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Self-Discovery Portal
Sanskrit Pronunciation Guide
The following simplified guide to pronunciation of Sanskrit phonemes is largely from the work of Charles Wikner, with help from Indian friends Vikas Alathur and Anima Pundeer. I then simplified the scheme based on my (mis)understanding and for ease of recall. Sanskrit sounds are produced primarily from one of five parts of the mouth cavity: guttural (from the back of the mouth as it narrows to form the throat; the 'a' vowel is an example) and successively toward the front of the mouth, palatal ('i'), cerebral ('r'), dental (behind the teeth; 'l'), and labial (with the lips; 'u'). Wikner lumps the cerebral and dental consonants together, since the sounds are difficult for the Westerner to distinguish. (Cerebrals are written with a dot under them in Sanskrit and are capitalized in the ITRANS representation, which Wickner otherwise follows.) See A Practical Sanskrit Introductory by Charles Wikner for more detailed information.
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Phon
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Approximate pronunciation:
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a
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u
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u as in but; NOT bat; final 'a' is not pronounced
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a
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aa
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a as in arm, harm; NOT ham; long-a, sometimes written as a with a horizontal line over it; indicates duration, NOT two syllables
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ai
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ai
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i as in fight, aisle, pie
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au
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au
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down, hound
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b
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b
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be, cab, imbibe; labial
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bh
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bh
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clubhouse ('club-bhouse'); labial
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c, ch
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ch
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cello, chair, church; palatal
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ch
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chh
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like the 'chh' in coach-horse ('coa-chhorse'); palatal
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d
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d
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day, dog, god; cerebral, dental
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dh
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dh
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redhead ('red-dhead'); cerebral, dental
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e
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e
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English long-a as in fate, fair, eight
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g
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g
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goal, give, bug; guttural
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gh
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gh
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loghouse ('log-ghouse'); guttural
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h(a)
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h
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unvoiced aspirate: like the initial release of breath before the 'h' in hurry; or, following a consonant with a puff of audible breath before the next sound begins, as in pit and kit
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h
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H
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an unvoiced breath following a vowel; e.g., aH would be pronounced as the 'uh' in uhh!
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i
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i
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i as in bit, pink
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i, ee
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ee
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ee as in peep, meet; long-i, sometimes written as i with a horizontal line over it; indicates duration, NOT two syllables
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j
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j
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just, jolly, joy; palatal
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jh
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jh
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hedgehog ('hej-jhog'); palatal
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jn
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j^n
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whenever j is followed by palatal ^n, they are pronounced as one syllable j^n (the 'j' much like the French j in 'Jean', along with the strongly nasalized ^n); NOT ja-na (two syllables)
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k
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k
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kiss, kiln, back; guttural
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kh
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kh
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bunkhouse ('bung-khouse'); guttural
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ksh
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k^sh
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whenever k is followed by cerebral sh, they are pronounced as one syllable k^sh; NOT ka-sha (two syllables)
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l, li
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l^
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table for the vowel 'l'; l^d would be uld, NOT lid
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l(a)
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l
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luck for the consonant (partial vowel); dental
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m
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m
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amble, mumble; labial
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m
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M
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a nasal sound following a vowel; e.g., aM would be pronounced as the 'um' in numb
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n
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n
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gentle, hand, gain; cerebral, dental
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n
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^n
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enjoy, canyon, pinch; palatal; sometimes written with a tilde (~) over the n or as N^
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n, ng
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ng
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sing, long, tongue; guttural; sometimes written as n with a dot under it or as JN
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o
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o
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between owe and awe
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p
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p
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pick, pat, tap; labial
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ph
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ph
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uphill ('up-phill'); labial; NOT 'ph' as in phone
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r, ri
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r^
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acre for the vowel 'r'; r^d would be urd, NOT rid
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r(a)
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r
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rum for the consonant (partial vowel); cerebral
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s
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s
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seek, kiss; dental
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s
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sh^
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like the German ich, reich; palatal; sometimes written as an s with an acute accent over it
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sh
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sh
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ship, wish; cerebral; sometimes written as s with a dot under it
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t
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t
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tub, top, cut; cerebral, dental
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th
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th
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anthill ('an-thill'); cerebral, dental; NOT 'th' as in this
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u
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u
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u as in put
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u, oo
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oo
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oo as in boot; long-u, sometimes written as u with a horizontal line over it
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v(a)
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v
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water (labial); somewhat between the English 'v' and 'w' sounds; sometimes written as w in the English
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y(a)
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y
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yum; palatal
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