Grantha script|Grantha]] and [[Pallava script|Pallava]]. The current [[Tamil script]] consists of 12 [[vowel]]s, 18 [[consonant]]s and one special character, the ''[[āytam]]''. The vowels and consonants combine to form 216 compound characters, giving a total of 247 characters (12 + 18 + 1 + (12 × 18)). All consonants have an inherent vowel ''a'', as with other [[Indic scripts]]. This inherent vowel is removed by adding a [[tittle]] called a ''{{IAST|puḷḷi}}'', to the consonantal sign<!--, whereas no such distinction is there in other Indic scipts-->. For example, {{lang|ta|ன}} is ''ṉa'' (with the inherent ''a'') and {{lang|ta|ன்}} is ''ṉ'' (without a vowel). Many Indic scripts have a similar sign, generically called [[virama]], but the Tamil script is somewhat different in that it nearly always uses a visible ''puḷḷi'' to indicate a 'dead consonant' (a consonant without a vowel). In other Indic scripts, it is generally preferred to use a ligature or a half form to write a syllable or a cluster containing a dead consonant, although writing it with a visible virama is also possible. The Tamil script does not differentiate voiced and unvoiced [[plosive]]s. Instead, plosives are articulated with voice depending on their position in a word, in accordance with the rules of [[Tamil phonology]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tamil Language/Letters - Wikiversity |url=https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Tamil_Language/Letters |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=en.wikiversity.org |language=en}}</ref>

In addition to the standard characters, six characters taken from the [[Grantha script]], which was used in the Tamil region to write Sanskrit, are sometimes used to represent sounds not native to Tamil, that is, words adopted from Sanskrit, [[Prakrit]], and other languages. The traditional system prescribed by classical grammars for writing loan-words, which involves respelling them in accordance with Tamil phonology, remains, but is not always consistently applied.<ref>{{citation|last=Fowler|first=Murray|title=The Segmental Phonemes of Sanskritized Tamil |journal=Language |volume=30 |pages=360–367 |doi=10.2307/410134 |year=1954 |jstor=410134 |issue=3}} at p. 360.</ref> [[ISO 15919#Overview|ISO 15919]] is an international standard for the [[Tamil script#Letters|transliteration of Tamil]] and other [[Indic scripts]] into Latin characters. It uses diacritics to map the much larger set of [[Brahmic scripts|Brahmic consonants and vowels]] to [[Latin script]], and thus the alphabets of various languages, including English.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Daniels |first=Peter T. |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195079937/mode/2up |title=The world's writing systems |last2=Bright |first2=William |date=1996 |publisher=New York : Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-507993-7}}</ref>

=== Numerals and symbols ===
{{main|Tamil numerals}}
Apart from the usual numerals, Tamil has numerals for 10, 100 and 1000. Symbols for day, month, year, debit, credit, as above, rupee, and numeral are present as well. Tamil also uses several historical fractional signs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=V |first=Selvakumar |date=13 May 2025 |title=History of Numbers and Fractions and Arithmetic Calculations in the Tamil Region: Some Observations |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250513133748/https://scispace.com/pdf/history-of-numbers-and-fractions-and-arithmetic-calculations-mv5r8z0ojx.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=13 May 2025 |website=History of Numbers and Fractions and Arithmetic Calculations in the Tamil Region: Some Observations}}</ref>
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
|-
!  zero || one || two || three || four || five || six || seven|| eight || nine|| ten || hundred || thousand
|- style="font-size: 150%"
| {{lang|ta|௦}} || {{lang|ta|௧}} || {{lang|ta|௨}} || {{lang|ta|௩}} || {{lang|ta|௪}} || {{lang|ta|௫}} || {{lang|ta|௬}} || {{lang|ta|௭}} || {{lang|ta|௮}} || {{lang|ta|௯}} || {{lang|ta|௰}} || {{lang|ta|௱}} || {{lang|ta|௲}}
|}
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
|-
!  day || month || year || debit || credit || as above || rupee || numeral
|- style="font-size: 150%"
| {{lang|ta|௳}} || {{lang|ta|௴}} || {{lang|ta|௵}} || {{lang|ta|௶}} || {{lang|ta|௷}} || {{lang|ta|௸}} || {{lang|ta|௹}} || {{lang|ta|௺}}
|}