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LEARN SANSKRIT -- MODULE-1A

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Dr. Y.N. RAO

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THE SANSKRIT ALPHABET -- s<Skt v[Rmala

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1.1. The Sansrit Language is the most ancient language of India.

The first ever available literature of this countryThe Vedas were
written in this language. It is the mother of almost all the Indian
Languages. While all the Modern Indian Languages under the IndoAryan Language Family are the direct descendants of the Sanskrit
Language, the four South Indian Languages, viz., Tamil, Telugu,
Kannada and Malayalam under the Indo-Dravidian Language
Family are highly influenced by it.
1.2. The Sanskrit Language is written in the script called the
Devangar Script (de
devnagrI ilip> - devangar lipi). Other Indian

script.

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Languages, viz., Hindi, the National Language of India and Marathi,

and Nepali, the National Language of Nepal are also written in this
The Headline (izrae
izraereoa -irorekh) above

each letter

is

"D

r.

Y.

N.

RA

mandatory. It not only brings beauty to the script but also

maintains alignment of the letters in a word. The headline is to
be given above the letter after writing the letter concerned in case
of a single letter, or above all the letters concerned after writing
all the letters in case of a word.

THE SANSKRIT ALPHABET

(s<
s<Skt v[Rmala - saskuta

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varaml):

This is a

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Each letter of the alphabet represents one sound.

phonetic alphabet.

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The Sanskrit Alphabet is composed of two parts, viz., (a) Vowels

(Svra>
Svra> - svar) and (b) Consonants (Vynain
Vynain - vyajanni).

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(a) The VOWELS (Svra>

Svra> - svar) are as under :-

@ @e Aae AaE

e ai o au

Anusvara (AnuSvar> - anusvra)

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A Aa # $ % ^ \

RA

"D

r.

Y.

N.

A>
Visarga (ivsgR> - visarga)

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(b) The CONSONANTS (Vynain

Vynain - vyajanni) are as under :-

The first twentyfive Consonants, k

k k (ka) to m!
m! m (ma) are

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divided into five groups(vgaR

vgaR> - varg), each consisting of five

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letters, according to the various parts of the mouth with the

help of which they are pronounced. They are:

o!

g!

"!

'
Gutturals

(k
k- vgR>)

kh

gh

c
c-Group

c!

j!

H!

|!
Palatals

(c
c- vgR>)

ch j

jh

qq-Group

[!
Cerebrals

(qq- vgR>)

(k{Q(a> - kahy)

(talVya> -

t
t-Group

t!

w!

x!

n!
Dentals

(t
t- vgR>)

th

dh

p!

b!

ph b

Y.

N.

RA

O"

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k
k-Group

r.

p
p-Group

"D

(p
p- vgR>)

(mU
mUxRNya> - mrdhany)

(dNTya> - danty)

m!
Labials

bh m

tlavy)

(Aae(a> - ohy)

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Of these, the 1st and 3rd letters of each Group are Unstressed Consonants,

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(arrihtVynain
arrihtVynain),
arrihtVynain while the 2nd and 4th letters of each Group are Stressed

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Consonants (arsihtVynain
arsihtVynain).
arsihtVynain And, the last letters of each of the first five
groups ('
' |! [! n! m! ) are called the Nasal Consonants (Anu
AnunaiskVynain -

@
ya

anunsikavyajanni) since the Nose is involved while pronouncing them.

l!

v!
Semi-Vowels

nr
ao

y!

ry

(ANtSwa>
ANtSwa> - antasth)

Cerebral (mUxRyNy> - mrdhayanya)

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Where,
y!
Palatal (talVy> - tlavya)
y

Dental and Labial (dNTyae(> - dantyohya)

"D

r.

Y.

N.

v!
v

RA

l!
Dental (dNTy> - dantya)

l

z!

;!

s!
Sibilants

(^:ma> - m)


Cerebral (mUxRyNy> - mrdhayanya)

s!
s

Dental (dNTy> - dantya)

Aspirate

nr
ao

@
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ho
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;!

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Where,
z!
Palatal (talVy> - tlavya)

(mhaa[> - mahpra)

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g! "! ';
The last three letters of each of the first five groups (g!

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j! H! |! ; f F [! ; d x! n! ; b! ! m! ), the Semi-Vowels (y!

y! r l! v! ) and

m&Vynain
the Aspirate (h) are called the Soft Consonants (m&

RA

muduvyajanni).

N.

The rest of the letters (k

k o! ; c! D ; q Q; t! w! ; p! ) ), and the

Y.

z! ;!
Sibilants (z!

s! ) are called the Hard Consonants (kkR

kkRzVynain -

"D

r.

karkaavyajanni).

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