Rameshbabu's Blog

தமிழ் எண்கள் - Tamil Numbers Originally, Tamils did not use zero, nor did they use positional digits (having separate symbols for the numbers 10, 100 and 1000). Symbols for the numbers are similar to other Tamil letters, with some minor changes. For example, the number 3782 is not written as ௩௭௮௨ as in modern usage. Instead it is written as ௩ ௲ ௭ ௱ ௮ ௰ ௨. This would be read as they are written as Three Thousands, Seven Hundreds, Eight Tens, Two; or in Tamil as மூண்று ஆயிரத்து ஏழு நூற்று எண் பத்து இரண்டு[1] Reference [1] uses Tamil numerals for Chapter numbers. This usage is based on modern practice, using both positional digits and zero. Reference [2] gives a list of numerals in the ancient format, with some equivalents in modern format, some in Arabic numerals, and a few in words. The list is reproduced below with Arabic equivalents, and a few modern word equivalents. ௧ = 1 ௨ = 2 ௩ = 3 ௪ = 4 ௫ = 5 ௬ = 6 ௭ = 7 ௮ = 8 ௯ = 9 ௰ = 10 ௰௧ = 11 ௰௨ = 12 ௰௩ = 13 ௰௪ =