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Guide
Lesson 9: Letters not from Sanskrit
INTRODUCTION
After completing Lesson 8, whatever knowledge was
needed to read Sanskrit was taught. Just by Lessons 1 to 8, one is able to read
Sanskrit. However, Sanskrit is not the only script that uses Devanagari. Hindi, Marathi, Braja
Bhasa, and other languages in
GALLERY OF
LETTERS AND SOUNDS
Please keep in mind, as these are not Sanskrit
letters, there is no real system of transliterating them.
Figure 9.1
The letter “q” is a “ka” sound pronounced using the
Adam’s apple.
The letter “.kh” that
sounds like a Yiddish “h” or the “ch” in Loch Ness
monster.
The letter “.g” is a sounds
like a weak “g” and “gh.” Some people transliterate
this as “gha.”
The letter “z” is pronounced the same way as it is
said in English.
The letters “.ra and .rha” are like an attempt to say “ra”
but sounds like “ḍa.” This letter is used
frequently in Bengali and Hindi.
The letter “f” is pronounced the way as it is said
in English.
The letter “.l” is a letter that was once used in
ancient Vedic Sanskrit. It is not used in classical and contemporary Sanskrit.
Currently, it is found in Gujarati and Marathi which almost sounding like a
poorly articulated “ra.” It actually ends up sounding
like a very weak “la.”
The letter “õ” is an English short “o” sound like
the first “o” in “doctor.”
The letter “ē” is a long Sanskrit “e” sound
found in Dravidian languages.
The letter “æ” is a letter sounding like the English
“a” used in the word “apple.”
The letter “ō” is a long Sanskrit “o” sound
found in Dravidian languages.
As this is quite straightforward, making words will
apply the same rules as previously mentioned. Since this chapter is mostly a
supplemental one, no practice exercises will be given to this page.
UPDATED: June 16, 2009