Alphabet & Pronunciation
எழுத்துகள் மற்றும் உச்சரிப்பு
French uses the same Latin letters as English, but dresses them up with accents that change sound, not just spelling. Tamil script is almost perfectly phonetic — French isn't quite that consistent, but once you learn the accent and nasal-vowel rules, most words become predictable to read aloud.
Grammar Comparison
இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு
Accents change the sound, not just decoration
café (é), père (è), forêt (ê), français (ç)
café (é), père (è), forêt (ê), français (ç) — இவை உச்சரிப்பை மாற்றும் குறியீடுகள்
é (accent aigu) is a closed 'ay' sound; è and ê (accent grave, accent circonflexe) are both an open 'eh' sound, roughly like எ. The cédille under ç softens a 'c' before a/o/u into an 's' sound. Tamil has no diacritics that change a base letter's sound this way — the closest comparison is simply that these are separate, memorizable sound-symbols, not decoration.
Nasal vowels: a genuinely new mouth position
an/en (enfant), on (bon), in/ain (vin, pain), un (un)
இவை மூக்கொலி உயிரெழுத்துக்கள் — தமிழில் இணையான ஒலி இல்லை
French pushes air through the nose while saying certain vowel + n/m combinations, without actually pronouncing the n/m as a consonant. Tamil has nothing like this — there's no Tamil sound that's 'a vowel said through the nose.' Expect to spend real practice time on an/en (ahn), on (ohn), in/ain (an, more nasal and forward), and un (uhn, slightly rounder) — these are new mouth positions, not approximations of sounds you already make.
Silent letters and liaison
petit (t silent), les amis (s linked as 'z')
பேசும்போது எழுத்துக்கள் சிலசமயம் ஒலிக்கப்படாமல் விடப்படும் — தமிழில் இது நடக்காது
Tamil script is read exactly as written — every letter is voiced. French final consonants are very often silent (petit is 'puh-TEE', not 'puh-TEET'), and h is always silent. But a silent final consonant can reappear as a linking sound when the next word starts with a vowel — this is called liaison: les amis is said 'lay-zah-MEE', not 'lay ah-MEE'. Liaison is easy to miss at first because it looks like nothing is there in the spelling.
Vocabulary
சொற்கள்
| French | Pronunciation | Tamil | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| é (accent aigu) | ay | closed 'e' குறியீடுclosed 'e' | as in café |
| è (accent grave) | eh (open) | open 'e' குறியீடுopen 'e' | as in père ('father') |
| ê (accent circonflexe) | eh (open, long) | நீண்ட திறந்த 'e'long open 'e' | as in forêt ('forest') |
| ç (cédille) | soft 's' | மென்மையான 's'soft s | as in français |
| an / en | ahn (nasal) | மூக்கொலி 'அன்'nasal 'an' | as in enfant ('child') |
| on | ohn (nasal) | மூக்கொலி 'ஓன்'nasal 'on' | as in bon ('good') |
| in / ain | an (nasal, forward) | மூக்கொலி 'அன்' (முன்பக்கம்)nasal 'an' (front) | as in vin ('wine'), pain ('bread') |
| un | uhn (nasal, rounder) | மூக்கொலி 'உன்'nasal 'un' | as in un ('a/one') |
| ill / ille | y sound | 'ய' ஒலிy sound | as in fille ('girl/daughter') |
| final consonant (usually) | silent | ஒலிக்கப்படாதுsilent | as in petit ('small') — 't' not heard |
| h | always silent | எப்போதும் மௌனம்always silent | as in hôtel |
| liaison (les amis) | lay-zah-MEE | இணைப்பு ஒலிlinking sound | silent consonant 'reappears' before a vowel |