Tamil numerals

Tamil is written in a non-Latin script. Tamil text used in this article is transliterated into the Latin script according to the ISO 15919 standard.

This article is about the number words of the Tamil language, as well as the dedicated symbols for them used in the Tamil script.

Basic numbering

Zero

Old Tamil possesses a special numerical character for zero (see Old Tamil numerals below) 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 பூஜ்ஜியம் (poojjiyam).

Cardinal numbers (முதல் எண்கள்)

Modern Tamil script	Tamil numeral	Tamil word and pronunciation
௦	0	சுழியம் (sūḻiyam); Old Tamil பாழ் (pāḻ)^[1]
௧	1	ஒன்று (oṉṟu)
௨	2	இரண்டு (iraṇdu)
௩	3	மூன்று (mūṉṟu)
௪	4	நான்கு (nāṉku)
௫	5	ஐந்து (ainthu)
௬	6	ஆறு (āru)
௭	7	ஏழு (ēzhu)
௮	8	எட்டு (eṭṭu)
௯	9	ஒன்பது (oṉpathu)
௰	10	பத்து (patthu)

Transcribing other numbers

Reproductive and attributive prefixes

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+ண் ('ண்' being the unvoiced version of 'ணூ'), hence, தொண்ணூறு).

Tamil script	Tamil prefix	Transliteration
௧	ஓர்	ōr
௨	ஈர்	īr
௩	மூ	mū
௪	நான்	nāṉ
௫	ஐ	ai
௬	ஆறு	āṟ(u)
௭	ஏழ்	ēḻ(u)
௮	எண்	eņ
௯	தொன்	ton

These are typically void in the Tamil language except for some Hindu and Christian religious references, example 'அட்ட இலட்சுமிகள்' (the eight Lakshmis) in a Hindu context, or 'ஏக பாலன்' (One son) in a Christian context. Even in religious contexts Tamil language is usually more preferred for its more poetic nature and relatively low incidence of consonant clusters.

Specific characters

Unlike other Indian writing systems, Tamil has distinct digits for 10, 100, and 1000. It also has distinct characters for other number-based aspects of day-to-day life.

ten	hundred	thousand
௰	௱	௲

day	month	year	debit	credit	as above	rupee	numeral
௳	௴	௵	௶	௷	௸	௹	௺

Powers of ten (பதின்பெருக்கம்)

There are two numeral systems that can be used in the Tamil language: the Tamil system which is as follows^[2] ^{[clarification needed]}

The following are the traditional numbers of the Ancient Tamil Country, Tamizhakam.^{[clarification needed]}

Original-Tamil-System

Rank	10¹	10²	10³	10⁴	10⁵	10⁶	10⁹	10¹²	10¹⁵	10¹⁸	10²⁰	10²¹
Words	பத்து	நூறு	ஆயிரம்	பத்தாயிரம்	நூறாயிரம்	மெய்யிரம்	தொள்ளுண்	ஈகியம்	நெளை	இளஞ்சி	வெள்ளம்	ஆம்பல்
Character	௰	௱	௲	௰௲	௱௲	௲௲	௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲௲௲	௱௲௲௲௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲௲௲௲
Reading	pathu	nūru	āyiram	pattāyiram	nūraiyiram	meiyyiram	tollun	īkiyam	neļai	iļañci	veļļam	āmpal

Current-Tamil-System

Rank	10⁵	10⁶	10⁷	10⁸	10⁹	10¹¹	10¹³	10¹⁵	10¹⁷	10¹⁹	10²¹	10²⁵
Words	இலட்சம்	பத்து இலட்சம்	கோடி	பத்து கோடி	அற்புதம்	நிகர்ப்புதம்	கர்வம்	சங்கம்	அர்த்தம்	பூரியம்	முக்கொடி	மாயுகம்
Character	௱௲	௲௲	௰௲௲	௱௲௲	௱௲௲	௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲௲௲	௱௲௲௲௲௲௲	௲௲௲௲௲௲௲	௰௲௲௲௲௲௲௲
Reading	lațcham	pathu lațcham	kōdi	pathu kōdi	aṟputam	nikarputam	karvam	saṅkam	arttam	pūriyam	mukkoți	māyukam

Partitive numerals (பகுத்தல்)

Fractions (பின்னம்)

Proposals to encode Tamil fractions and symbols to Unicode were submitted.^[3]^[4] As of version 12.0, Tamil characters used for fractional values in traditional accounting practices were added to the Unicode Standard.

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 (naatpaththu 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) have names already allocated to them, hence, these names are often used rather than the above method.

Value	1⁄4	1⁄2	3⁄4	1⁄5	1⁄8	1⁄10	1⁄16	1⁄20	1⁄40	1⁄80	1⁄160
Symbol
Name	கால்	அரை	முக்கால்	நாலுமா	அரைக்கால்	இருமா	மாகாணி, வீசம்	ஒருமா	அரைமா	காணி	அரைக்காணி
Transliteration	kāl	arai	mukkāl	nālumā	araikkāl	irumā	mākāni, vīsam	orumā	araimā	kāni	araikkāni

Other fractions include:

Value	Name	Transliteration
1	ஒன்று	onṛu
3⁄4 = 0.75	முக்கால்	mukkāl
1⁄2 = 0.5	அரை	arai
1⁄4 = 0.25	கால்	kāl
1⁄5 = 0.2	நாலுமா	nālumā
3⁄16 = 0.1875	மும்மாகாணி	mummākāni
3⁄20 = 0.15	மும்மா	mummā
1⁄8 = 0.125	அரைக்கால்	araikkāl
1⁄10 = 0.1	இருமா	irumā
1⁄16 = 0.0625	மாகாணி (வீசம்)	mākāṇi (vīsam)
1⁄20 = 0.05	ஒருமா	orumā
3⁄64 = 0.046875	முக்கால்வீசம்	mukkāl vīsam
3⁄80 = 0.0375	முக்காணி	mukkāṇi
1⁄32 = 0.03125	அரைவீசம்	araivīsam
1⁄40 = 0.025	அரைமா	araimā
1⁄64 = 0.015625	கால் வீசம்	kāl vīsam
1⁄80 = 0.0125	காணி	kāṇi
3⁄320 = 0.009375	அரைக்காணி முந்திரி	araikkāṇi munthiri
1⁄160 = 0.00625	அரைக்காணி	araikkāṇi
1⁄320 = 0.003125	முந்திரி	munthiri
3⁄1280 = 0.00234375	கீழ் முக்கால்	kīl mukkal
1⁄640 = 0.0015625	கீழரை	kīlarai
1⁄1280 = 7.8125×10⁻⁴	கீழ் கால்	kīl kāl
1⁄1600 = 0.000625	கீழ் நாலுமா	kīl nalumā
3⁄5120 ≈ 5.85938×10⁻⁴	கீழ் மூன்று வீசம்	kīl mūndru vīsam
3⁄6400 = 4.6875×10⁻⁴	கீழ் மும்மா	kīl mummā
1⁄2500 = 0.0004	கீழ் அரைக்கால்	kīl araikkāl
1⁄3200 = 3.12500×10⁻⁴	கீழ் இருமா	kīl irumā
1⁄5120 ≈ 1.95313×10⁻⁴	கீழ் வீசம்	kīl vīsam
1⁄6400 = 1.56250×10⁻⁴	கீழொருமா	kīlorumā
1⁄102400 ≈ 9.76563×10⁻⁶	கீழ்முந்திரி	kīl̠ munthiri
1⁄2150400 ≈ 4.65030×10⁻⁷	இம்மி	immi
1⁄23654400 ≈ 4.22754×10⁻⁸	மும்மி	mummi
1⁄165580800 ≈ 6.03935×10⁻⁹	அணு	aṇu^[1]
1⁄1490227200 ≈ 6.71039×10⁻¹⁰	குணம்	kuṇam
1⁄7451136000 ≈ 1.34208×10⁻¹⁰	பந்தம்	pantham
1⁄44706816000 ≈ 2.23680×10⁻¹¹	பாகம்	pāgam
1⁄312947712000 ≈ 3.19542×10⁻¹²	விந்தம்	vintham
1⁄5320111104000 ≈ 1.87966×10⁻¹³	நாகவிந்தம்	nāgavintham
1⁄74481555456000 ≈ 1.34261×10⁻¹⁴	சிந்தை	sinthai
1⁄1489631109120000 ≈ 6.71307×10⁻¹⁶	கதிர்முனை	kathirmunai
1⁄59585244364800000 ≈ 1.67827×10⁻¹⁷	குரல்வளைப்படி	kuralvaḷaippidi
1⁄3575114661888000000 ≈ 2.79711×10⁻¹⁹	வெள்ளம்	veḷḷam
1⁄357511466188800000000 ≈ 2.79711×10⁻²¹	நுண்மணல்	nuṇṇmaṇal
1⁄2323824530227200000000 ≈ 4.30325×10⁻²²	தேர்த்துகள்	thērtthugal

^ Aṇu was considered as the lowest fraction by ancient Tamils as size of smallest physical object (similar to an atom). Later, this term went to Sanskrit to refer directly to atoms.

Decimals (பதின்மம்)

Decimal point is called புள்ளி (pulli) in Tamil. For example, 1.1 would be read as ஒன்று புள்ளி ஒன்று (ondru pulli ondru).

Percentage (விழுக்காடு)

Percentage is known as விழுக்காடு (vil̠ukkādu) in Tamil or சதவீதம் (sathavītham). These words are simply added after a number to form percentages. For instance, four percent is நான்கு சதவீதம் (nāngu sathavītham) or நான்கு விழுக்காடு (nāngu vil̠ukkādu). Percentage symbol (%) is also recognised and used.

Ordinal numbers (வரிசை எண்கள்)

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

Ordinal	Tamil	Transliteration
First	முதல்	mudhal
Second	இரண்டாம்	irandām
Third	மூன்றாம்	mūnṟām
Fourth	நான்காம்	nānkām
101st	நூற்று ஒன்றாம்	nūṟṟu onṟām

Collective numerals (கூட்டெண்கள்)

English	Tamil	Transliteration
Single	ஒற்றை	oṟṟai
Pair	இரட்டை	iraṭṭai
Reproductives	௺+ வினைச்சொல்	Numeric prefix + noun*
Single (pillar), double (pillar)...	ஒருக்(கால்), இருக்(கால்)-	orukkāl, irukkāl*
Distributives	௺+ முறை	Numeric prefix + muṟai
Once, twice...	ஒருமுறை, இருமுறை	orumuṟai, irumuṟai

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
ஒரு குலம்	ōrkulam	One race
ஈரினம்	īrinam	Two sexes-ஆண் (aaN-Male), பெண்(peN-Female)
முத்தமிழ்	muttamizh	Three sections of Tamil-இயல் (iyal-Literature), இசை (isai-Music) and நாடகம் (Nātakam-Drama)
நான்மறை	Nānmarai	Four scriptures
ஐம்புலன்	aimbulan	Five senses
அறுசுவை	Arusuvai	Six tastes (inippu, kaarppu, kasappu, pulippu, uvarppu, thuvarppu)
ஏழிசை	ēzhicai	Seven musical notes (kural, thuththam, kaikkiLai, uzhai, iLi, viLari, thAram)
எண்பக்கம்	Eṇpakkam	Eight directions (kizhaku merku vadaku therku then-merku then-kizhaku vada-merku vada-kizhaku)
நவமணிகள்	NavamaṇigaL	Nine gems (வைரம் மரகதம் நீலம் கோமேதகம் பவளம் மாணிக்கம் முத்து புட்பராகம் வைடூரியம்)
தொன்மெய்ப்பாடு	Tonmeippāṭu	Also known as NAVARASAM as per the Dance expressions. Those are uvakai – Joyful, nakai – Humour, azhukai - Cries, vekuli – Innocent, perumitam – Proud, achcham – Fear, ilivaral – Disgust, marutkai – Wonder, amaiti - Tranquility^[5]

Influence

As the ancient classical language of the Dravidian languages, Tamil numerals influenced and shaped the numerals of the others in the family. The following table compares the main Dravidian languages.

Number	Tamil	Kannada	Malayalam	Tulu	Telugu	Kolami	Kurukh	Brahui	Proto-Dravidian
1	onru	ondu	onnu	onji	okaṭi	okkod	oṇṭa	asiṭ	*oru(1)
2	iraṇṭu	eraḍu	raṇṭu	raḍḍ	renḍu	irāṭ	indiŋ	irāṭ	*iru(2)
3	mūnru	mūru	mūnnu	mūji	mūḍu	mūndiŋ	mūnd	musiṭ	*muC
4	nālu, nānku	nālku	nālu	nāl	nālugu	nāliŋ	nākh	čār (II)	*nān
5	ainthu, añju	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	ēḍu	ēḍ ³	sattē (II)	haft (II)	*ēlu
8	yeṭṭu	eṇṭu	eṭṭu	enma	enimidi	enumadī ³	aṭṭhē (II)	hašt (II)	*eṭṭu
9	onpatthu	ombattu	onpatu	ormba	tommidi	tomdī ³	naiṃyē (II)	nōh (II)	*toḷ
10	paththu	hattu	pattu	patt	padi	padī ³	dassē (II)	dah (II)	*pat(tu)

Also, Tamil through the Pallava script which itself through the Kawi script, Khmer script and other South-east Asian scripts has shaped the numeral grapheme of most South-east Asian languages.

History

Before the Government of India unveiled ₹ as the new rupee symbol, people in Tamil Nadu used the Tamil letter ௹ as the symbol. This symbol continues to be used occasionally as rupee symbol by Indian Tamils. It is also used by Tamils in Sri Lanka

௳ is also known as the Pillaiyar Suzhi; lit. 'Curl of Pillaiyar' is a symbol that most Tamil Hindus will start off any auspicious document with; it is written to invoke the God Pillaiyar, known otherwise as Ganesha, who is the remover of obstacles.

Old Tamil numerals

The Tamil numbers used the following symbols.^{[citation needed]}

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

References

^ N. Subrahmanian (1996). Śaṅgam polity: the administration and social life of the Śaṅgam Tamils (3 ed.). Ennes Publications. pp. 235, 416. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
^ Selvakumar, V. (2016). History of Numbers and Fractions and Arithmetic Calculations in the Tamil Region: Some Observations. HuSS: International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(1), 27-35. https://doi.org/10.15613/HIJRH/2016/V3I1/111730
^ Sharma, Shriramana. (2012). Proposal to encode Tamil fractions and symbols. Retrieved 12 March 2019 from https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2012/12231-tamil-fractions-symbols-proposal.pdf
^ Government of Tamil Nadu. (2017). Finalized proposal to encode Tamil fractions and symbols. Retrieved 12 March 2019 from http://unicode.org/wg2/docs/n4822-tamil-frac.pdf
^ Literary theories in Tamil: with special reference to Tolka:ppiyam. Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture. 1997. p. 135.

[1] N. Subrahmanian (1996). Śaṅgam polity: the administration and social life of the Śaṅgam Tamils (3 ed.). Ennes Publications. pp. 235, 416. Retrieved 2 December 2015.

[2] Selvakumar, V. (2016). History of Numbers and Fractions and Arithmetic Calculations in the Tamil Region: Some Observations. HuSS: International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(1), 27-35. https://doi.org/10.15613/HIJRH/2016/V3I1/111730

[3] Sharma, Shriramana. (2012). Proposal to encode Tamil fractions and symbols. Retrieved 12 March 2019 from https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2012/12231-tamil-fractions-symbols-proposal.pdf

[4] Government of Tamil Nadu. (2017). Finalized proposal to encode Tamil fractions and symbols. Retrieved 12 March 2019 from http://unicode.org/wg2/docs/n4822-tamil-frac.pdf

[5] Literary theories in Tamil: with special reference to Tolka:ppiyam. Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture. 1997. p. 135.

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