ப — pa
«pa» is a consonant of Tamil, the “Tamil script” script, read as “pa”. 'P' at the start, 'b' between vowels. For example, in the word “பால்” — milk. The Tamil alphabet has 49 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. It appears, for example, in the word “எப்படி இருக்க?” — how are you (informal)?
In short
| Character | ப |
| Name | pa |
| Sound | pa |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 17th of 49: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are த and ற, appears in roughly every fifth word on this site.
How it sounds
'P' at the start, 'b' between vowels
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.
- பால்pālmilk
The character in the “vallinam — the six hard ones” group
The row for the sake of which the Tamil classification is worth memorizing: exactly these six letters change their sound by position in the word. At the start they are voiceless ('ka', 'pa'), between vowels voiced ('ga', 'ba'). There are no separate letters for the voiced ones in Tamil at all.
Words with this character
- எப்படி இருக்க?eppaḍi irukka?how are you (informal)?
- எப்படி இருக்கீங்க?eppaḍi irukkīṅga?how are you?
- பெயர்peyarname
- என் பெயர்eṉ peyarmy name is
- உங்க பெயர் என்ன?uṅga peyar eṉṉa?what is your name?
- யாழ்ப்பாணம்yāḻppāṇamJaffna
- புரியலைpuriyalaiI don't understand
- திரும்பச் சொல்லுங்கtirumbac solluṅgaplease say that again
- போயிட்டு வாறேன்pōyiṭṭu vāṟēṉgoodbye
- காபிkāpicoffee
- பால்pālmilk
- வாழைப்பழம்vāḻaippaḻambanana
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 «pa» it is “pa”, as in the word “பால்”), 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 ப read?
As “pa” — it is a consonant of the “Tamil script” script. 'P' at the start, 'b' between vowels. For example, in the word “பால்” — milk.
What is the letter ப called?
Pa. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Tamil script: it is called “pa” and reads as “pa”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.