Bamini Keyboard
This Bamini keyboard chart puts the Tamil letter on every key, both plain and with Shift. In this Bamini Tamil keyboard layout, ெ, ே and ை are typed before their letter, as on a typewriter. Tap a key on the chart, or press one on your own keyboard, to see its Tamil in the practice box.
Also:Tamil Font Converter
Bamini keyboard
Each key shows its letter, and its Shift letter above it.
typed before the letter it sits onalso works on this key, as in older filescombo only works straight after another key
Use a computer to practise. Tamil keyboards on phones are not Bamini, and autocorrect rewrites the keys you type.
Start typing on your keyboard, or click the keys. Each key lights up on the chart as you press it.
What we accept
What goes in and out
Text in
Paste or type
Bamini text
Text out
Copy
Unicode text
Where it runs
Conversion
In your browser
Your text
Not uploaded
Why people use this tool
For typists who learned Bamini on a typewriter, and for anyone new to an office that still types in it.
Plain and Shift together
Every key shows both of its letters, so there is no second picture to hunt for when you hold Shift.
Keys typed out of order
In Bamini, ெ, ே and ை go in ahead of their consonant. கொ needs three keys, one before the letter and one after it. The chart marks these keys, and the notes below give a sample for each.
Tamil as you type
Each key you press becomes Tamil at once. A wrong key shows the wrong letter, so a slip is easy to spot.
Stays in your browser
The conversion runs on your device. Your text is not uploaded to our server.
How to type in Bamini
Four steps, all of them in your browser. Nothing to install and no account.
Find the letter.
Spot it on the chart. With a screen reader, use the key table lower on the page instead.
Learn the three odd keys.
Press n, N or i before a letter for ெ, ே or ை. Press h after it for ா, and the semicolon key for the pulli.
Try it in the box.
Press Bamini keys in the practice box. Beside it the Tamil letters build up, joined the way a reader sees them.
Check the tricky letters.
The tricky letters table gives the keys for ஸ்ரீ, க்ஷ, ஜ and the two-part vowels.
What's kept, and what to check
The text comes across as it was typed. A few things are worth a look before you use it.
What's kept
What the practice box does
Every key.
Every key is read as Bamini, even when the letters happen to spell an English word.
Line breaks.
Press Enter and the Tamil starts a new line too.
Check before use
Before you rely on it
Your office's font.
If a notice or a form names a font or a layout, compare a few of its keys with this chart.
Phone keyboards.
They have no Bamini keys and autocorrect what you type. Practise at a computer.
Tamil letters here are shown in Noto Sans Tamil, a Unicode face. The chart maps each Bamini key to its letter; the Bamini font itself is neither used nor offered for download.
Keys that work differently
- n◌ெ
Some vowel signs come first
Type
nfor ெ before the letter, as on a typewriter.Nfor ே andifor ை work the same way.nfgives கெ andifgives கை. - h◌ா
ா also finishes split vowels
hadds ா to the letter before it. AfternorNand a letter it completes the vowel:nfhis கொ andNfhis கோ. - ;◌்
The semicolon is the pulli
;puts the dot on the letter before it.f;gives க். There is no semicolon key in Bamini.
Every key in Bamini
The same chart as a table, one key per row.
| Key | Types | Shift + key | Types |
|---|---|---|---|
| ` | ஹ | ~ | ஷalso |
| 1 | 1 | ! | ! |
| 2 | 2 | @ | ளூ |
| 3 | 3 | # | சூalso |
| 4 | 4 | $ | கூ |
| 5 | 5 | % | மூ |
| 6 | 6 | ^ | டூ |
| 7 | 7 | & | ரூ |
| 8 | 8 | * | ழூ |
| 9 | 9 | ( | ( |
| 0 | 0 | ) | ) |
| - | - | _ | ◌ூ |
| = | ஸ்ரீ | + | +combo |
| q | ங | Q | ஞ |
| w | ற | W | று |
| e | ந | E | நு |
| r | ச | R | சு |
| t | வ | T | வு |
| y | ல | Y | லு |
| u | ர | U | ரு |
| i | ◌ைtyped before | I | ஐ |
| o | ழ | O | ழு |
| p | ◌ி | P | ◌ீ |
| [ | ஜ | { | ◌ு |
| ] | ஸ | } | }combo |
| \ | ஷ | | | ’ |
| a | ய | A | யு |
| s | ள | S | ளு |
| d | ன | D | னு |
| f | க | F | கு |
| g | ப | G | பு |
| h | ◌ா | H | ர்also |
| j | த | J | து |
| k | ம | K | மு |
| l | ட | L | டு |
| ; | ◌் | : | : |
| ' | “ | " | ” |
| z | ண | Z | ணு |
| x | ஒ | X | ஓ |
| c | உ | C | ஊ |
| v | எ | V | ஏ |
| b | டி | B | டீ |
| n | ◌ெtyped before | N | ◌ேtyped before |
| m | அ | M | ஆ |
| , | இ | < | ஈ |
| . | . | > | , |
| / | ஃ | ? | ? |
Tricky letters we test
The keys behind the Tamil letters learners look up most. Every row is run through the same converter as the practice box when the site is built.
| Keys | Unicode | What makes it hard |
|---|---|---|
| Keys=yq;fhTld; | Unicodeஸ்ரீலங்காவுடன் | ஸ்ரீ has a key of its own, =, but it opens out into four Unicode characters. |
| KeysUf;\hd; | Unicodeருக்ஷான் | For க்ஷ, type க் and then ஷ. ஷ lives on the backslash key, \. |
| KeysnfhOk;G | Unicodeகொழும்பு | ொ takes two keys around the letter: n before it and h after it. |
| KeysNfhupf;iffs; | Unicodeகோரிக்கைகள் | ோ wraps the letter the same way, with N in front and h behind. The ை of கை also comes first, as if. |
| Keysnfsjkd; | Unicodeகௌதமன் | ௌ opens with n and closes with s, the key that also types ள on its own. |
| Keys[dhjpgjp | Unicodeஜனாதிபதி | ஜ sits on the left bracket key, [, next to P. |
| Keyskf;fis | Unicodeமக்களை | In க்க only the first க gets the pulli ;. Then i goes in before ள to make ளை. |
| KeysmjpgH | Unicodeஅதிபர் | Some files type ர் as H, Shift and h. The chart shows that key as an extra, and the usual u; gives the same ர். |
| Keysxsitahu; | Unicodeஔவையார் | ஔ is x for ஒ, followed by s as the length mark. |
| Keysv/F | Unicodeஎஃகு | ஃ, the aytham, sits on the slash key /. |
Questions
Answers to common questions about Bamini Keyboard.
Why are some vowel signs typed before the letter in Bamini?
Tamil writes ெ, ே and ை to the left of the consonant, and Bamini keeps that order at the keyboard. So கை is i and then f, and கே is N and then f.
How do I type கொ, கோ and கௌ?
Press the sign key before the letter and the closing key after it. கொ is nfh, கோ is Nfh and கௌ is nfs. The practice box joins the three keys into one letter.
Where are the comma and the semicolon?
In Bamini the comma key types இ, so the comma moves to Shift and the full stop key. The semicolon key types the pulli, and Bamini has no semicolon at all.
Is the Baamini keyboard the same as the Bamini keyboard?
Almost. Baamini files use the same keys plus a few extras, such as the tilde for ஷ where Bamini uses the backslash. The practice box reads both.
Can I copy my Bamini typing as Unicode?
Yes. The practice box writes Unicode Tamil, so the Copy button under it is all you need. A letter or circular already typed in Bamini goes through the Bamini to Unicode converter in one paste.
Does the Bamini chart work on a phone?
A phone is fine for looking up a key in this Bamini typing chart. To practise for speed, use a computer, since phone keyboards have no Bamini layout and change letters as you type.
Other tools in the set
Converters for other old fonts and the other direction. Each one runs in your browser.