Lingoflyஃ — aytham
«aytham» is a sign of the Tamil script. A breath after a vowel; in modern words it serves the sound 'f' in the combination ஃப. The Tamil alphabet has 31 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. The only letter of the Tamil alphabet that is neither a vowel nor a consonant. It counts as the third class — ஆய்த எழுத்து (eḻuttu). It appears, for example, in the word “வை-ஃபை” (vai-fai) — wi-fi.
In short
| Character | ஃ |
| Name | aytham |
| Sound | h |
| What it is | a sign |
In our course the character comes 31st of 49: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ள and ஜ, appears in 7 words of this site.
How to type ஃ
- On a phone: add the Tamil keyboard in the keyboard settings (Gboard on Android; Keyboards in the iPhone settings).
- In Word on Windows: type U+0B83 and press Alt+X right after it — the code turns into the character.
- On a Mac: switch to the Unicode Hex Input source, hold Option and type 0B83.
- Unicode code point: U+0B83. With it, the character can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
A breath after a vowel; in modern words it serves the sound 'f' in the combination ஃப
The character in the “aytham — the third class” group
One letter, neither a vowel nor a consonant. In old texts a breathing; in modern ones the combination ஃப renders 'f' in borrowings.
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, 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 — 31 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 ஃ read?
H. It is a sign of the Tamil script. A breath after a vowel; in modern words it serves the sound 'f' in the combination ஃப.
What is the letter ஃ called?
Aytham is what this character is called when the alphabet is recited aloud.