{"id":3966,"date":"2018-05-04T09:08:39","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T09:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/koyil.org\/?page_id=3966"},"modified":"2018-05-04T09:08:39","modified_gmt":"2018-05-04T09:08:39","slug":"transliteration-pronunciation-guide","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/koyil.org\/index.php\/transliteration-pronunciation-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Transliteration\/Pronunciation Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u015ar\u012b\u1e25 \u015ar\u012bmath\u0113 \u015batak\u014dp\u0101ya nama\u1e25 \u015ar\u012bmath\u0113 r\u0101m\u0101nuj\u0101ya nama\u1e25 \u015ar\u012bmath varavaramunay\u0113 nama\u1e25 \u015ar\u012b v\u0101n\u0101chala mah\u0101munay\u0113 nama\u1e25<\/small><\/p>\n

\n

How we write<\/span> down Sanskrit words<\/h2>\n

Is is probably well known that the script that is traditionally used to write down Sanskrit (called Devanagari) has nearly twice as many letters than the Roman alphabet used to write European languages. To transliterate Sanskrit into the Roman alphabet, numerous systems have been introduced. In Indian studies, it is quite common to transliterate according to IAST (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration) and many groups (best known probably ISKCON, in our tradition the Sri Matham from Australia) are following this. This standard is employing so called diacritical marks, dots and bars over \/ under letters to signal that this letter, while sounding roughly similar to the \u201cplain\u201d Roman equivalent, has to be pronounced in a slightly a different way.<\/p>\n

However, the<\/span>se diacritical marks are bothersome to <\/span>type<\/span> on <\/span>most<\/span> devices and were for some time not reliably displayed when embedded in websites. So the vast majority of devotees and teachers in India does not use these marks but the so called Harvard-Kyoto Convention <\/span>(or an individual variant of it, there is no factual common standard). <\/span>Here,<\/span> capital letters and \/ <\/span>or <\/span> repetitions are used instead of marks on the letters. Example: one of the most important names of <\/span>G<\/span>od in our tradition is N\u0101r\u0101ya\u1e47a (<\/span>\u0928\u093e\u0930\u093e\u092f\u0923<\/span>). The \u201c\u0101\u201d means that this a should be <\/span>pronounced<\/span> twice <\/span>as long as <\/span>the length as a normal letter a in English. The \u201c\u1e47\u201d means that the n should be spelled retroflex, meaning that the tongue sho<\/span>uld be flexed backwards when <\/span>pronouncing<\/span> the letter. <\/span>This gives it more emphasis <\/span>and <\/span>a different sound <\/span>compared to a normal English \u201cn\u201d.<\/span> Now, at <\/span>books and articles from <\/span>koyil.org, you will usually see <\/span>\u0928\u093e\u0930\u093e\u092f\u0923 <\/span>transliterated<\/span> as nArAyaNa. <\/span>Here, the long \u201ca\u201d is indicated by \u201cA\u201d since no long \u201cn\u201d exist<\/span>s<\/span> in Sanskrit but an emphasized \u201cn\u201d is pretty common \u2013 th<\/span>e<\/span> emphasized \u201c<\/span>n\u201d is indicated by \u201cN\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

As koyil.org<\/a> has grown organically with contributions of many authors, we are using both a variant of Harvard-Kyoto and Diacritical – essentially depending on the preferences of the author and the target audience. Below is a reference table, where we given the Sanskrit letter, the diacritical and variants of the Harvard-Kyoto transliteration.<\/p>\n

Note that the table does not cover the transliteration of Tamil. Tamil shares many sounds with Sanskrit, in particular many vowels, but there are numerous intricacies in the Tamil alphabet that make the transliteration less straightforward. For example, a number letters change their sound depending on their environment, something that does only happen for two very specific letters in Sanskrit. Furthermore, Tamil has letters that are neither present in the Sanskrit nor in the Roman alphabet, most well known is probably the special “l” sound that occurs for example in the word Tamil (\u0ba4\u0bae\u0bbf\u0bb4\u0bcd) where we use “zh” to represent \u0bb4\u0bcd, the strong l in the end. It is one of our future projects to provide an equivalent table for Tamil, also covering the rules under which Tamil letters change their sound.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Sanskrit<\/p>\n

(and Hindi)<\/td>\n

Diacritial<\/td>\nHarvard-Kyoto (koyil.org)<\/td>\n\n

Sound difference to basic letter (roughly)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n

\n

\u0905<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

a<\/td>\na<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0906<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u0101<\/td>\nA<\/td>\nlong a<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0907<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

i<\/td>\ni<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0908<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u012b<\/td>\nI<\/td>\nlong i<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0909<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

u<\/td>\nu<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u090a<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u016b<\/td>\nU<\/td>\nlong u<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u090f<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

e<\/td>\ne<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u090b<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u1e5b<\/td>\nR<\/td>\nsound mix of r,i and u<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0960<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

r\u0323\u0304<\/td>\nRR<\/td>\nditto but long<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u090c<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u1e37<\/td>\nlR<\/td>\nspecial letter used vedic mantras<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0961<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

l\u0323\u0304<\/td>\nlRR<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0910<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

ai<\/td>\nai<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0913<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

o<\/td>\no<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0914<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

au<\/td>\nau<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0905\u0902<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u1e43<\/td>\naM<\/td>\nSound depends on surrounding letters<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0905\u0903<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u1e25<\/td>\naH, a:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0915<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

ka<\/td>\nka<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0916<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

kha<\/td>\nkha, ka<\/td>\naspirated<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0917<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

ga<\/td>\nga<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0918<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

gha<\/td>\ngha<\/td>\n\n

aspirated<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\u0919<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u1e45a<\/td>\nGa, na<\/td>\n\n

slightly more emphasis<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\u091a<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

ca, cha<\/td>\nca, cha<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u091b<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

cha, chha<\/td>\ncha, chha<\/td>\n\n

aspirated<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\u091c<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

ja<\/td>\nja<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u091d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

jha<\/td>\njha<\/td>\n\n

aspirated<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\u091e<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u00f1a<\/td>\nJa, Ga<\/td>\n\n

more emphasis<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\u091f<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u1e6da<\/td>\nTa<\/td>\n\n

\u201cclosed\u201d, less emphasis<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\u0920<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u1e6dha<\/td>\nTha<\/td>\n\n

\u201cclosed\u201d, aspirated<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\u0921<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u1e0da<\/td>\nDa<\/td>\n\n

\u201cclosed\u201d, less emphasis<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\u0922<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u1e0dha<\/td>\nDha<\/td>\n\n

\u201cclosed\u201d, aspirated<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\u0923<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u1e47a<\/td>\nNa<\/td>\n\n

\u201ccloses\u201d, more emphasis<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\u0924<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

ta<\/td>\nta<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0925<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

tha<\/td>\ntha<\/td>\naspirated<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0926<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

da<\/td>\nda<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0927<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

dha<\/td>\ndha<\/td>\naspirated<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0928<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

na<\/td>\nna<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u092a<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

pa<\/td>\npa<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u092b<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

pha<\/td>\npha, pa<\/td>\naspirated<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u092c<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

ba<\/td>\nba<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u092d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

bha<\/td>\nbha<\/td>\naspirated<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u092e<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

ma<\/td>\nma<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u092f<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

ya<\/td>\nya<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0930<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

ra<\/td>\nra<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0932<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

la<\/td>\nla<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0935<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

va<\/td>\nva<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0936<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u015ba<\/td>\nZa, Sa<\/td>\nlike sch in German<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0937<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u1e63a<\/td>\nSa, sha<\/td>\nditto, but less emphasis<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0938<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

sa<\/td>\nsa<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

\u0939<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

ha<\/td>\nha<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The letters with a grey background <\/span>are consonants. If <\/span>pronounced<\/span> separately or without being followed by a vowel<\/span>, an \u201ca\u201d is added. <\/span>For example, <\/span>the well know Hare Krishna mantra contains the word \u201chare\u201d. <\/span>The Devanagari is<\/span> \u0939\u0930\u0947<\/span>. The first letter is easily found <\/span>in the table <\/span>above meaning \u201cha\u201d. However, “hi” would be written as \u0939\u0940 – so in actuality, \u0939 means just “h”. The second letter is a combination of \u201cr\u201d and \u201ce\u201d (the line on top <\/span>of the \u201cr\u201d <\/span>means \u201ce\u201d). So, if we just look at the letters, we actually read “hre” – but because the “a” is automatically added after the “h” if no other vowel follows, <\/span>it is actually \u201chare\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

R<\/span>eaders wanting to learn the exact pronunciation of Sanskrit may start with a series of Youtube videos by Conan Mishler beginning with this video:<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WIAJ8QOIVlk <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Sign\"<\/p>\n

Adiyen M\u0101dhava R\u0101m\u0101nuja Dasan<\/p>\n

archived in https:\/\/koyil.org<\/a><\/p>\n

pram\u0113yam (goal) \u2013 https:\/\/koyil.org\/<\/a>
\npram\u0101\u1e47am (scriptures) \u2013 http:\/\/granthams.koyil.org<\/a>
\npram\u0101th\u0101 (preceptors) \u2013 http:\/\/acharyas.koyil.org<\/a>
\n\u015ar\u012bVai\u1e63\u1e47ava education\/kids portal \u2013 http:\/\/pillai.koyil.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u015ar\u012b\u1e25 \u015ar\u012bmath\u0113 \u015batak\u014dp\u0101ya nama\u1e25 \u015ar\u012bmath\u0113 r\u0101m\u0101nuj\u0101ya nama\u1e25 \u015ar\u012bmath varavaramunay\u0113 nama\u1e25 \u015ar\u012b v\u0101n\u0101chala mah\u0101munay\u0113 nama\u1e25 How we write down Sanskrit words Is is probably well known that the script that is traditionally used to write down Sanskrit (called Devanagari) has nearly twice as many letters than the Roman alphabet used to write European languages. To transliterate … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3966","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koyil.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koyil.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koyil.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koyil.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koyil.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koyil.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3966\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koyil.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}