Extended Tamil script

Extended-Tamil script or Tamil-Grantha refers to a script used to write the <a href="/facts/Tamil_language/7I0lHL0d">Tamil language</a> before the 20th century <a href="/facts/Tanittamil_Iyakkam/bBDNFeRF">Tamil purist movement</a>. Tamil-Grantha is a mixed-script: a combination of the conservative-Tamil script that independently evolved from pre-Pallava script, combined with consonants imported from a later-stage evolved <a href="/facts/Grantha_script/V329dYoU">Grantha script</a> (from <a href="/facts/Pallava_script/Lvu7cmIX">Pallava-Grantha</a>) to write non-Tamil consonants. Some scholars posit that the origin of Tamil-Grantha is unclear: the script could also be a direct descendant of the Pallava-Grantha script which extensively developed during the <a href="/facts/Middle_Tamil/rVKGVg5h">Middle Tamil</a> period to write Middle-Tamil.
The <a href="/facts/Modern_Tamil_script/QAEV8dJ5">Modern Tamil script</a> is a subset of Tamil-Grantha alphabet, retaining only the 18 consonants taken from <a href="/facts/Tolk%25C4%2581ppiyam/RXe6FDEz">Tolkāppiyam</a>-based <a href="/facts/Old_Tamil/czC2Nb2x">Old Tamil</a> which generally was written using <a href="/facts/Vatteluttu/wXIUNUXL">Vatteluttu script</a>. Tamil-Grantha has 36 consonants, hence covering all <a href="/facts/Indic_script/mwHJWt6d">Indic consonants</a> like <a href="/facts/Malayalam_script/HDsBdkqw">Malayalam script</a>. However, the Modern-Tamil standard allowed <a href="/facts/Tamil_script/QAEV8dJ5">a few additional consonants</a> from Grantha into its alphabet: ஜ (ja), ஷ (ṣa), ஸ (sa), ஹ (ha). But their usage is discouraged by Tamil purists and recommend to <a href="/facts/Assimilation_(phonology)/YxIy0MBv">assimilate</a> the sounds to approximate pure-Tamil phonology, respectively: ச (ca), ச (ca), ச (ca), க (ka). Another letter ஶ was also allowed in 2005 exclusively to write ஶ்ரீ (<a href="/facts/%25C5%259Ar%25C4%25AB/ScRdLz5K">śrī</a>); however purists enforce the usage of திரு (<a href="/facts/Tamil_honorifics/uXR3wwhl">tiru</a>) over ஶ்ரீ.
In terms of utility, the major difference between Modern-Tamil and Tamil-Grantha is that the former is a <a href="/facts/Phonemic_orthography/wqndpTbB">phonemic script</a> (where <a href="/facts/Voiced_consonants/VdqrEGQ3">voiced consonants</a> are treated as <a href="/facts/Allophones/2gp1p5PN">allophones</a> of the <a href="/facts/Voiceless_consonants/575TtTUn">voiceless consonants</a>, and no <a href="/facts/Aspirated_consonants/Kat42tA6">aspirated consonants</a>), and the latter is a fully-<a href="/facts/Phonetic_script/bfbFHWur">phonetic script</a>. Hence, if one were to write only pure-Tamil-derived words in their text, it is enough (and minimally efficient) to use the Modern-Tamil script. However if one were to include non-South-Dravidian words in their text, using the pure-Tamil script can cause errors in pronunciations since the phonemic-transcription rules of Tamil Grammar does not apply to such vocabularies. So depending on the domain of text (and number of loan words), writers used either the minimal-Tamil script or extended-Tamil script. To write or transliterate <a href="/facts/Sanskrit/ychfjhlx">Sanskrit</a> texts, the full Grantha script was used instead of Tamil-Grantha.

Extended Tamil script open-in-new

Extended Tamil script