Traditionally, Sanskrit has these main points of pronunciation:

1. the soft palate (kaṇṭhaḥ, “throat”)
2. the hard palate (tālu)
3. the top of the roof of the mouth (mūrdhā, “head”)
4. the teeth (dantāḥ)
5. the lips (oṣṭhau)
6. the nose (nāsikā)
7. the base of the tongue (jihvāmūlam)
8. Some lists also include the chest (uraḥ) as the source of the flow of air.

In order, sounds pronounced with these points of pronunciation are called:

1. velar sounds (kaṇṭhya), or guttural in some old books
2. palatal sounds (tālavya)
3. retroflex sounds (mūrdhanya), or cerebral or lingual in some old books
4. dental sounds (dantya)
5. labial sounds (oṣṭhya)
6. nasal sounds (anunāsika)
7. uvular sounds (jihvāmūlīya)

Since va is pronounced with both the teeth and the lips, it is called labio-dental (dantoṣṭhya). And since o and au are pronounced with both the soft palate and the lips, they are called labio-velar (kanṭhoṣṭhya).

Also known as: uccāraṇa-sthāna (“pronunciation place”)

First, we can change the vowel's point of pronunciation. Sanskrit vowels use five basic points of pronunciation:

1. the soft palate
2. the hard palate
3. the edge of the roof of the mouth
4. the base of the teeth
5. the lips

By using these five points of pronunciation, we can create five basic vowels:

• a with the soft palate
• i with the hard palate
• ṛ with the edge of the roof of the mouth
• ḷ with the base of the teeth
• u with the lips

Vowel that use just one point of pronunciation are called simple vowels (samānākṣarāni, “simple vowels”). If we use multiple points of pronunciation, we create compound vowels (sandhyakṣarāṇī, “joined vowels”):

• e and ai with the soft palate and the hard palate
• o and au with the soft palate and the lips

Also known as: kāla (“time”)

Second, we can change the vowel's length. Most Sanskrit vowels are either short (hrasva) and long (dīrgha). Short vowels are pronounced for one unit of time (eka-mātra, “with one measure”), and long vowels are pronounced for twice as long as short vowels (dvi-mātra, “with two measures”).

All of the short vowels, except for ḷ, have a long version:

आ ā ई ī ॠ ṝ ऊ ū

All of the compound vowels are already long, and they have no short form.

There is also a third length, protracted (pluta), that is mainly used in Vedic Sanskrit. All of the simple and compound vowels can be pluta. pluta vowels are written like so: ā3 ī3 ū3 ṝ3 ḷ3 e3 ai3 o3 au3:

अ a आ ā आ३ ā3

Also known as: ānunāsikyam (“nasality”)

Third, we can make the vowel nasal (anunāsika) or non-nasal (an-anunāsika). Nasal vowels are rarely used in normal Sanskrit.

अ a अँ a̐

Also known as: svara (“tone”)

Fourth, we can change the vowel's accent (svara). In Vedic compositions, accent is used extensively, but it does not appear anymore in standard Sanskrit. There are three basic accents:

• anudātta (“not raised”) or grave, which is a low tone
• udātta (“raised”) or acute, which is a high tone
• svarita (“voiced”) or circumflex, which is mix of the high and low tones. But in many styles of Vedic chanting, the svarita is instead an extra high tone.

Here are the three actions as they are written in Devanagari. From left to right, we have anudātta, udātta, and svarita:

अ॒ a॒ अ a अ॑

The different Vedic accents and their pronunciation are out of scope for our grammar guide.

-kāra and -varṇa

In English, we often say “the letter a” rather than just “a.” Likewise, in Sanskrit, we can add -kāra to the end of any vowel to give it a more usable name. Thus Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita:

• अक्षराणाम् अकारो ऽस्मि
• akṣarāṇām akāro 'smi
• Of sounds, I am the letter a.

We can also give names to certain vowel families. For example, a has:

• three possible lengths (short, long, and protacted)
• three possible accents (udātta, anudātta, and svarita)
• two kinds of nasality (nasal and non-nasal)

In total, this gives us 3 × 3 × 2 = 18 different variations on the vowel a. You can see all of them below:

We can refer to all 18 of these variations by the name avarṇa (“the a class”). Two sounds in the same varṇa are called similar (sa-varṇa, “of the same varṇa”). Just as we have avarṇa, we also have:

• ivarṇa for the 18 variations of i
• uvarṇa for the 18 variations of u
• ṛvarṇa for the 18 variations of ṛ
• ḷvarṇa for the 12 variations of ḷ

ḷvarṇa has only 12 variations because ḷ has no long version.

Let's dwell on a a little longer. Have you noticed that a is slightly different from the other vowels?

i and ī have similar pronunciations, except that i is short and ī is long. This is similarly true for the sounds of uvarṇa, ṛvarṇa, and ḷvarṇa. But although a and ā are part of the same varṇa, a is actually slightly different from ā and the other vowels.

Except for a, all vowels are called vivṛta (“uncovered”, “open”) because they are pronounced with the vowel cords uncontracted. a, however, is called saṃvṛta (“covered,” “contracted”) because it is pronounced with the vocal cords in a more contracted position.

To compare these sounds to English, we can say that all the sounds in ivarṇa sound like the “ee” in “teeth” but with different modifications. But although ā sounds like the “a” in “father,” a does not have that sound. Instead, a sounds like the “u” in “mud.”

The words for PseudoDevanagri are derived from the Hebrew alphabets and Greek alphabets and English alphabets also have their code sounds.(Former is the Hebrew Code word while latter is the Greek [Hebrew/Greek]

Also known as: vyañjanāni (“embellishments”), hal

Consonants are sounds that we pronounce by changing the basic flow of air through the mouth. In Sanskrit, consonants use three different kinds of air flow:

1. spṛṣṭam: full contact at the points of pronunciation. Air no longer flows through the mouth at all. This applies for the sounds ka through ma.
2. īṣatspṛṣṭam: slight contact at the points of pronunciation. Air flows through the mouth in a highly constricted way. This applies for the sounds ya through va.
3. īṣadvivṛtam: loose contact at the points of pronunciation. Air flows through the mouth in a less constricted way. This applies for the sounds śa through ha.

ka through ma

VERTICAL WRITING OR PSEUDO DEVANAGARI

For all of these sounds, the points of pronunciation make full contact with each other. Thus they are called sparśāḥ (“contacts”). In English grammar, the nasal sounds are called nasals, and the rest are called stops.

As a reminder, here is how these sounds are usually described:

• The sounds in the first and second columns are called unvoiced (aghoṣāḥ), and the others are called voiced (ghoṣavantaḥ).
• The sounds in the second and fourth columns are called aspirated (mahāprāṇāḥ), and the others are called unaspirated (alpaprāṇāḥ).
• The sounds in the fifth column are called nasal (anunāsikāḥ).

ya through va

In Sanskrit, the four semivowels are called antaḥstha (“in-between”), perhaps because these consonants are pronounced in a way that is in-between vowels and other consonants:

य ya र ra ल la व va

Semivowels can also be nasalized. For example, the anusvāra is pronounced like a nasal y when y follows it.

śa through ha

The last four sounds are called sibilants in English grammar and ūṣmāṇaḥ in Sanskrit:

श śa ष ṣa स sa ह ha

As a reminder, ha is voiced. The other sounds here are not.

ḻa In certain styles of Vedic recitation, a ḍa sound between vowels becomes ḻa. And likewise, a ḍha sound between vowels becomes ḷha:

ळ ḻa ळ्ह ḻha

-kāra and -varga As with the vowels, we can add -kāra to the end of any consonant to give it a more usable name. But ra is called repha (“snarl,” ”burr”) instead:

• क → ककारः
• ka → kakāraḥ
• ka → The letter ka

• र → रेफः
• ra → rephaḥ
• ra → The letter ra

We can also use the word -varga (“group, division”) to refer to sets of consonants with similar properties. We have:

• kavarga for the first five consonants (ka kha ga gha ṅa)
• cavarga for the next five consonants (ca cha ja jha ña)
• ṭavarga for the next five consonants (ṭa ṭha ḍa ḍha ṇa)
• tavarga for the next five consonants (ta tha da dha na)
• pavarga for the next five consonants (pa pha ba bha ma)
• yavarga for the semivowels (ya ra la va)
• śavarga for the sibilants (śa ṣa sa ha)

The anusvāra appears due to sandhi. Usually, it appears when the sound m is followed by a consonant sound:

• रामः रावणम् हन्ति → रामो रावणं हन्ति
• rāmaḥ rāvaṇam hanti → rāmo rāvaṇaṃ hanti
• Rama kills Ravana.

How is the anusvāra pronounced? The anusvāra is a “pure nasal” sound that has no equivalent in English. You can approximate it by pronouncing m while pressing your tongue against the roof of your mouth.

However, the anusvāra often becomes many other sounds due to sandhi. If it is followed by any consonant except for the ones in śavarga (śa ṣa sa ha), it becomes the closest matching nasal sound:

संगः → सङ्गः saṃgaḥ → saṅgaḥ

संजयः → सञ्जयः saṃjayaḥ → sañjayaḥ

संन्यासः → सन्न्यासः saṃnyāsaḥ → sannyāsaḥ

संबन्धः → सम्बन्धः saṃbandhaḥ → sambandhaḥ

And in front of yavarga sounds (ya ra la va), it becomes a nasalized semivowel.

In general, people don't like writing these nasal sounds out, so they use the anusvāra as a shorthand.

Like the anusvāra, the visarga also appears due to sandhi. When a word ends in an s or an r sound, that sound becomes the visarga:

रामस् → रामः rāmas → rāmaḥ Rama

मातर् → मातः mātar → mātaḥ mother!

Traditionally, the visarga is often called the visarjanīya, which has essentially the same meaning as the word visarga.

There are two variants of the visarga that are worth knowing. These variants are often used in spoken Sanskrit, but they are not usually written down.

The first is the jihvāmūlīya. In English linguistics, this is called a voiceless uvular fricative. This sound is like the visarga, but it is pronounced further back in the base of the throat. The jihvāmūlīya, if it is used, is used in front of the consonants ka and kha.

The second is the upadhmānīya. In English, this sound is called a voiceless bilabial fricative. This sound is similar to the English “f” sound, but it is not pronounced with any help from the teeth; it is pronounced only with the lips. The upadhmānīya, if it is used, is used in front of the consonants pa and pha.

If you listen to modern Sanskrit pronunciation closely, you might hear certain pronunciations that differ from the traditional descriptions. In this lesson, we will describe some of these differences.

ṛ and ṝ The ancient descriptions are clear that ṛ and ṝ are vowel sounds. Even so, modern speakers often pronounce these vowels like so:

कृष्ण → क्रिष्ण, क्रुष्ण, क्रृष्ण kṛṣṇa → kriṣṇa, kruṣṇa, krṛṣṇa

पितॄन् → पित्रीन्, पित्रून्, पित्रॄन् pitṝn → pitrīn, pitrūn, pitrṝn

The visarga As we mentioned in an earlier lesson, the visarga is often pronounced as an echo of the previous vowel when at the end of a word or sentence:

मुनिः → मुनिहि muniḥ → munihi

तैः → तैहि taiḥ → taihi

नौः → नौहु nauḥ → nauhu

jña The combination jña often has these pronounciations:

विज्ञानम् → विग्यानम् vijñānam → vigyānam (northern style)

विज्ञानम् → विग्ञ्यानम् vijñānam → vigñyānam (southern style)

hna and hma The combinations hna and hma often have these pronunciations:

अह्न → अन्ह ahna → anha

ब्रह्म → ब्रम्ह brahma → bramha