Pronunciation Guide

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Pronunciation Guide

Please note that the representation and pronunciation of thamizh letters and grantha characters provided hereunder (and wherever else in this document and other related documents of Azhagi and also during the execution of Azhagi) is only a simple, basic guide and in no way, a substitute for learning them from a thamizh or linguistic scholar («È¢»÷). In other words, there is no better way for learning the exact representation and pronunciation of thamizh and grantha characters, other than from a thamizh or linguistic scholar («È¢»÷). If any discrepancies are found in any form (in spite of our careful checking of the pronunciation tips for their correctness, there might still exist some flaw), please let us know.

N.B. The representation of the thamizh and grantha characters is as per the font SaiIndra.

Vowels (uyir ezhuththukkaL)

«	pronounced as the 'u' in sun
¬	pronounced as the 'a' in all
þ	pronounced as the 'i' in ink
®	pronounced as the 'ee' in week
¯	pronounced as the 'u' in put
°	pronounced as the 'oo' in cool
±	pronounced as the 'e' in end
²	pronounced as the 'a' in may
³	pronounced as the 'i' in like
´	pronounced as the 'o' in Olympics
µ	pronounced as the 'o' in old
¶	pronounced as the 'ou' in out

aaidha ezhuththu

·	pronounced as the 'uck' in luck

Consonants - mey ezhuththukkaL

ì	pronounced as the 'k' in ink *
í	pronounced as the 'ng' in vaanga ( Å¡í¸ )
î	pronounced as the 'ch' in much
ï	pronounced as the 'Gn' in meyGnGnaanam **
ð	pronounced as the 't' in put ***
ñ	pronounced as the 'N' in vaNdi ( ÅñÊ )
ò	pronounced as the 'th' in path ****
ó	pronounced as the 'ndh' in bandham ( Àó¾õ )
ô	pronounced as the 'p' in up *****
õ	pronounced as the 'm' in gum
ö	pronounced as the 'y' in toy
÷	pronounced as the 'r' in war
ø	pronounced as the 'l' in pal
ù	pronounced as the 've' in gave
ú	pronounced as the 'zh' in thamizh ( ¾Á¢ú )
û	pronounced as the 'L' in muL ( Óû )
ü	pronounced as the 'R' in paRkaL ( Àü¸û )
ý	pronounced as the 'n' in kannam ( ¸ýÉõ )

Alternate pronunciations

* pronounced as the ‘g’ in bag

** pronounced as the 'nj' in panjam ( Àïºõ ) [meyGnGnaanam - ¦Áöï»¡Éõ]

*** pronounced as the ‘d’ in good

**** pronounced as the ‘dh’ in sidhdhi (º¢ò¾¢)

***** pronounced as the ‘b’ in tub

Vowel+Consonant Combinations - uyirmey ezhuththukkaL

	Pronounced as the
¸	'ka' in kadal ( ¸¼ø ), 'ga' in gambeeram ( ¸õÀ£Ãõ ), 'cu' in cup
¹	'nGa' in nGanam ( ¹Éõ )
º	'cha' in chakkaram ( ºì¸Ãõ ), 'sa' in rasam ( Ãºõ )
»	'Gna' in kaviGnar ( ¸Å¢»÷ )
¼	'ta' in pattam ( Àð¼õ ), 'da' in paadam ( À¡¼õ )
½	'Na' in raamaayaNam ( Ã¡Á¡Â½õ )
¾	'tha' in thattu ( ¾ðÎ ), 'dha' in dhayavu ( ¾Â× )
¿	'na' in nada ( ¿¼ )
À	'pa' in padi ( ÀÊ ), 'ba' in bayam ( ÀÂõ )
Á	'ma' in madi ( ÁÊ )
Â	'ya' in bayam ( ÀÂõ )
Ã	'ra' in rasam ( Ãºõ )
Ä	'la' in balam ( ÀÄõ )
Å	'va' in valam ( ÅÄõ )
Æ	'zha' in pazham ( ÀÆõ )
Ç	'La' in paLLam ( ÀûÇõ )
È	'Ra' in muRam ( ÓÈõ )
É	'na' in vaanam ( Å¡Éõ )

? The pronunciation for other vowel+consonant combinations (uyirmey) is self-explanatory.

Grantham - unique character

‚	pronounced as the 'sri' in sriraaman ( ‚Ã¡Áý )

Grantham - mey Forms

ˆ	pronounced as the 'j' in raj
‰	pronounced as the 'sh' in wash
Š	pronounced as the 's' in namaskaaram ( ¿ÁŠ¸¡Ãõ)
‹	pronounced as the 'h' in uh
Œ	pronounced as the 'ksh' in lakshman ( ÄŒÁý )

Grantham - uyirmey Forms

ƒ	pronounced as the 'ju' in jug
„	pronounced as the 'shu' in shut
…	pronounced as the 'Sa' in hamSadhvani ( †õ…òÅÉ¢ )
†	pronounced as the 'hu' in hut
‡	pronounced as the 'ksha' in nakshathram ( ¿‡òÃõ )

Document version 6.6