Help:IPA for Sanskrit

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Sanskrit pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.

Sanskrit has many complex phonological processes, called sandhi, which alter sounds because of the presence of neighboring sounds at morpheme or word boundaries. See Sanskrit phonology and Shiksha for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Sanskrit.

Consonants IPA Nagari IAST English approximation b ब b about bʱ भ bh abhor ('h' not silent) tʃ च c chew tʃʰ छ ch Churchill (stress on 'h') d̪ द d this d̪ʱ ध dh roughly like old house ɖ ड ḍ roughly like border ɖʱ ढ ḍh roughly like birdhouse ɡ ग g again ɡʱ घ gh doghouse ɦ ह h head j य y yak d͡ʑ ज j juice d͡ʑʱ झ jh roughly like hedgehog k क k scan kʰ ख kh can l ल l leaf m म m much n न n tenth ɳ ण ṇ roughly like burnt ɲ ञ ñ roughly like canyon ŋ ङ ṅ bank p प p span pʰ फ ph pot r र r three (Scottish English) s स s sue ʂ ष ṣ worship ɕ श ś shoe t̪ त t stable t̪ʰ थ th table ʈ ट ṭ art ʈʰ ठ ṭh art history ʋ व v between wine and vine

Vowels IPA Nagari IAST English approximation ə अ, प a quota əi ऐ, पै ai Somewhat like bail əu औ, पौ au open (British English) aː आ, पा ā bra eː ए, पे e Somewhat like wait h ः ḥ ahead i इ, पि i happy iː ई, पी ī feet l̩ ऌ, पॢ ḷ Syllabic ‹l›: bottle l̩ː ॡ, पॣ ḹ Long syllabic ‹l› oː ओ, पो o old (Irish English) r̩ ऋ, पृ ṛ Syllabic ‹r›: better r̩ː ॠ, पॄ ṝ Long syllabic ‹r›: bird u उ, पु u look uː ऊ, पू ū loot  ̃ ँ, ं ṃ nasal vowel ([ãː], [õː], etc.) Suprasegmentals IPA Nagari IAST English equivalent ˈ◌ stress (placed before stressed syllable) ◌ː doubled consonant (placed after doubled consonant)

References

• Zieba, Maciej; Stiehl, Ulrich (June 9, 2002). "The Original Pronunciation of Sanskrit" (PDF). Ulrich Stiehl. Retrieved 27 September 2011.