Tamil Script

AbugidaSouth India/Sri Lanka300 BC

OriginSouth India/Sri Lanka

Earliest300 BC

TypeAbugida

About Tamil Script

One of the oldest surviving classical writing systems. Used for Tamil with 78 million speakers. Has 12 vowels and 18 consonants. Remarkably stable, modern readers can understand 2,000-year-old inscriptions. The rounded shapes evolved from writing on palm leaves. The grantha script was used for Sanskrit loanwords.

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