ண — hard na
«hard na» is a consonant of Tamil, the “Tamil script” script, read as “nna”. Hard 'n' with the tongue curled back. For example, in the word “தண்ணி” — water. The Tamil alphabet has 49 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. It appears, for example, in the word “வணக்கம்” — hello.
In short
| Character | ண |
| Name | hard na |
| Sound | nna |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 21st of 49: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ஞ and ந, appears in 451 words of this site.
How it sounds
Hard 'n' with the tongue curled back
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.
- தண்ணிtaṇṇiwater
The character in the “mellinam — the six nasals” group
One nasal for each hard one: ங with க, ஞ with ச, ண with ட, ந with த, ம with ப, ன with ற. The pair always goes together, and the nasal lets one guess which consonant will come next.
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 «hard na» it is “nna”, as in the word “தண்ணி”), 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 ண read?
As “nna” — it is a consonant of the “Tamil script” script. Hard 'n' with the tongue curled back. For example, in the word “தண்ணி” — water.
What is the letter ண called?
Hard na. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Tamil script: it is called “hard na” and reads as “nna”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.