Tamil numerals (Tamil: ????? ??????, ??????????), refers to the numeral system of the Tamil language used officially in Tamil Nadu and Singapore, as well as by the other Tamil-speaking populations around the world including Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Réunion, and South Africa, and other emigrant communities around the world. Traditionally Vattezhuttu characters were used, but now Arabic numerals have become commonplace.
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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 ??????? (suzhiyam) or ????????? (poocciyam).
Cardinal numbers (????? ??????)
How To Learn Tamil Through English Video
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, ?????? (aimpathu) is a combination of ? (ai, the prefix for five) and ????? (paththu, which is ten). The prefix for nine changes with respect to the succeeding base 10. ??+ the unvoiced consonant of the succeeding base 10 forms the prefix for nine. For instance, 90 is ??+?? ('??' being the unvoiced version of '??'), hence, ????????).
These are typically void in the Tamil language except for some Hindu and Christian religious references, example '???? ???????????' (the eight Lakshmis) in a Hindu context, or '?? ?????' (One son) in a Christian context. However, it should be noted, that 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 languages, Tamil has distinct digits for 10, 100, and 1000. It also has distinct characters for other number-based aspects of day-to-day life.
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Multiples of ten (??????????????)
There are two numeral systems that can be used in the Tamil language: the Tamil system which is as follows
The following are the traditional numbers of the Ancient Tamil Country, Tamizhakam.
Tamil-System
Partitive numerals (????????)
Fractions (???????)
Transcribing fractions (??????? ????????)
You can transcribe any fraction, by affixing -??? (-il) after the denominator followed by the numerator. For instance, 1/41 can be said as ????????? ??????? ????? (naatpaththu ondr-il ondru).
The suffixing of the -??? (-il) requires you to change the last consonant of the number to its ? (i) form. For example, ??????+??? (moondru+il) becomes ???????? (moondr-il); note the ? (u) has been omitted.
Common fractions (???? ??????????)
Common fractions have names already allocated to them, hence, these names are often used rather than the above method.
Other fractions are:
Anu was considered as lowest fraction by ancient Tamils as size of smallest physical object (similar to atom). Later, this term went to Sanskrit to refer directly atom.
Decimals (????????)
Decimal point is called ?????? (pulli) in Tamil. For example, 1.1 would be read as ????? ?????? ????? (ondru pulli ondru).
Percentage (??????????)
Percentage is known as ?????????? (vizhukkaadu) in Tamil or ??????? (sathaveetham). These words are simply added after a number to form percentages. For instance, four percent is ?????? ??????? (naangu sathaveetham) or ?????? ?????????? (naangu vizhukkaadu). Percentage symbol (%) is also recognised and used.
Ordinal numbers (????? ??????)
Ordinal numbers are formed by adding the suffix -??? (aam) after the number, except for 'First'.
Collective numerals (???????????)
- 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.
Influence
As the antique 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.
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
Even before the Government of India unveiled INR as the new rupee symbol, people in Tamil Nadu used the Tamil letter ? as the symbol. This symbol still continues to be used as rupee symbol by Indian Tamils out of habit.
? 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 symbols.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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