Phonology

Main article: Tamil phonology

Tamil phonology is characterised by the presence of retroflex consonants and mul
tiple rhotics. Tamil does not distinguish phonologically between voiced and unvo
iced consonants; phonetically, voice is assigned depending on a consonant's posi
tion in a word.[101] Tamil phonology permits few consonant clusters, which can n
ever be word initial. Native grammarians classify Tamil phonemes into vowels, co
nsonants, and a "secondary character", the aytam.
Vowels
Tamil has five vowel qualities, namely /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/ and /u/. Each may be l
ong or short. There are two diphthongs, /a?/ and /a?/. Long vowels are about twi
ce as long as short vowels. The diphthongs are usually pronounced about 1.5 time
s as long as short vowels. Most grammatical texts place them with the long vowel
s.
Short Long
Front Central
Back
Front Central
Back
Close i
u
i?
u?
?
?
?
?
Mid
e
o
e?
o?
?
?
?
?
Open
a
(a??) a?
(a??)
?
?
?
??