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Sanskrit Pronunciation Guide!
AUDIO
CLIP: Sanskrit Pronunciation Guide
The
Sanskrit language is one of the world’s oldest languages. All Vedic literature
and a good number of bhajans featured in this website
are in Sanskrit. Even though Sanskrit is not the spoken language of India,
Sanskrit still finds a place in today’s world, through students studying it
through inventing new words in the Sanskrit dictionary that correspond to items
in today’s world of technology. The Sanskrit language recognizes thirteen
vowels and thirty-three consonants, a nasal element, and an aspirate element.
VOWELS:
|
अ |
आ |
इ |
ई |
उ |
ऊ |
ऋ |
ॠ |
ऌ |
ए |
ऐå |
ओ |
औ |
|
a |
ā |
i |
ī |
u |
ū |
ṛ |
ṛ |
ļ |
e |
ai |
o |
au |
The
letter “a” is pronounced as “u” in “but.”
The
letter “ā” is pronounced as “a” in “father.”
The
letter “i" is pronounced as “i”
in “sin” (say “seen” with a shorter “ee” sound)
The
letter “ī” is pronounced as “ee” in “seed”
The
letter “u” is pronounced as “u” in “should” (say “shood”
with a shorter “oo” sound)
The
letter “ū” is pronounced as “oo” in “roof”
The
letter “ṛ” is pronounced as “ri” in “rip” (say
“reep” with a shorter “ee”
sound)
The
letter “ṛ ́” is pronounced as “ree” in
“reed”
The
letter “ļ” is pronounced as “lary” in “salary”
(without the “a”)
The
letter “e” is pronounced as “ay” in “pay” (avoid adding the “y” sound at the
end)
The
letter “ai” is a combination of the letters “a” and “i”
The
letter “o” is pronounced as “o” in “no” (avoid the u/w sound as the end)
The
letter “au” is a combination of the letter “a” and “u”
CONSONANTS:
|
क |
ख |
ग |
घ |
ङ |
|||
|
ka |
kha |
ga |
gha |
ńa |
|||
|
च |
छ |
ज |
झ |
ञ |
|||
|
ca |
cha |
ja |
jha |
ña |
|||
|
ट |
ठ |
ड |
ढ |
ण |
|||
|
ṭa |
ṭha |
ḍa |
ḍha |
ṇa |
|||
|
त |
थ |
द |
ध |
न |
|||
|
ta |
tha |
da |
dha |
na |
|||
|
प |
फ |
ब |
भ |
म |
|||
|
pa |
pha |
ba |
bha |
ma |
|||
|
य |
र |
ल |
व |
||||
|
ya |
ra |
la |
va |
||||
|
श |
ष |
स |
|
||||
|
śa |
ṣa |
sa |
|
||||
|
ह |
ं |
ः |
|
||||
|
ha |
ḿ |
ḥ |
|
||||
The
first set of five consonants is known as the gutturals. They are sounds pronounced through the throat.
The
letter “k” is pronounced as “k” in “kite”
The
letter “kh” is pronounced as “ck-h” in “kick-hard”
The
letter “g” is pronounced as “g” in “goat”
The
letter “gh” is pronounced as “g-h” in “dig-hard”
The
letter “ń” is pronounced as “n” in “song.” (Just the n,
not the g. This is the nasal element for the gutturals)
The
second set of five consonants is known as the palatals. They are sounds pronounced through the palette.
The
letter “c” is pronounced as “ch” in “church.”
The
letter “ch” is pronounced as “ch-h”
in “staunch-heart”
The
letter “j” is pronounced as “j” in “jiffy”
The
letter “jh” is pronounced as “dge-h”
in “hedge-hog”
The
letter “ñ” is pronounced as “ny” in “canyon” (This is
the nasal element for the palatals)
The
third set of five consonants is known as the cerebrals. They are sounds pronounced through the tongue touching
the roof of the palette.
The
letter “ṭ” is pronounced as “t” in “hot”
The
letter “ṭh” is pronounced as “t-h” in
“hot-house”
The
letter “ḍ” is pronounced as “d” in “road”
The
letter “ḍh” is pronounced as “d-h” in “red-hot”
The
letter “ṇ” is pronounced as “na” in “nut.”
(This is the nasal element for the cerebrals).
The
fourth set of five consonants is known as the dentals. They are sounds pronounced through the tongue touching the
teeth.
The
letter “t” is pronounced as “t” in “hot”
The
letter “th” is pronounced as
“t-h” in “hot-house” or “thick”
The
letter “d” is pronounced as “d” in “road”
The
letter “dh” is pronounced as “d-h” in “red-hot” or “th”
in “though”
The
letter “n” is pronounced as “na” in “nut.” (This is
the nasal element for the dentas).
The
fifth set of five consonants is known as the labials. They are sounds pronounced through the lips.
The
letter “p” is pronounced as “p” in “popcorn.”
The
letter “ph” is pronounced as “p-h” in “up-hill” (This is not pronounced like f.
There is no “f” in Sanskrit.)
The
letter “b” is pronounced as “b” in “baby”
The
letter “bh” is pronounced as “b-h” in “tub-hot”
The
letter “m” is pronounced as “m” in “mother.”
The
set of letters are known as semi-vowels,
or letters that will serve dual-functions as consonants and vowels.
The
letter “y” is pronounced as “y” in “yes.”
The
letter “r” is pronounced as “r” in “right.”
The
letter “l” is pronounced as “l” in “light.”
The
letter “v” is pronounced as “v” in “victory.” If “v” is the second half of a
combined letter, then it will be pronounced like a “w.”
The
next three letters are known as sibilants,
or sounds based on a special hissing.
The
letter “ś” is pronounced as “sh” in “shut.”
(This is the palatial s)
The
letter “ṣ” is pronounced as “sh” in “shine.”
(This is the cerebral s)
The
letter “s” is pronounced as “s” in “seven.” (The is the universal and dental s)
The
letter “h” is pronounced as “h” in “heaven.”
The
nasal element known as the anusvara is ḿ. It is pronounced as “n” in “wrong” (no
“g” sound included). It assumes any appropriate nasal element.
The
aspirate element known as the visarga is ḥ. It causes a “ha” sound to come. For
instance, aḥ is pronounced as “aha” or iḥ
is pronounced as “iḥ.”
UPDATED: April 1, 2009