Wikipedia key to pronunciation of Sanskrit
The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Vedic and Classical Sanskrit pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-sa }} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters .
See shiksha for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Sanskrit.
Key
Consonants
IPA [1]
Nagari [1]
IAST [1] [2]
English approximation
b
ब
b
ab out
bʱ
भ
bh
clubh ouse
ɕ
श
ś
sh eep
d
द
d
d o
dʱ
ध
dh
redh ead
dʑ
ज
j
j uice
dʑʱ
झ
jh
hedgeh og
ɖ
ड
ḍ
American English bird
ɖʱ
ढ
ḍh
American English birdh ouse
ɡ
ग
g
ag ain
ɡʱ
घ
gh
logh ouse
ɦ
ह
h
ah ead
j
य
y
y ak
k
क
k
sk in
kʰ
ख
kh
k in
l
ल
l
l eaf
m
म
m
m uch
n
न
n
ten th
ɲ
ञ
ñ
en joyable[3]
ɳ
ण
ṇ
American English burn [3]
ŋ
ङ
ṅ
ban k[3]
p
प
p
sp an
pʰ
फ
ph
p an
r [4]
र
r
Indian r oti
s
स
s
s oup
ʂ
ष
ṣ
American English worsh ip
t
त
t
st able
tʰ
थ
th
t able
ʈ
ट
ṭ
st able
ʈʰ
ठ
ṭh
t able
tɕ
च
c
rich es
tɕʰ
छ
ch
ch ew
ʋ
व
v
between w ine and v ine
Vowels [3] [5]
IPA
Nagari
IAST [2]
English approximation
ɐ
अ , प
a
comma
aː
आ , पा
ā
bra
ɪ
इ , पि
i
si t
iː
ई , पी
ī
fee t
ʊ
उ , पु
u
loo k
uː
ऊ , पू
ū
loo t
eː
ए , पे
e
Scottish wai t
ɐːi̯ [6]
ऐ , पै
ai
hi
oː
ओ , पो
o
Scottish o ld
ɐːu̯ [7]
औ , पौ
au
how
Syllabic Consonants
r̩ [8]
ऋ , पृ
ṛ
Possibly like bir d
r̩ː [9]
ॠ , पॄ
ṝ
longer ṛ
l̩ [10]
ऌ, पॢ
ḷ
bottle
Vowel Diacritics
◌̃
ँ
◌̃/m̐
nasal vowel [ɐ̃] , [ãː] , [õː] , etc.)[3]
h
ः[11]
ḥ
head
See also
Notes
^ a b c Devanagari consonant letters such as क have the inherent vowel अ a . Thus, क is pronounced ka , even without any vowel sign added. But the IPA and IAST shown here have the consonant k only and do not include the vowel 'a'.
^ a b c Comparison of IAST with ISO 15919 transliteration.
^ a b c d e Vowels may occur nasalised as an allophone of the nasal consonants in certain positions: see anusvara and chandrabindu .
^ /r/ may be phonetically realised as [ɽ], [ɾ] or [ɾ̪] in Classical Sanskrit.
^ Sanskrit distinguishes between long and short vowels . Each monophthong has a long and short phoneme. The diphthongs , historically /əi, aːi, əu, aːu/ , also have a difference in quality : [e, ei, o, ou] . Rarely, vowels may be extra-long .
^ [ai], [ɐi] or [ɛi] in Classical Sanskrit.
^ [au], [ɐu] or [ɔu] in Classical Sanskrit.
^ [ɻĭ] or [ɾɪ] for most modern speakers. [rŭ] for southern speakers.
^ [ri] or [ɽiː] for most modern speakers. [ru] for southern speakers.
^ [lrĭ] for most modern speakers. [lĭ] in Bengali and Maithili regions.
^ Visarga, added after a vowel.
^ In Classical Sanskrit , stress was predictable by syllable weight : counting from the end of a word, the second-last was stressed if heavy (having a long vowel or a coda consonant); if it was light, the third-last was stressed if heavy; otherwise, stress fell on the fourth-last syllable. Vedic Sanskrit , in contrast, possessed an unpredictable pitch accent .
References
Comparisons Introductory guides