| Sound | Sinhala | Tamil | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Ka (unvoiced) | ක | க | | Kha (aspirated) | ඛ | (not present) | | Ga (voiced) | ග | (uses க with sound change) | | Gha (aspirated voiced) | ඝ | (not present) |
These are nearly identical in purpose and shape in both alphabets: sinhala alphabet with tamil
அ ஆ இ ஈ உ ஊ எ ஏ ஐ ஒ ஓ ஔ | Sound | Sinhala | Tamil | |
| Feature | Sinhala | Tamil | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | 60 (12 vowels + 48 consonants) | 31 (12 vowels + 18 consonants + 1 special) | | Direction | Left to Right | Left to Right | | Inherent Vowel | 'a' (අ) | 'a' (அ) | | Script Style | Rounded, cursive | Angular, blocky | Sinhala Vowels (ස්වර) Sinhala has 12 independent vowels: Both scripts use a special set of letters
Tamil speakers often pronounce ‘ka,’ ‘ga,’ and ‘kha’ using the same single letter , relying on context. Sinhala uses four distinct letters. The Sweet Spot: Grantha Letters Here’s the most interesting overlap for learners. Both scripts use a special set of letters called Grantha (borrowed from the ancient Grantha script of South India) to write Sanskrit loanwords or foreign sounds.