Sanskrit Pronunciation

Sanskrit

Most of the ancient texts from India are written in Sanskrit (saṃskṛta). It’s one of oldest known languages and is derived from the Indo-European root. The importance of preserving Sanskrit keywords is that they link directly back to what the ancient seers (ṛṣis) said. This helps maintain the lineage of wisdom and avoid cultural appropriation.

Pronunciation

अ a	आ ā	इ i	ई ī	उ u	ऊ ū	ऋ ṛ	ॠ ṝ	ऌ ḷ	ए e
ऎ ai	ओ o	औ au	अं aṃ	अः aḥ	क ka	ख kha	ग ga	घ gha	ङ ṅa
च ca	छ cha	ज ja	झ jha	ञ ña	ट ṭa	ठ ṭha	ड ḍa	ढ ḍha	ण ṇa
त ta	थ tha	द da	ध dha	न na	प pa	फ pha	ब ba	भ bha	म ma
य ya	र ra	ल la	व va	श śa	ष ṣa	स sa	ह ha

Table 7: Devanāgarī & IAST Letters

The Sanskrit words in this website are transliterated from Devanāgarī into IAST (International Alphabet for Sanskrit Transliteration). This makes them accessible in English. But there’s a slight difference in pronunciation.

First, let’s review the vowels.


a	is pronounced “uh,” as in “bud.”
ā	is pronounced “ah,” as in “father.”
e	is pronounced like the “ay” in “day.”
i	is pronounced like the “i” in “bid.”
ī	is pronounced like the “ee” in “meet.”
u	is pronounced like the “oo” in “took.”
ū	is pronounced like the “oo” in “tooth.”
ṛ	is pronounced like the “ri” in “rig.”
ai	is pronounced like “eye” or the “ay” in “day.”
au	is pronounced like the “o” in “dome.”

Next, let’s review the consonants.

c	is pronounced “ch,” as in “chat.”
ś, ṣ	are pronounced “sh,” as in “ship.”
ṃ	is pronounced like the “n” in “song.”
jña	is pronounced “gya” or “nya.”

Consonants with a dot under them are pronounced with the tongue touching the roof of the mouth. For consonants followed by an “h,” the “h” is pronounced, thereby softening the consonant.