ு
«ு» is diacritic of Tamil, the “Tamil script” script, read as “-u”. Short 'u': கு — 'ku'. The Tamil alphabet has 49 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. The only vowel sign that fuses with the letter and changes its look: க + ு = கு, ம + ு = மு, ர + ு = ரு. One has to recognize the whole sign. On a carrier the character looks like this: கு. It appears, for example, in the word “எப்படி இருக்க?” — how are you (informal)?
In short
| Character | ு |
| Sound | -u |
| What it is | diacritic |
| On the carrier | கு |
In our course the character comes 41st of 49: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ீ and ூ, appears in roughly every other word on this site.
How it sounds
Short 'u': கு — 'ku'
The character in the “the vowel signs and the pulli” group
Shown on க (ka): a vowel sign is not written on its own. From கா the 'k' must be subtracted in one's head — and the very vowel the sign means remains. The signs 'e', 'ee' and 'ai' are written to the left of the letter although they sound after it, and 'u' and 'uu' fuse with it into a new sign.
Words with this character
- எப்படி இருக்க?eppaḍi irukka?how are you (informal)?
- எப்படி இருக்கீங்க?eppaḍi irukkīṅga?how are you?
- நல்லா இருக்கேன்nallā irukkēṉI am doing well
- மன்னிக்கவும்maṉṉikkavumexcuse me
- தயவுசெய்துtayavuseyduplease (when asking)
- புரியலைpuriyalaiI don't understand
- மெதுவாmeduvāslowly
- திரும்பச் சொல்லுங்கtirumbac solluṅgaplease say that again
- போயிட்டு வாறேன்pōyiṭṭu vāṟēṉgoodbye
- முட்டைmuṭṭaiegg
- உப்புuppusalt
- ருசியா இருக்குrusiyā irukkutasty
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, 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 ு read?
As “-u” — it is diacritic of the “Tamil script” script. Short 'u': கு — 'ku'.
What can ு be confused with?
The only vowel sign that fuses with the letter and changes its look: க + ு = கு, ம + ு = மு, ர + ு = ரு. One has to recognize the whole sign. 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.