Skills on AI

Locale Ta 001

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Use when working with the Tamil locale (`ta-001`) — its endonym தமிழ், Tamil script, left-to-right (LTR) direction, or spoken-population data. Reference data and translation guidance (register, grammar, idiom, typography) for this specific locale; see [[locale]] for general i18n/l10n concepts (BCP 47, plural rules, RTL) that apply across all locales.

Reference data for the Tamil locale — endonym தமிழ், written in the Tamil script, left-to-right (LTR).

Identifiers

  • BCP 47 tag: ta-001
  • ISO 639-1: ta
  • ISO 639-3: tam
  • Script: Taml (Tamil)
  • Region: 001 (World)
  • Text direction: ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

Speakers (approximate)

  • L1 (native): 79,000,000
  • L2 (additional): 7,000,000
  • L1+L2 (total): 86,000,000

Regional variants

This is the base/macro locale for Tamil. Region-specific variants in this dataset:

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: one, other (2 forms).

  • one — n = 1 (e.g. 1)
  • other — everything else (e.g. 0, 2~16, 100, 1000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Tamil (தமிழ்) is a Dravidian language of Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, and Singapore, written in the Tamil script. It has a strong diglossia between literary Tamil and spoken Tamil. See Locale Ta in.

Translate ideas, not words.

  • Tamil is agglutinative and subject-object-verb. Case suffixes, postpositions, and verb endings attach to stems. Reorder English sentences.
  • Use the standard written style for UI, documentation, and official text; use the colloquial style only in informal marketing.
  • Use Tamil terms from the Tamil Virtual Academy and the Tamil Nadu government where established; accept common English loans in Tamil script (கோப்பு for file, கடவுச்சொல் for password, செயலி for app are established terms).
  • Re-express idioms by meaning.

Grammar that trips translators.

  • Pronouns distinguish inclusive "நாம்" (we including the listener) from exclusive "நாங்கள்" (we excluding the listener).
  • Nouns are classified as rational (உயர்திணை) or non-rational (அஃறிணை); verb endings and pronouns follow.
  • Verbs agree with the subject in person, number, and gender in the formal style.

Register.

  • "நீங்கள்" is the polite or plural "you" for UI and public text; "நீ" is informal. Use "நீங்கள்" with polite verb endings ("சேமிக்கவும்", "செய்யுங்கள்").

Orthography and typography.

  • Grantha letters (ஜ, ஷ, ஸ, ஹ, க்ஷ) appear in loanwords; some publishers avoid them in favor of native Tamil letters. Choose one policy and apply it consistently.
  • Digits: Arabic digits in UI; Tamil digits (௦-௯) are historic. Currency: rupee (₹) in India, Sri Lankan rupee (ரூ) in Sri Lanka. Indian grouping in India.
  • Spelling follows the Tamil Lexicon and the Tamil Virtual Academy.

Common pitfalls

  • Using the colloquial style in formal text.
  • Confusing inclusive and exclusive "we".
  • Inconsistent Grantha-letter policy.
  • Missing the rational/non-rational distinction.

Learn more

  • Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
  • Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
  • Microsoft Localization Style Guides for Indian languages (https://learn.microsoft.com/globalization/reference/microsoft-style-guides)
  • Tamil Virtual Academy and the Tamil Lexicon (University of Madras)

View locale-ta-001/SKILL.md on GitHub