The Tamil script evolved from an ancient southern form of the Brahmi script, but was also influenced by the Grantha script. It is currently used to write the Tamil language in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu as well as in Sri Lanka. Interestingly, the Tamil language is one of the oldest recorded languages in southern India. The earliest texts, written in the southern variant of Brahmi, date from just before the 1st century CE. Overtime the script changed, and by the 8th century CE the Tamil script has evolved into more or less its modern form.
The following is the basic Tamil script.
Unlike other South Asian scripts, Tamil does not have signs for voiceless aspirated (such as /kh/), voiced (/g/), and voiced aspirated stops (/gh/), which explains the relatively small number of signs in the Tamil script compared to other South Asian scripts. To write some of these sounds, some signs have multiple sound values: stands for both /ka/ and /ga/, for both /ca/ and /sa/, for /ta/,", "image" : "images/rp_tamil.png", "link" : "tamil.html" });