There are 12 vowels in the Tamil alphabet. Vowels can be categorised into short and long vowels. Short vowels last 1 count, long vowels last 2 counts.
Short vowels are highlighted in light green: அ இ உ எ ஒ
Long vowels are highlighted in dark green: ஆ ஈ ஊ ஏ ஐ ஓ ஔ
ஐ and ஔ are diphthongs - made up of 2 vowel sounds.
Highlighted in yellow: International Phoenetic Chart
Highlighted in blue: Tamil Language Centre romanisation used in our posts
An important rule to remember is that vowels only appear at the beginning of a word. Vowels never appear in the middle or at the end of a word.
Watch our videos on YouTube to learn the Tamil Vowels!
Learning that vowels are always at the beginning is something I never have heard before. Love the extra info