Alphabet & Pronunciation
எழுத்துகள் மற்றும் உச்சரிப்பு
German is written with the Latin alphabet plus four extra letters (ä, ö, ü, ß) that Tamil script doesn't have — but German spelling is far more consistent than English's, so once you learn the rules, reading aloud becomes predictable, much closer to how Tamil's phonetic script behaves.
Grammar Comparison
இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு
German is phonetic, close to Tamil
Wie es geschrieben wird, so wird es (meistens) gesprochen.
தமிழ் எழுத்துக்கள் எழுதியபடியே உச்சரிக்கப்படும்.
Tamil script is close to fully phonetic — what's written is what's said, every time. German is far more consistent than English for the same underlying reason: 'ei' is always pronounced like Tamil's ஐ, 'ie' is always a long ஈ. Unlike English, you rarely have to guess a German word's pronunciation from its spelling once you've learned a handful of rules.
Sounds neither language has
ü (as in müde), ch (as in ich) — no Tamil equivalent
ட, ண, ள (retroflex consonants) — no German equivalent
German's umlaut vowels (ä/ö/ü) and its soft 'ch' sound (as in ich, a breathy hiss made behind the tongue) don't exist in Tamil. Going the other direction, Tamil's retroflex consonants — ட, ண, ள, formed by curling the tongue back — don't exist in German either. Both directions require training your mouth into genuinely new positions, not approximating with the closest sound you already know.
Vocabulary
சொற்கள்
| German | Pronunciation | Tamil | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| ei | like English 'eye' | ஐai | as in nein ('no') |
| ie | long 'ee' | ஈī | as in sie ('she/they') |
| ä | like 'e' in 'bed' | எe | as in Mädchen ('girl') |
| ö | rounded 'e', no Tamil match | —— | as in schön ('beautiful') |
| ü | rounded 'i', no Tamil match | —— | as in müde ('tired') |
| ch (after a, o, u) | back-of-throat rasp | க (softened)kh | as in Bach |
| ch (after e, i) | soft breathy hiss | —— | as in ich ('I') |
| sch | 'sh' sound | ஷsh | as in schön |
| z | 'ts' sound | ட்ஸ்ts | as in Zeit ('time') |
| w | like English 'v' | வva | as in wir ('we') |
| v | like English 'f' | ஃப்f | as in Vater ('father') |
| ß | sharp 's' | ஸ்s | as in Straße ('street') |