Tamil Script Book: Learner's Manual - Sankaran Radakrishnan

Tamil Script/Sankaran Radhakrishnan
do not vibrate. The soft palate is raised. This sound may be described as a
voiceless alveolar fricative. It occurs initially and medially. Medially it
occurs as a single consonant (pure consonant with a dot- S) between two
vowels and as the second member of a consonant cluster.
Observe the hand movements and copy three times
(see Appendix I for hand-movements).
_____ _____ _____
j (j): The movements of the speech organs are the same as
those for (c) except for the vibration in the vocal cords
during its production. This is described as a voiced palatal.
This sound occurs in the word initial positions, medially as a
pure consonant between vowels, as the second member of a
consonant cluster and an identical consonant cluster.
Observe the hand movements and copy three times
(see Appendix I for hand-movements).
_____ _____ _____
(sh): This sound is produced when the tip of the tongue
is curved slightly towards the hard palate. But this curving
does make a complete closure. The air stream passes
through the narrow passage between the hard palate and the
tip of the tongue. The vocal cords do not vibrate. The soft
palate is raised. This sound is voiceless retroflex fricative.
It occurs medially as a pure consonant between vowels and
as the first member of a consonant cluster.
Observe the hand movements and copy three times
(see Appendix I for hand-movements).