Pronunciation of Sanskrit words

Essential Explanation

Since the Sanskrit alphabet consists of a number of letters and sounds that do not exist in the Latin alphabet, certain additional signs, so-called diacritics are required in the Latin script for the representation and transliteration of these sounds. In Sanskrit each letter represents one and only one sound. In English the letter a for example may indicate many sounds (e.g. fat, fate, fare, far) but not so in Sanskrit. Sanskrit follows very regular rules and contains no “silent letters” such as those in English.

There are five different kinds of diacritical signs:

1. a horizontal line on top of a vowel. E.g. ā
2. a dot on top for the guttural nasal sound ṅ
3. a dot underneath a letter. Eg. ṭ
4. a tilde for the palatal nasal sound ñ
5. an accent for the palatal sibilant ś

Pronunciation:

• each syllable received approximately the same emphasis; vowels are lengthened rather than stressed.
• a horizontal line on top of a vowel (e.g. ā) indicates a long vowel. Long vowels are held for about twice the length than their corresponding short vowels. E.g. a is pronounced like the "a" in "fat", and ā is pronounced like the "a" in "father" or as in "harm". This becomes apparent, e.g. with the words Tathāgata or Padmākara. Here, the emphasis lies on ā.
• e, o, ai, and au can be counted as long vowels and thus the vocal length is prolonged as well. This becomes apparent, e.g. with the word Vairocana. Thus, ai and o are held longer than the two following short a's.
• ṛ is counted as a vowel in Sanskrit. The sound of ṛ is a combination of "r" followed by a short "ee"-sound, e.g. as in "rich", unlike "reef". This becomes apparent, e.g. with the word Amṛta.
• a dot on top for the guttural nasal sound ṅ. E.g. like in wrong. This becomes apparent, e.g. with the word Saṅgha.
• a dot underneath for reflection. In the case of the letters ḷ, ṭ, ḍ, ṇ, ṃ, the difference is too subtle, so we can neglect this and pronounce the letter as if there was no dot.
• the ḥ is an unvoiced breath following a vowel. This becomes apparent, e.g. with the syllable āḥ.
• an accent for the palatal sibilant ś equals a "sh"-sound, like in fresh. This becomes apparent, e.g. with the words Śūnyatā, Śākyamuni or Śāripūtra.
• the sound is very similar to ś. This becomes apparent, e.g. with the word Śeṣa.
• a tilde for the palatal nasal sound ñ. This sounds equals ny, like in canyon. This becomes apparent, e.g. with the word Mañjuśrī.
• The aspirated consonants (kh, gh, ch, jh, th, dh, th, dh, ph, bh) are pronounced as the consonant plus a noticeable aspiration of breath.
• an additional important point for English speakers is that the Sanskrit consonant ca is pronounced like the ch in chip and not like the ca in catch. This becomes apparent, e.g. with the word cāmara or Cakrasaṃvara.

Commonly used conjunct consonants, that is a combination of two or three consonants, are:

• kṣa pronounced kscha. This becomes apparent, e.g. with the words rākṣasa and kṣatriya.
• tra pronounced like the tra in trap. This becomes apparent, e.g. with the word mantra.
• jñā is pronounced "j-nya". This becomes apparent, e.g. with the words jñāna (pronounced j-nyana) and prajñāpāramitā (pronounced praj-nya-paramita)

Detailed Explanation

Sanskrit is made up of 49 phonemes, that is distinct units of sound. These can be grouped into thirteen vowels, thirty-three consonants and two extra sounds.

The Thirteen Vowels:

The vowels, that is, sounds that can be voiced on their own, are: a (as in but), ā (as in mom), i (as the “i” in bit), ī (as as the “ee” beet), u (as the “u” put), ū (as the “oo” in pool), ṛ and ṝ (as the “ri” in rig), and ḷ and ḹ (as the “l” in sickle). The diphthongs, that is combined vowel sounds, are: e (as the “a” in gate), ai (as the “ie” in pie), o (as the “o” in go), and au (as the “ou” in loud).

As we have seen like the Roman alphabet, the Sanskrit alphabet has the vowels: a, e, i, o and u. In addition, Sanskrit adds long vowels of ā, ī and ū. Furthermore, ai and au are added. What may come as a surprise to us, is that Sanskrit also has ṛ and ḷ and their corresponding long forms ṝ and ḹ as vowels.

The Thirty-three Consonants:

Similar to the Tibetan alphabet, the Sanskrit consonants are arranged in five groups according to where they are produced, beginning from the throat and moving forward toward the lips:

1. The Velars or Gutturals, produced in the throat, are k, kh, g, gh, and ṅ. The first, k, is a hard guttural. The second, kh, is aspirated, because it pushes out air as it is sounded. The third, g, is a softened guttural. The fourth, gh, is soft and aspirated. And the fifth, ṅ, is a nasal guttural that sounds like the “ng” in wrong. This pattern is followed for the subsequent groups.
2. The Palatals are produced at the rear of the mouth, by the palate. They are c, pronounced like the “ch” in chip, ch (aspirated), j, jh, and ñ (pronounced as “ny” in canyon).
3. The Cerebral or Retroflex consonants are produced by curling the tongue to touch the roof of the mouth. These are ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh, and the nasal, ṇ.
4. The Dentals are produced by having the tongue touch the back of the teeth. These are t, th, d, dh, and n.
5. The Labials are sounded with the lips. These are p, ph (as the p-h in cup-handle), b, bh, and the dental nasal, m.

Furthermore, there are four semi-vowels: y, r, l, and v.

Then, there are also three sibilants: ś, pronounced like sh in shade, ṣ which sounds similar to ś, but which is a retroflex produced by placing the tongue at the roof of the mouth, and s. Finally, there is a voiced aspirate, h.

The Two Extra Sounds:

The two extra sounds are: an unvoiced aspirate, ḥ, known as the ‘’visarga’’, which echoes the preceding vowel, and ṃ, known as the ‘’anusvāra’’, which nasalizes the preceding vowel.

References

• Goldman Robert. Devavāṇīpraveśikā: An Introduction to the Sanskrit Language. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2011.
• Deshpande Madhav. Samskrta-Subodhini: A Sanskrit Primer. Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan, 1997.
• Rodrigues Hillary. Hinduism: The Ebook. JBE Online Books, 2006.
• Charles Wikner. A practical Sanskrit Introductory. June, 1996.

Internal Links

• Rigpa Phonetic Guidelines
• Editorial Guidelines

External Links

• Sanskrit Pronunciation Guidelines of the Nālandā Translation Comitee
• Overview of the different Sanskrit / Devanagari transliteration schemes
• Conversion tool for different Sanskrit / Devanagari transcription systems