Nisha Lakra at 05:37, 2 May 2026

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'''Extended-Tamil script''' or '''Tamil–Grantha script''' ([[portmanteau]]: '''GranTamizh''') refers to a script used to write the [[Tamil language]] before the 20th century [[Tanittamil Iyakkam|Tamil purist movement]].<ref name="Kailasapathy1979">{{Cite journal |last=Kailasapathy |first=K. |date=1979 |title=The Tamil Purist Movement: A Re-Evaluation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3516775 |journal=Social Scientist |volume=7 |issue=10 |pages=23–51 |doi=10.2307/3516775 |jstor=3516775 |issn=0970-0293|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Tamil-Grantha is a mixed-script: a combination of the conservative-Tamil script that independently evolved from pre-Pallava script, combined with consonants imported from a later-stage evolved [[Grantha script]] (from [[Pallava script#Consonants|Pallava-Grantha]]) to write non-Tamil consonants.<ref>{{Harvnb|Meenakshisundaran|1965|pp=145–146}}</ref> Some scholars posit that the origin of Tamil-Grantha is unclear: the script could also be a direct descendant of the Pallava-Grantha script which extensively developed during the [[Middle Tamil]] period to write Middle-Tamil.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mahadevan|2003|pp=208–213}}</ref>

The [[Modern Tamil script]] is a subset of Tamil-Grantha alphabet, retaining only the 18 consonants taken from [[Tolkāppiyam]]-based [[Old Tamil]] which generally was written using [[Vatteluttu#Letters|Vatteluttu script]]. Tamil-Grantha has 36 consonants, hence covering all [[Indic script|Indic consonants]] like [[Malayalam script]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Extended Tamil font|url=http://www.virtualvinodh.com/projects/agastya|access-date=2021-07-03}}</ref> However, the Modern-Tamil standard allowed [[Tamil script#Grantha consonants used in Tamil|a few additional consonants]] from Grantha into its alphabet: ஜ (ja), ஷ (ṣa), ஸ (sa), ஹ (ha). But their usage is discouraged by Tamil purists and recommend{{clarify|date=December 2023}} to [[Assimilation (phonology)|assimilate]] the sounds to approximate pure-Tamil phonology, respectively: ச (ca), ச (ca), ச (ca), க (ka). Another letter ஶ was also allowed in 2005<ref>{{cite web |title=The two ways to represent Tamil Shri |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2018/18054-tamil-shri.txt |website=Unicode |access-date=11 December 2021}}</ref> exclusively to write ஶ்ரீ ([[śrī]]); however purists enforce the usage of திரு ([[Tamil honorifics#Thiru/Thirumathi|tiru]]) over ஶ்ரீ.

In terms of utility, the major difference between Modern-Tamil and Tamil-Grantha is that the former is a [[Phonemic orthography|phonemic script]] (where [[voiced consonants]] are treated as [[allophones]] of the [[voiceless consonants]], and no [[aspirated consonants]]), and the latter is a fully-[[phonetic script]]. Hence, if one were to write only pure-Tamil-derived words in their text, it is enough (and minimally efficient) to use the Modern-Tamil script. However, if one were to include non-South-Dravidian words in their text, using the pure-Tamil script can cause errors in pronunciations since the phonemic-transcription rules of Tamil Grammar does not apply to such vocabularies. So depending on the domain of text (and number of loan words), writers used either the minimal-Tamil script or extended-Tamil script. To write or transliterate [[Sanskrit]] texts, the full Grantha script was used instead of Tamil-Grantha.

== History ==

The [[Tanittamil Iyakkam|Independent Tamil Movement]] of the colonial era purged Grantha characters from use (calling "[[Grantha script|Grantha]]" an Aryan "pollution" of Tamil) and with support from [[Dravidian parties]], mandated to exclusively use the reformed minimal-Tamil script.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ramaswamy|1997}}</ref> They also successfully "cleaned" Tamil textbooks by replacing [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] vocabulary with pure-Tamil words, especially Sanskritic/Prakritic words that entered via Middle-Tamil; hence making Grantha characters almost useless in modern formal-Tamil.<ref name="Krishnamurti 2003 p=480">{{Harvnb|Krishnamurti|2003|p=480}}</ref> According to Kailasapathy, this was a part of Dravidian nationalism and amounted to regional ethnic chauvinism.<ref name="Kailasapathy1979" />

Although the predominant amount of classical Tamil literature is written in [[Middle Tamil]], Tamil purists regard only [[Old Tamil]] as the authentic source for [[Tamil grammar]] and literature. Based on vocabulary, Tamil is classified into two registers: செந்தமிழ் (centamiḻ) meaning 'good' (or 'pure') Tamil and கொடுந்தமிழ் (koṭuntamiḻ) meaning 'horrible' (or 'corrupt') Tamil. Purists classify Middle Tamil as belonging to the latter class, thereby enabling the Dravidian movement to call Tamil-Grantha as impure.

Hence in the present day, only a few religious texts have the inclination to choose Tamil-Grantha; all other domains have adapted to Modern-Tamil.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

== Digital usage ==

Since Modern-Tamil [[unicode]] does not support all the missing consonants from Extended-Tamil, generally it is not possible to digitally encode it easily. It is possible to use fonts like ''Lopamudra'' and ''Agastya'' on top of Malayalam text to render it like Extended-Tamil. Or one can also use modified fonts that support rendering [[Grantha Unicode]].

There were proposals to reunify Grantha into Modern-[[Tamil Unicode]];<ref>{{cite web |last=Sharma |first=Shriramana |year= 2010a |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2010/10256r-extended-tamil.pdf |title=Proposal to encode characters for Extended Tamil}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Sharma |first=Shriramana |year=2010b |url=http://unicode.org/L2/L2010/10379--extended-tamil.pdf |title=Follow-up to Extended Tamil proposal L2/10-256R}}</ref> however, the proposal triggered discontent by some.<ref>{{cite web |last=Eraiyarasan |first=B. |year=2011 |url=https://unicode.org/L2/L2011/11055-tamil-grantha.pdf |title=Dr. B.Eraiyarasan's comments on Tamil Unicode And Grantham proposals}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2020-03-06 |title=Attempts to Pollute Tamil Unicode with Grantha Characters |url=http://www.tamiltribune.com/18/1201.html |access-date=2024-08-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200306030655/http://www.tamiltribune.com/18/1201.html |archive-date=2020-03-06 |work=Tamil Tribune |first=Thanjai |last=Nalankilli}}</ref> Considering the sensitivity involved and rejection<ref>{{cite letter |first=M. |last=Karunanidhi |recipient=Thiru A. Raja |date=2010-11-06 |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2010/10464-tamil-nadu.pdf |subject=Vedic, Sanskrit and Grantha encoding in Unicode}}</ref> of the proposal by the Tamil Nadu government, it was determined by the Indian government that the two scripts should not be unified, except numerals<ref>{{cite web |author=Government of India |date=2010-10-18 |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2010/10409-grantha-meeting-sum.pdf |title=Unicode Standard for Grantha Script}}</ref> and a separate Unicode block was allocated to Grantha.

=== Computing resources ===

* [http://aksharamukha.appspot.com/converter ''AksharaMukha''] - To convert Indic/Roman text to Extended-Tamil
* [http://www.virtualvinodh.com/projects/agastya ''Agastya & Lopamudra''] - Download Tamil-Grantha Fonts

==Non-Indic consonants==
{{unreferenced section|date=July 2025}}
Tamil script can also be extended with {{lang|ta|ஃ}} ({{lang|ta|ஆய்த எழுத்து}}, {{Transliteration|ta|ISO|āyda eḻuttu}}, equivalent to [[nuqta]]) to represent phonemes of foreign languages, especially used to write [[Islamic]] and [[Christian]] texts.

{| class="wikitable"
|- style="font-weight:bold;"
! Adapted-Tamil !! [[Latin]] !! [[Perso-Arabic]] !! [[Devanagari]]
|-
| ஃஜ || za || ز || ज़
|-
| ஃக || qa || ق || क़
|-
| ஃப || fa || ف || फ़
|-
| ஃவ || wa || و<ref group=n>Pronounced as /v/ or /w/ based on context of letter</ref> || व़
|-
| ஃஷ || zha<ref group=n>Not to be confused with Tamil {{lang|ta|ழ}} ( {{IPA|ta|ɻ|}} / {{Transliteration|ta|ISO|ḻ}} )</ref> || ژ || झ़
|-
| ஃஸ || Sa or 9 || ص || स़
|-
| ஃக்ஹ || kha || خ || ख़
|-
| ஃஹ || Ha or 7 || ح || ह़
|-
| ஃத || Ta or 6 || ط || त़
|}

==See also==
* [[Simplified Tamil script]]
* [[Tamil 99]]
* [[:ta:தமிழ் 99|தமிழ் 99]]
* [[InScript]]
* [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Brahmic_keyboard_layouts Brahmic keyboard layouts]
* [[Keyboard layout]]
* [[Tamil (Unicode block)]]
* [[Tamil blogosphere]]
* [[Tamil All Character Encoding]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=n}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

===Works cited===
* {{cite book |last=Krishnamurti |first=Bhadriraju |year=2003 |title=The Dravidian Languages |publisher=Cambridge University Press |series=Cambridge Language Surveys |isbn=978-0-521-77111-5}}
* {{Citation |last=Mahadevan |first=Iravatham |author-link=Iravatham Mahadevan |title=Early Tamil Epigraphy from the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D |series=Harvard Oriental Series |volume=62 |year=2003 |place=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-01227-1}}
* {{Citation |last=Meenakshisundaran |first=T.P. |title=A History of Tamil Language |publisher=Deccan College |place=Poona |year=1965}}
* {{cite book |last=Ramaswamy |first=Sumathy |year=1997 |title=Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891–1970 |url=http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft5199n9v7/ |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-585-10600-7}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dravidian languages]]
[[Category:Brahmic scripts]]

Extended Tamil script - Revision history

Nisha Lakra at 05:37, 2 May 2026