The Sanskrit Writing System

The Sanskrit writing system is called devan¯agar¯ı, or “divine, urbane writing.” In Sanskrit, a devan¯agar¯ı symbol always represents the same sound, unlike in English where a single letter may represent different sounds: consider a in cat, almost, pale, father, or c in cat, cipher, church. On the other hand, a given Sanskrit sound may sometimes be represented by different symbols, con- sidered different forms of the same letter even though they might not look very much alike. Here are the letters in their basic forms: Vowels come first in the alphabet. Short vowels: a i u   a i u r. .l Long vowels: aA I U  e ao eaO ¯a¯ı¯u¯r. e o ai au The alphabetical order of vowels is a aA i I u U    e eao aO — note that  and  are rare. Consonants are organized by place of articulation.

where unvoiced unaspirate unvoiced aspirate voiced unaspirate voiced aspirate nasal velar k ka K kha g ga G gha R na¯ palatal Ê ca C cha j ja J jha  na˜ retroflex V t.a W t.ha Ú d. a Y d. ha Z n. a dental t ta T tha Ú da D dha n na labial p pa P pha º ba B bha m ma

The semivowels follow: y r l v ya ra la va. Then the sibilants: f q s h ´sas. a sa ha. The symbol , (called Evsg , visarga) is a hissing sound, with a sort of faint echo of the vowel just before it, almost a hiccup: a, sounds like aha, i, sounds like ihi. It is transliterated as h. . You will see it most often at the end of a word. The symbol m. , as in a\ or i\, is called an -vAr, anusv¯ara. It is shorthand for a nasal consonant, usually m. If there is a consonant immediately following, the anusvara¯ represents whatever nasal has the same place of articulation as the next consonant, so a\t = anta. To write a consonant without the accompanying a, perhaps at the end of a word, use the EvrAm (vir¯ama): for example k^ t^ r^ Vowels after consonants have different forms from their independent shapes: k^ + a = k (note the a is implicit) k^ + aA = kA k^ + i = Ek k^ + I = kF k^ + u = k k^ + U = k
k^ +  = k k^ + e = k k^ + ao = ko k^ + e = k{ k^ + aO = kO Consonants in clusters may also have different forms, sometimes quite different from the forms of the letters by themselves: Et¤Et tis. .thati “he stands”; mhA(mA mah¯atm¯a “great-souled”; mAjA r, m¯arj¯arah. “cat”; aE"Et ™v, aks. iti sr´ avah. “imperishable fame”; âAnm^ jn˜ ¯anam “knowledge”

The numerals 0–9 are as follows: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 form transliterate as IPA sounds like a a 2 u in cut, not like an English ‘a’ sound aA a¯ a a in father i i i i in pit I ¯ı i: i in machine u u u u in put U u¯ u: u in rude  r. r -ir- in bird ˙  r¯. ¯r like  but longer ˙  l. l like -le in bottle e e e˙ e in hey ao o o o in go e ai 5i ai in aisle aO au 5u au in Maui, ow in now k ka k k in maker K kha kh k in king, with aspiration g ga g g in digger G gha gh g in give, but with aspiration R na¯ N ng in sing Ê ca tç ch in chill C cha tçh like Ê but aspirated j ja dJ j in jump J jha dJh like j but aspirated  na˜ ñ n in onion V t.a ú like t in sting but with tongue curled back h W t.ha ú like t in time, with aspiration, with tongue curled back Ú d. a ã like d in dare but with tongue curled back h Y d. ha ã like d in dare but aspirated and with tongue curled back Z n. a ï like n in now but with tongue curled back t ta t like t in sting but with tongue forward to teeth T tha th like t in time, with aspiration, with tongue forward to teeth Ú da d like d in dare with tongue forward to teeth D dha dh like d in dare but aspirated and tongue forward to teeth n na n like n in now but with tongue forward to teeth p pa p p in apple P pha ph p in pear, with aspiration º ba b b in able B bha bh b in boy, but with aspiration m ma m m in mother y ya j y in you r ra r r in run l la l l in love v va B v in violin f sa´ ç like sh in show, but more palatal q s.a ù like sh in show, but with tongue curled back s sa s s in say h ha h h in heavy