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):
An alternate traditional ordering is that of the Shiva Sutra of Pāṇini.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| अ | प | /ɐ/ or /ə/ | /pɐ/ or /pə/ | a | a | short near-open central vowel or schwa: u in bunny or a in about |
| आ | पा | /aː/ | /paː/ | ā | A | long open back unrounded vowel: a in father (RP |
| इ | पि | /i/ | /pi/ | i | i | short close front unrounded vowel: e in england |
| ई | पी | /iː/ | /piː/ | ī | I | long close front unrounded vowel: ee in feet |
| उ | पु | /u/ | /pu/ | u | u | short close back rounded vowel: oo in foot |
| ऊ | पू | /uː/ | /puː/ | ū | U | long close back rounded vowel: oo in cool |
| ऋ | पृ | /ɻ/ | /pɻ/ | ṛ | R | short retroflex approximant: r in burl |
| ॠ | पॄ | /ɻː/ | /pɻː/ | ṝ | RR | long retroflex approximant r in burl |
| ऌ | पॢ | /ɭ/ | /pɭ/ | ḷ | LR | short retroflex lateral approximant (no English equivalent) |
| ॡ | पॣ | /ɭː/ | /pɭː/ | ḹ | LRR | long retroflex lateral approximant |
| ए | पे | /eː/ | /peː/ | e | e | long close-mid front unrounded vowel: a in bane (some speakers) |
| ऐ | पै | /əi/ | /pəi/ | ai | ai | a long diphthong: i in ice, i in kite (Canadian English) |
| ओ | पो | /oː/ | /poː/ | o | o | long close-mid back rounded vowel: o in bone (some speakers) |
| औ | 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:
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 प [p] | b ब [b] | t त [t̪] | d द [d̪] | ṭ ट [ʈ] | ḍ ड [ɖ] | c च [c͡ç] | j ज [ɟ͡ʝ] | k क [k] | g ग [g] | |||
| Aspirated Mahāprāna |
ph फ [pʰ] | bh भ [bʱ] | th थ [t̪ʰ] | dh ध [d̪ʱ] | ṭh ठ [ʈʰ] | ḍh ढ [ɖʱ] | ch छ [c͡çʰ] | jh झ [ɟ͡ʝʱ] | kh ख [kʰ] | gh घ [gʱ] | ||||
| Nasal Anunāsika |
m म [m] | n न [n̪] | ṇ ण [ɳ] | ñ ञ [ɲ] | ṅ ङ [ŋ] | |||||||||
| Semivowel Antastha |
v व [ʋ] | y य [j] | ||||||||||||
| Liquid Drava |
l ल [l] | r र [r] | ||||||||||||
| Fricative Ūshman |
s स [s̪] | ṣ ष [ʂ] | ś श [ɕ] | ḥ ः [h] | h ह [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.
| Unaspirated Voiceless Alpaprāna Śvāsa |
Aspirated Voiceless Mahāprāna Śvāsa |
Unaspirated Voiced Alpaprāna Nāda |
Aspirated Voiced Mahāprāna Nāda |
Nasal Anunāsika Nāda |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Velar Kantya |
क /kə/; English: skip |
ख /kʰə/; English: cat |
ग /gə/; English: game |
घ /gʱə/; somewhat similar to English: doghouse |
ङ /ŋə/; English: ring |
| Palatal Tālavya |
च /cə/; English: exchange |
छ /cʰə/; English: church |
ज /ɟə/; ≈English: jam |
झ /ɟʱə/; somewhat similar to English: hedgehog |
ञ /ɲə/; English: bench |
| Retroflex Mūrdhanya |
ट /ʈə/; No English equivalent |
ठ /ʈʰə/; No English equivalent |
ड /ɖə/; No English equivalent |
ढ /ɖʱə/; No English equivalent |
ण /ɳə/; No English equivalent |
| Apico-Dental Dantya |
त /t̪ə/; Spanish: tomate |
थ /t̪ʰə/; Aspirated /t̪/ |
द /d̪ə/; Spanish: donde |
ध /d̪ʱə/; Aspirated /d̪/ |
न /n̪ə/; English: name |
| Labial Ōshtya |
प /pə/; English: spin |
फ /pʰə/; English: pit |
ब /bə/; English: bone |
भ /bʱə/; somewhat similar to English: clubhouse |
म /mə/; English: mine |
| Palatal Tālavya |
Retroflex Mūrdhanya |
Dental Dantya |
Labial/ Glottal Ōshtya |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approximant Antastha |
य /jə/; English: you |
र /rə/; English: trip (Scottish English) |
ल /l̪ə/; English: love |
व (labio-dental) /ʋə/; English: vase |
| Sibilant/ Fricative Ūshman |
श /ɕə/; English: ship |
ष /ʂə/; Retroflex form of /ʃ/ |
स /s̪ə/; English: same |
ह (glottal) /ɦə/; English behind |
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