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Classical Sanskrit distinguishes about 36 phonemes. There is, however, some allophony and the writing systems used for Sanskrit generally indicate this, thus distinguishing 48 sounds.

The sounds are traditionally listed in the order vowels (Ach), diphthongs (Hal), anusvara and visarga, plosives (Sparśa) and nasals (starting in the back of the mouth and moving forward), and finally the liquids and fricatives, written in IAST as follows (see the tables below for details):

a ā i ī u ū ṛ ṝ ḷ ḹ ; e ai o au
ṃ ḥ
k kh g gh ṅ; c ch j jh ñ; ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ; t th d dh n; p ph b bh m
y r l v; ś ṣ s h

An alternate traditional ordering is that of the Shiva Sutra of Pāṇini.

[edit] Vowels

See also: R-colored vowel#Vocalic R in Sanskrit

The vowels of Classical Sanskrit with their word-initial Devanagari symbol, diacritical mark with the consonant प् (/p/), pronunciation (of the vowel alone and of /p/+vowel) in IPA, equivalent in IAST and ITRANS and (approximate) equivalents in English are listed below:

Letter प् Pronunciation Pronunciation with /p/ IAST equiv. ITRANS equiv. English equivalent (GA unless stated otherwise)
/ɐ/ or /ə/ /pɐ/ or /pə/ a a short near-open central vowel or schwa: u in bunny or a in about
पा /aː/ /paː/ ā A long open back unrounded vowel: a in father (RP
पि /i/ /pi/ i i short close front unrounded vowel: e in england
पी /iː/ /piː/ ī I long close front unrounded vowel: ee in feet
पु /u/ /pu/ u u short close back rounded vowel: oo in foot
पू /uː/ /puː/ ū U long close back rounded vowel: oo in cool
पृ /ɻ/ /pɻ/ R short retroflex approximant: r in burl
पॄ /ɻː/ /pɻː/ RR long retroflex approximant r in burl
पॢ /ɭ/ /pɭ/ LR short retroflex lateral approximant (no English equivalent)
पॣ /ɭː/ /pɭː/ LRR long retroflex lateral approximant
पे /eː/ /peː/ e e long close-mid front unrounded vowel: a in bane (some speakers)
पै /əi/ /pəi/ ai ai a long diphthong: i in ice, i in kite (Canadian English)
पो /oː/ /poː/ o o long close-mid back rounded vowel: o in bone (some speakers)
पौ /əu/ /pəu/ au au a long diphthong: Similar to the ou in house (Canadian English)

The long vowels are pronounced twice as long as their short counterparts. Also, there exists a third, extra-long length for most vowels, called pluti, which is used in various cases, but particularly in the vocative. The pluti is not accepted by all grammarians.

The vowels /e/ and /o/ continue as allophonic variants of Proto-Indo-Iranian /ai/, /au/ and are categorized as diphthongs by Sanskrit grammarians even though they are realized phonetically as simple long vowels. (See above).

Additional points:

[edit] Consonants

IAST and Devanagari notations are given, with approximate IPA values in square brackets.

Labial
Ōshtya
Labiodental
Dantōshtya
Dental
Dantya
Retroflex
Mūrdhanya
Palatal
Tālavya
Velar
Kanthya
Glottal
Stop
Sparśa
Unaspirated
Alpaprāna
p [p] b [b] t [t̪] d [d̪] [ʈ] [ɖ] c [c͡ç] j [ɟ͡ʝ] k [k] g [g]
Aspirated
Mahāprāna
ph [pʰ] bh [bʱ] th [t̪ʰ] dh [d̪ʱ] ṭh [ʈʰ] ḍh [ɖʱ] ch [c͡çʰ] jh [ɟ͡ʝʱ] kh [kʰ] gh [gʱ]
Nasal
Anunāsika
m [m] n [n̪] [ɳ] ñ [ɲ] [ŋ]
Semivowel
Antastha
v [ʋ] y [j]
Liquid
Drava
l [l] r [r]
Fricative
Ūshman
s [s̪] [ʂ] ś [ɕ] [h] h [ɦ]

The table below shows the traditional listing of the Sanskrit consonants with the (nearest) equivalents in English (as pronounced in General American and Received Pronunciation) and Spanish. Each consonant shown below is deemed to be followed by the neutral vowel schwa (/ə/), and is named in the table as such.

Plosives – Sprshta
Unaspirated
Voiceless
Alpaprāna Śvāsa
Aspirated
Voiceless
Mahāprāna Śvāsa
Unaspirated
Voiced
Alpaprāna Nāda
Aspirated
Voiced
Mahāprāna Nāda
Nasal
Anunāsika Nāda
Velar
Kantya

/kə/; English: skip

/kʰə/; English: cat

/gə/; English: game

/gʱə/; somewhat similar to English: doghouse

/ŋə/; English: ring
Palatal
Tālavya

/cə/; English: exchange

/cʰə/; English: church

/ɟə/; ≈English: jam

/ɟʱə/; somewhat similar to English: hedgehog

/ɲə/; English: bench
Retroflex
Mūrdhanya

/ʈə/; No English equivalent

/ʈʰə/; No English equivalent

/ɖə/; No English equivalent

/ɖʱə/; No English equivalent

/ɳə/; No English equivalent
Apico-Dental
Dantya

/t̪ə/; Spanish: tomate

/t̪ʰə/; Aspirated /t̪/

/d̪ə/; Spanish: donde

/d̪ʱə/; Aspirated /d̪/

/n̪ə/; English: name
Labial
Ōshtya

/pə/; English: spin

/pʰə/; English: pit

/bə/; English: bone

/bʱə/; somewhat similar to English: clubhouse

/mə/; English: mine
Non-Plosives/Sonorants
Palatal
Tālavya
Retroflex
Mūrdhanya
Dental
Dantya
Labial/
Glottal
Ōshtya
Approximant
Antastha

/jə/; English: you

/rə/; English: trip (Scottish English)

/l̪ə/; English: love
व (labio-dental)
/ʋə/; English: vase
Sibilant/
Fricative
Ūshman

/ɕə/; English: ship

/ʂə/; Retroflex form of /ʃ/

/s̪ə/; English: same
(glottal)
/ɦə/; English behind