These are nearly identical in purpose and shape in both alphabets:

| 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) |

Yet today, on Sri Lankan currency, road signs, and government documents, both scripts sit side by side—a beautiful, functional example of two alphabets that learned to live together.

Do you speak Sinhala or Tamil? Have you noticed any other alphabet similarities? Share in the comments below!

அ ஆ இ ஈ உ ஊ எ ஏ ஐ ஒ ஓ ஔ

| 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:

| Sound | Sinhala | Tamil | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Ja | ජ | ஜ | | Sha | ශ | ஷ | | Sa (palatal) | ෂ | (same as Sha in Tamil) | | Ha | හ | ஹ | | Ksha | ක්ෂ | க்ஷ |