Tamil numerals - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Tamil numerals refers to the numeral system

Numeral system

A numeral system is a writing system for expressing numbers, that is a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using graphemes or symbols in a consistent manner....

of the Tamil language

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

used officially in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

, Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

and Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

, as well as by the other Tamil-speaking populations around the world including Malaysia, Réunion

Réunion

Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...

, and South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, and other emigrant communities

Tamil diaspora

The Tamil diaspora is a demographic group of Tamil people of Indian or Sri Lankan origin who have settled in other parts of the world. Significant Tamil diaspora populations can be found in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Middle East, Réunion, South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, Fiji, Guyana,...

around the world. Traditionally Vattezhuttu characters were used, but now Arabic numerals

Arabic numerals

Arabic numerals or Hindu numerals or Hindu-Arabic numerals or Indo-Arabic numerals are the ten digits . They are descended from the Hindu-Arabic numeral system developed by Indian mathematicians, in which a sequence of digits such as "975" is read as a numeral...

have become commonplace.

There are two systems which can be used which is the 'pure' Tamil

Tamil language

system used in ancient Tamilakam

Tamilakam

' refers to the classical era territory of old South Indian royalties covering modern Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Tamil Eelam and southern parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka.; In an academic context, Tamilakam is used to refer to these territories as a single cultural area, where Tamil was the natural...

and the Sanskrit based Hindu-Arabic numeral system

Hindu-Arabic numeral system

The Hindu–Arabic numeral system or Hindu numeral system is a positional decimal numeral system developed between the 1st and 5th centuries by Indian mathematicians, adopted by Persian and Arab mathematicians , and spread to the western world...

Zero

Old Tamil possesses a special numerical character for zero (refer image) and it is read as andru (literally, no/nothing). But yet Modern Tamil renounces the use of its native character and uses Arabic, 0. Modern Tamil words for zero include சுழியம் (suzhiyam) or பூஜியம் (poojiyam).

Cardinal numbers (மெய் எண்கள்)

Modern Tamil script Tamil script The Tamil script is a script that is used to write the Tamil language as well as other minority languages such as Badaga, Irulas, and Paniya...	Hindu-Arabic numeral	Sanskrit word for the ordinal numeral (wordstem)	Tamil word and pronunciation
0	0 0 (number) 0 is both a numberand the numerical digit used to represent that number in numerals.It fulfills a central role in mathematics as the additive identity of the integers, real numbers, and many other algebraic structures. As a digit, 0 is used as a placeholder in place value systems...	(शून्य)	(poojiyam)
௧	1	(एक)	ஒன்று (ondru)
௨	2	(द्वि)	இரண்டு (irendu)
௩	3	(त्रि)	மூன்று (moondru)
௪	4	(चतुर्)	நான்கு (nangu)
௫	5	(पञ्च)	ஐந்து (ainthu)
௬	6	(षष्)	ஆறு (aaru))
௭	7	(सप्त)	ஏழு (ézhu)
௮	8	(अष्ट)	எட்டு (ettu)
௯	9	(नव)	ஒன்பது (onepathu)

Specific characters

Unlike other Indian languages, Tamil

Tamil language

has specific characters for 10, 100, and 1000 which gives Tamil

Tamil language

and Dravidian languages

Dravidian languages

The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...

their own distinct identity. It also has its own standardised characters for other number-based aspects of day to day life.

10	100	1000
௰	௱	௲

day	month	year	debit	credit	as above	rupee	numeral
௳	௴	௵	௶	௷	௸	௹	௺
u	mee	wa	e	pu	shai	roo	wee

Sanskrit equivalent

The Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

culture developed the concept of 'zero', which eventually was inducted into the Tamil language

Tamil language

. Hence, nowadays Tamil numerals include '0' instead of the ௰, ௱ and ௲ glyphs, as it is more convenient in educational and financial contexts.

Reproductive prefixes (எண்ணின் முன்சேர்கள்)

Tamil has a numeric prefix for each number from 1 to 9, which can be added to the words for the powers of ten (ten, hundred, thousand, etc.) to form multiples of them. For instance, the word for fifty, ஐம்பது (aimpathu) is a combination of ஐ (ai, the prefix for five) and பத்து (paththu, which is ten). The prefix for nine changes with respect to the succeeding base 10. தொ+ the unvoiced consonant of the succeeding base 10 forms the prefix for nine. For instance, 90 is தொ+ன் ('ன்' being the unvoiced version of 'னூ'), hence, தொன்னூறு).

Modern Tamil script Tamil script The Tamil script is a script that is used to write the Tamil language as well as other minority languages such as Badaga, Irulas, and Paniya...	Tamil prefix	Transliteration
௧	ஒரு, ஓர்	oru, ōr
௨	இரு, ஈர்	iru, eer
௩	மு, மூ	mu, moo
௪	நான், நா	nan, na
௫	ஐ	ai
௬	அரு	aru
௭	எழு	ezhu
௮	எண்	en
௯	தொ + the unvoiced consonant of the following consonant	tho

Sanskrit equivalents

These are typically void in the Tamil language

Tamil language

except for some Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

and Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

religious references, example 'அஷ்ட லக்ஷ்மிகள்' (The eight Lakshmis) in a Hindu

Hindu

context, or 'ஏக பாலன்' (One son) in a Christian

Christian

context. However, it should be noted, that even in religious contexts Tamil language

Tamil language

is usually more preferred for its more poetic nature and relatively low incidence of consonant clusters, quite unlike Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Modern Tamil script Tamil script The Tamil script is a script that is used to write the Tamil language as well as other minority languages such as Badaga, Irulas, and Paniya...	Tamil prefix	Transliteration
௧	ஏக	aeka
௨	துவ	thuva
௩	த்ரீய	threeya
௪	சதுர்	chatura
௫	பாஞ்ச	paanja
௬	ஷாஷ	shasha
௭	சப்த	sapta
௮	அஷ்ட	ashta
௯	நவ	nava

Multiples of ten (பதபெருக்கம்)

There are two numeral systems that can be used in the Tamil language

Tamil language

: the Tamil system which is as follows, or the Sanskrit

Sanskrit

numeral system.

The following are the traditional numbers of the Ancient Tamil Country

Ancient Tamil country

The Sangam period is the classical period in the history of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other parts of South India, spanning about the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE...

, Tamizhakam. Sanskrit based multiples like lakhs are also followed just like other Indian languages.

Rank	10¹	10²	10³	10⁴	10⁵	10⁶	10⁹	10¹²	10¹⁵	10¹⁸	10²⁰	10²¹
Words	பத்து	நூறு	ஆயிரம்	பத்தாயிரம்	நூராயிரம்	மெய்யிரம்	தொள்ளுண்	ஈகியம்	நெளை	இளஞ்சி	வெள்ளம்	ஆம்பல்
Character	௰	௱	௲	௰௲	௱௲	௲௲	௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲௲௲	௱௲௲௲௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲௲௲௲
Reading	paththu	nooru	aayiram	paththaayiram	nooraiyiram	meiyiram	thollun	eegiyam	nelai	ilanjchi	vellam	aambal

Hindu-Arabic system

Rank	10⁵	10⁶	10⁷	10⁸	10⁹	10¹²	10¹⁵	10¹⁸	10²⁰	10²¹	10²²
Words	இலட்சம்	பத்து இலட்சம்	கோடி	அர்புதம்	நிகர்ப்புதம்	கர்வம்	சங்கம்	அர்த்தம்	பூரியம்	முக்கொடி	மாயுகம்
Character	௱௲	௲௲	௰௲௲	௱௲௲	௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲௲௲	௱௲௲௲௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲௲௲௲	௰௲௲௲௲௲௲௲
Reading	latcham	paththu latcham	kodi	arputham	nigarputham	karvam	sangam	artham	pooriyam	mu-kodi	maa-yugam

Transcribing Fractions (பின்னம் எழுத்தல்)

You can transcribe any fraction, by affixing -இல் (-il) after the denominator followed by the numerator. For instance, 1/41 can be said as நாற்பத்து ஒன்றில் ஒன்று (narpaththi ondr-il ondru).

The suffixing of the -இல் (-il) requires you to change the last consonant of the number to its இ (i) form. For example, மூன்று+இல் (moondru+il) becomes மூன்றில் (moondr-il); note the உ (u) has been omitted.

Common Fractions (பொது பின்னங்கள்)

Common fractions have names already have names allocated to them, hence, these names are often used rather than the above method.

Rank	1/4	1/2	3/4	1/5	1/8	1/10	1/16	1/20	1/40	1/80	1/160
Character	கால்	அரை	முக்கால்	நாலுமா	அரைக்கால்	இருமா	மாகாணி, வீசம்	ஒருமா	அரைமா	காணி	அரைக்காணி
Reading	kaal	arai	mukkaal	naalumaa	araikkaal	irumaa	maakaani, irukaal	orumaa	araimaa	kaani	araikkaani

Decimals (பதின்மம்)

Decimal point is called புள்ளி (pulli) in Tamil

Tamil language

. For example, 1.1 would be read as ஒன்று புள்ளி ஒன்று (ondru pulli ondru).

Percentage (சதவீதம்)

Percentage is known as சதவீதம் (sathaveetham) or விழுக்காடு (wizhukkaadu) in Tamil

Tamil language

. These words are simply added after a number to form percentages. For instance, four percent is நான்கு சதவீதம் (nangu sathaveetham) or நான்கு விழுக்காடு (nangu wizhukkaadu). Percentage symbol (%) is also recognised and used.

Ordinal numbers (வருக்கல்)

Ordinal numbers are formed by adding the suffix -ஆம் (aam) after the number, except for 'First'.

Ordinal	Tamil	Transliteration
First	முதல்	muthal
Second	இரண்டாம்	irandaam
Third	மூன்றாம்	muundraam
Fourth	நான்காம்	naankaam
101st	நூற்றி ஒன்றாம்	nootri ondraam

Collective numerals (கூட்டெண்கள்)

English	Tamil	Transliteration
Single	ஒத்தை	oththai
Pair	இரட்டை	irattai
Reproductives	௺+ வினைச்சொல்	Numeric prefix + noun*
Single (pillar), double (pillar)...	ஒருக்(கால்), இருக்(கால்)-	oruk-kaal, iruk-kaal*
Distrubutives	௺+ முறை	Numeric prefix + murai
Once, twice...	ஒருமுறை, இருமுறை	orumurai, irumurai

As always, when blending two words into one, an unvoiced form of the consonant as the one that the second starts with, is placed in between to blend.

Traditional Tamil counting song

This song is a list of each number with a concept its primarily associated with.

Tamil	Transliteration	English
ஒன்று குலம்	ondru kulam	one race
இரண்டு இனம்	irendu inam	two sexes(aan pen)
மூன்று தமிழ்	moondru thamizh	three Tamils
நான்கு மறை	nangu marai	four scriptures
ஐந்து புலன்	aindhu pulan	five senses
ஆறு சுவை	aru chuvai	six tastes(inippu, kaaram, kasappu, pulipu, uvarppu, thuvarppu)
ஏழு துட்டம்	aezhu thuttam	seven musical notes(sa ri ga ma pa da ni)
எட்டு பக்கம்	ettu pakkam	eight directions(kizhaku merku vadaku therku then-merku then-kizhaku vada-merku vada-kizhaku)
ஒன்பது ரஸம்	onpathu rasam	Also known as NAVARASAM as per the Dance expressions. Those are Sringaram – Love, hasyam – comic, Karunai - compassion, Roudiram – Anger, Veeram – Valour, Bhayanakam – Fear, BhiBhatsam – Disgust, Adbhutam – wonder, Shantam - Tranquility

Influence

As the antique classical language of the Dravidian languages

Dravidian languages

, Tamil

Tamil language

numerals influenced and shaped the numerals of the others in the family. The following table compares the main Dravidian

South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...

languages.

Number	Tamil Tamil language Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...	Kannada Kannada language Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...	Malayalam Malayalam language Malayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...	Tulu Tulu language The Tulu language \|?]]]) is a Dravidian language spoken by 1.95 million native speakers mainly in the southwest part of Indian state Karnataka known as Tulu Nadu. In India, 1.72 million people speak it as their mother tongue , increased by 10 percent over the 1991 census...	Telugu Telugu language Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...	Kolami Kolami language Kolami is a tribal Central Dravidian language used in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra states of India. It takes route from the central branch of Dravidian Language tree and falls under Kolami–Paraji group of languages....	Kurukh Kurukh language Kurukh , also called Kurux, Kuṛux or Kuruḵẖ, is a Dravidian language spoken by the Oraon and Kisan tribal peoples of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal, India, as well as in northern Bangladesh. It is most closely related to Brahui and Malto...	Brahui	Proto-Dravidian Proto-Dravidian Proto-Dravidian is the proto-language of the Dravidian languages. It is thought to have differentiated into Proto-North Dravidian, Proto-Central Dravidian and Proto-South Dravidian around 500 BC, although some linguists have argued that the degree of differentiation between the sub-families points...
1	onru	ondhu	onnu	onji		okkod			*oru(1)
2									*iru(2)
3	mūnru	mūru	mūnnu	mūji			mūnd		*muC
4	nālu, nānku	nālku	nālu	nāl	nālugu		nākh	čār (II)	*nān
5	aintu	aidu	añcu	ayN	ayidu	ayd ³	pancē (II)	panč (II)	*cayN
6	āru	āru	āru	āji	āru	ār ³	soyyē (II)	šaš (II)	*caru
7	ēlu	ēlu	ēlu	yēl		³	sattē (II)	haft (II)	*ēlu
8				edma	enimidi	enumadī ³	(II)	hašt (II)	}
9	onpatu	ombattu	onpatu	ormba	tommidi	tomdī ³	(II)	nōh (II)	}
10	pattu	hattu	pattu	patt	padi	padī ³	dassē (II)	dah (II)	*pat(tu)

Also, Tamil

Tamil language

through the Pallava script which itself through the Kawi script, Khmer script

Khmer script

The Khmer script is an alphasyllabary script used to write the Khmer language . It is also used to write Pali among the Buddhist liturgy of Cambodia and Thailand....

and other South-east Asian scripts has shaped the numeral grapheme of most South-east Asian languages.

History

Even before the Government of India

Government of India

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

unveiled the new rupee symbol

Indian rupee sign

The Indian rupee sign is the currency sign used for the Indian rupee, the official currency of India. It is relatively new, the design only having been presented to the public by the Government of India on 15 July 2010, following its selection through an open competition among Indian residents...

, ௹ was used, even today it continues to be used in favour of the new rupee symbol by Indian Tamils

Indian Tamils

Indian Tamils may refer to:* Tamil people from or living in India* Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka...

.

௳ is also known as the Pillaiyar Suzhi; lit. 'Curl of Pillaiyar' is a symbol that most Tamil

Tamil people

Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...

Hindus will start of any auspicious document with, it is written to invoke the God Pillaiyar, known otherwise as Ganesha

Ganesha

Ganesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...

, who is the remover of obstacles.

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