Tamil Letter Nnna

It is the Tamil letter for the alveolar n sound.

Standard Tamil spelling uses ன inside or at the end of a word, not at its start. Tamil's n letters represent different sounds, so a Latin n alone cannot tell a Tamil keyboard which one you mean.

Why does Tamil have three n letters?

Tamil keeps three n letters apart by sound and position.

Tamil script descends from Brahmi's southern branch, an ancient South Asian writing system. Early Tamil writing developed through Tamil-Brahmi. Vatteluttu and Pallava/Chola-Pallava were related historical script traditions; modern Tamil follows the Pallava-side line rather than simply continuing Vatteluttu.

Formal and informal Tamil can spell related nasal sequences differently: informal ஒண்ணு corresponds to formal ஒன்று (“one”), and informal இண்ணைக்கு to formal இன்றைக்கு (“today”). These are register variants around familiar words, not a separate meaning for ன.

How do I type ன without getting the wrong n?

Select the Tamil letter explicitly; Latin n alone is not enough.

On the Keyman Tamil99 layout, as of 2026, enter the consonant before its vowel. The keyboard handles them as separate components, so Backspace can remove the vowel first. The pulli is the small Tamil mark that cancels the inherent vowel; it makes the bare consonant ன்.

A vowel sign may appear to the left of its consonant even though you typed the consonant first. That is normal Tamil shaping, not an input error.