Tamil Transliteration

Vowel signs

Although normally, vowel signs are attached to a consonant, there are cases where you may want to input a vowel sign independent of a consonant. If you are transcribing in Tamil script, this can be achieved by typing அ + zero-width joiner (U+200D) + the vowel sign.

Alternatively, there are two named glyphs, for kāl and kompu, which can be entered as XML tags.

`<g ref="#ra_r_kal"/>`	→	ஆ
`<g ref="#kompu"/>`	→	எ
`<g rend="vowel-sign">ā</g>`	→	ஆ
`<g rend="vowel-sign">e</g>`	→	எ
`<g rend="vowel-sign">ē</g>`	→	ஏ
`<g rend="vowel-sign">ai</g>`	→	ஐ

When you are transcribing in Roman transliteration, and wish to indicate that a vowel sign has been added or deleted, you can use the following pattern:

		Roman	Tamil
`<subst>k<del>e</del><add>ā</add></subst>`	→	keā	எகஆ
`<subst>k<del>e</del><add>a</add></subst>`	→	kea	எக

You can further specify the place of addition with the @place. For example:

<subst>k<del>e</del><add place="above">ā</add></subst>

geminated consonants

		Roman	Tamil
`<g rend="post-base">kka</g>`	→	kka	க்க

fused vowels or fused kāls

In the case of a glyph which can be read in two different ways, wrap your reading of the ambiguous character as follows:

		Roman	Tamil
`<g ref="#double_kal">rā</g>`	→	rā	ரா
`<g ref="#double_kal">ār</g>`	→	ār	ரா

below-base -ma ligature

In manuscripts, a final -m, from Grantha script, it seems, may be combined with the previous consonant as a conjunct character. See https://tst.hypotheses.org/final-m for examples.

When transcribing in Tamil script, this ligature can be produced by inserting a zero-width joiner (U+200D) between the consonant and the final -m. Alternatively, this can be transcribed using an XML tag.

		Roman	Tamil
`<g rend="below-base">ṇaM</g>`	→	ṇaM	ணம்
BnF Indien 89	→	caṟaṇaM	சறணம்
`<g rend="below-base">ṉaM</g>`	→	ṉaM	னம்
`<g rend="below-base">yuM</g>`	→	yuM	யம்
`<g rend="below-base">yaM</g>`	→	yaM	யம்
`<g rend="below-base">raM</g>`	→	raM	ரம்
BnF Indien 466	→	mantiraM	மந்திரம்
`<g rend="below-base">rāM</g>`	→	rāM	ராம்
`<g rend="below-base">rāMa</g>`	→	rāMa	ராம
BnF Indien 515	→	rāMānujāya	ராமாநுஜாய
`<g rend="below-base">laM</g>`	→	laM	லம்

pre-reform ligatures

		Roman	Tamil
`<g rend="prereform">ṇā</g>`	→	ṇā	ணா
`<g rend="prereform">ṟā</g>`	→	ṟā	றா
`<g rend="prereform">ṉā</g>`	→	ṉā	னா
`<g rend="prereform">ṇai</g>`	→	ṇai	ணை
`<g rend="prereform">lai</g>`	→	lai	லை
`<g rend="prereform">ḷai</g>`	→	ḷai	ளை
`<g rend="prereform">ṉai</g>`	→	ṉai	னை

Tamil oṃkāra

To differentiate the oṃkāra symbol from the o vowel with an anusvāra, you can transliterate it as oṁ.

oṁ	→	ௐ
oṁ (in Grantha mode)	→	𑍐
oṃ	→	ஒஂ
om	→	ஒம்
om (in Grantha mode)	→	𑌓𑌮𑍍

Named symbols

The Tamil and Tamil Supplement Unicode blocks offer a number of symbols that are difficult to type without resorting to Unicode code points. For convenience, they can be input as XML tags.

		Roman	Tamil
`<g ref="#pcs"/>`	→	௳	௳
`<g ref="#pcl"/>`	→	௳	௳
`<g ref="#tēti">tēti</g>`	→	{tēti}	௳
`<g ref="#mācam">mācam</g>`	→	{mācam}	௴
`<g ref="#varuṣam">varuṣam</g>`	→	{varuṣam}	௵
`<g ref="#patru">paṟṟu</g>`	→	{paṟṟu}	௶
`<g ref="#eduppu">TBC</g>`	→	{TBC}	௷
`<g ref="#mēṟpaṭi">mēṟpaṭi</g>`	→	{mēṟpaṭi}	௸
`<g ref="#rupai">rūpāy</g>`	→	{rūpāy}	௹
`<g ref="#niluvai">niluvai</g>`	→	{niluvai}	௺

Fractions

`<g ref="#munthiri"/>`	→	𑿀
`<g ref="#araikkaani"/>`	→	𑿁
`<g ref="#kaani"/>`	→	𑿂
`<g ref="#kaal_viisam"/>`	→	𑿃
`<g ref="#arai_maa"/>`	→	𑿄
`<g ref="#arai_viisam"/>`	→	𑿅
`<g ref="#mukkaani"/>`	→	𑿆
`<g ref="#mukkaal_viisam"/>`	→	𑿇
`<g ref="#maa"/>`	→	𑿈
`<g ref="#viisam"/>`	→	𑿉
`<g ref="#viisam_alt"/>`	→	𑿊
`<g ref="#irumaa"/>`	→	𑿋
`<g ref="#araikkaal"/>`	→	𑿌
`<g ref="#mummaa"/>`	→	𑿍
`<g ref="#muuviisam"/>`	→	𑿎
`<g ref="#naangu_maa"/>`	→	𑿏
`<g ref="#kaal"/>`	→	𑿐
`<g ref="#arai"/>`	→	𑿑
`<g ref="#arai_alt"/>`	→	𑿒
`<g ref="#mukkaal"/>`	→	𑿓
`<g ref="#kiizh"/>`	→	𑿔

Measures of grain

`<g ref="#nel"/>`	→	𑿕
`<g ref="#cevitu"/>`	→	𑿖
`<g ref="#aazhaakku"/>`	→	𑿗
`<g ref="#uzhakku"/>`	→	𑿘
`<g ref="#muuvuzhakku"/>`	→	𑿙
`<g ref="#kuruni"/>`	→	𑿚
`<g ref="#pathakku"/>`	→	𑿛
`<g ref="#mukkuruni"/>`	→	𑿜

Old currency symbols

`<g ref="#kaacu"/>`	→	𑿝
`<g ref="#panam"/>`	→	𑿞
`<g ref="#pon"/>`	→	𑿟
`<g ref="#varaakan"/>`	→	𑿠

Symbols of weight, length, and area

`<g ref="#paaram"/>`	→	𑿡
`<g ref="#kuzhi"/>`	→	𑿢
`<g ref="#veli"/>`	→	𑿣

Agricultural symbols

`<g ref="#nansey"/>`	→	𑿤
`<g ref="#punsey"/>`	→	𑿥
`<g ref="#nilam"/>`	→	𑿦
`<g ref="#uppalam"/>`	→	𑿧

Clerical symbols

`<g ref="#varavu"/>`	→	𑿨
`<g ref="#enn"/>`	→	𑿩
`<g ref="#naalathu"/>`	→	𑿪
`<g ref="#silvaanam"/>`	→	𑿫
`<g ref="#poga"/>`	→	𑿬
`<g ref="#āka"/>`	→	𑿭

Other symbols & abbreviations

		Roman	Tamil
`<g ref="#vasam"/>`	→	{TBC}	𑿮
`<g ref="#muthal">mutal</g>`	→	{mutal}	𑿯
`<g ref="#muthaliya"/>`	→	{TBC}	𑿰
`<g ref="#vakaiyaraa"/>`	→	{TBC}	𑿱

Punctuation

<g ref="#end_of_text"/> → 𑿿