Sanskṛit Pronunciation
Saṁskṛita Ucchāraṇam
संस्कृत उच्चारणम्
VOWELS §
Vowels marked like ā are sounded twice as long as the short vowels. The four dipthongs, e, ai, o, au, are always sounded long, but never marked as such. §
अ a as in about§
आ 
ā …tar, father§
इ 
i …fill, lily§
ई 
ī …machine§
उ 
u …full, bush§
ऊ 
ū …allude§
ऋ 
ṛi …merrily §
ॠ 
ṛī …marine §
लृ lṛi …revelry §
ए 
e …prey§
ऐ 
ai …aisle§
ओ 
o …go, stone§
औ 
au …Haus§
GUTTURAL CONSONANTS§
Sounded in the throat.§
क् k …kite, seek§
ख् kh …inkhorn§
ग् g …gamble§
घ् gh …loghouse§
ङ् ṅ …sing §
PALATAL CONSONANTS§
Sounded at the roof of the mouth. §
च् ch …church§
छ् çh …much harm§
ज् j …jump§
झ् jh …hedgehog§
ञ् ñ …hinge §
CEREBRAL CONSONANTS§
Pronounced with the tongue turned up and back against the roof of the mouth. These are also known as retroflex. §
ट् ṭ …true§
ठ् ṭh …nuthook§
ड् ḍ …drum§
ढ् ḍh …redhaired§
ण् ṇ …none§
DENTAL CONSONANTS§
Sounded with the tip of the tongue at the back of the upper front teeth. §
त् t …tub§
थ् th …anthill§
द् d …dot§
ध् dh …adhere§
न् n …not§
LABIAL CONSONANTS§
Sounded at the lips. §
प् p …pot§
फ् ph …path§
ब् b …bear§
भ् bh …abhor§
म् m …map§
SEMIVOWELS§
य् y …yet (palatal) §
र्
r …road (cereb.) §
ल् l …lull (dental) §
व् v …voice (labial),§
but more like w when following a consonant, as in the word swāmī.§
ह् h …hear (guttural)§
SIBILANTS§
श् ś …sure (palatal) §
ष् sh …shut (cerebral)§
स् s …saint (dental)§
ANUSVĀRA§
The dot over Devanāgarī letters represents the nasal of the type of letter it precedes; e.g.: अंग = aṅga. It is transliterated as ṁ or as the actual nasal( ṅ, ñ, n, ṇ, m). At the end of words it is sometimes म् (m).§
VISĀRGA (:) ḥ §
Pronounced like huh (with a short, stopping sound), or hih, after i, ī and e. §
ASPIRATES §
The h following a consonant indicates aspiration, the addition of air, as in nātha or bhakti. Thus, th should not be confused with th in the word then. §
SPECIAL CHARACTERS§
ज्ञ् jñ …a nasalized sound, like gya or jya.§
क्ष् = क्+ष् ksh §
CONVENTIONS§
1. As a rule, the root forms of Sanskṛit words are used (without case endings).§
2. च्छ् is transliterated as cçh, and च्च् as cch.§
3. Geographical and personal names (e.g., Hardwar), are generally marked with diacriticals only as main lexicon entries.§
4. Diacritical marks are not used for Tamil words.§