14
b and k, as be, ka. In pronouncing the consonants in the Tamil alphabet, the sound of the vowel is uniformly introduced. It is not written, but understood: hence the vowel அ is considered as inherent in each of the eighteen Tamil consonant forms. Thus, for instance, the six Tamil consonants க, ப, ம, ர, ல, ன, are pronounced kă, pă, mă, ră, lă, nă. (Para. 10.) These six consonants must be thoroughly learnt, before proceeding farther.
13. When it is required to denote the entire absence of any vowel sound, or, in other words, to denote that the consonant is mute, a dot is placed over the consonant. Thus the English word up would be written in Tamil letters அப், and the English words pun, rum, run, would be written um, பன்,ரம்,ரன். When it is necessary to name a mute consonant, the vowel இ is sounded before it. Thus when speaking of the mute consonants க், ப், ம், ர், ல், ன், they are called இக், இப், இம், இர், இல், இன். Learn the following Tamil words, மரம் a tree, பக்கம் a side, அப்பம் bread, என் my, உன் thy.
14. The following is a most important rule to remember. When Tamil consonants are doubled, they are pronounced much more strongly and distinctly than in English. Com¬ pare the pronunciation of the English word upper with that of the Tamil word அப்பம் bread.
15. When a word begins with எ or ஏ, these vowels usually take a sound of y. Thus என்ன What ? and ஏன் Why? are usually pronounced yenna and yen. Initial இ and ஈ also sometimes take the y sound. Thus இரக்கம் mercy, is often pronounoed yirakkam instead of irakkam.
16. In Tamil there are no capital letters. The vowels given in para. 9 are called the initial forms of the vowels, because they can only be used to begin a word. In all other positions the vowel takes a different form called the secondary
