அ — a
«a» is a vowel of Tamil, the “Tamil script” script, read as “a”. Short 'a', as in 'cup'. For example, in the word “அம்மா” — mom. The Tamil alphabet has 49 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. The same sound already sits inside every consonant: க is 'ka'. A separate letter is needed only at the beginning of a word. It appears, for example, in the word “அவர்” — he.
In short
| Character | அ |
| Name | a |
| Sound | a |
| What it is | a vowel |
In our course the character comes 1st of 49: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, after it comes ஆ, appears in 325 words of this site.
How it sounds
Short 'a', as in 'cup'
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- அம்மாammāmom
The character in the “uyir — the twelve vowels” group
'Uyir' means 'soul': Tamil grammar counts the vowel the soul of the syllable and the consonant its body. A vowel is written as a separate letter only at the beginning of a word.
Words with this character
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «a» it is “a”, as in the word “அம்மா”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 49 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Tamil character அ read?
As “a” — it is a vowel of the “Tamil script” script. Short 'a', as in 'cup'. For example, in the word “அம்மா” — mom.
What is the letter அ called?
A. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Tamil script: it is called “a” and reads as “a”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can அ be confused with?
The same sound already sits inside every consonant: க is 'ka'. A separate letter is needed only at the beginning of a word. Similar characters are best studied side by side and deliberately compared: learned on different days, they stay separate and get mixed up at their first meeting inside a word.