Sinhala Alphabet With Tamil May 2026

அ ஆ இ ஈ உ ஊ எ ஏ ஐ ஒ ஓ ஔ

Tamil speakers often pronounce ‘ka,’ ‘ga,’ and ‘kha’ using the same single letter , relying on context. Sinhala uses four distinct letters. The Sweet Spot: Grantha Letters Here’s the most interesting overlap for learners. Both scripts use a special set of letters called Grantha (borrowed from the ancient Grantha script of South India) to write Sanskrit loanwords or foreign sounds. sinhala alphabet with tamil

However, dig a little deeper, and you’ll find a fascinating linguistic story. As two official languages of Sri Lanka, Sinhala and Tamil have influenced each other for over two millennia. While they belong to different language families (Sinhala is Indo-European; Tamil is Dravidian), their alphabets share a common ancestor and several interesting parallels. அ ஆ இ ஈ உ ஊ எ ஏ

These are nearly identical in purpose and shape in both alphabets: Both scripts use a special set of letters

| Sound | Sinhala | Tamil | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Ja | ජ | ஜ | | Sha | ශ | ஷ | | Sa (palatal) | ෂ | (same as Sha in Tamil) | | Ha | හ | ஹ | | Ksha | ක්ෂ | க்ஷ |

Yet today, on Sri Lankan currency, road signs, and government documents, both scripts sit side by side—a beautiful, functional example of two alphabets that learned to live together.

Do you speak Sinhala or Tamil? Have you noticed any other alphabet similarities? Share in the comments below!