Pronunciation Guide
Vedic Sounds and Sanskrit Syllables

“The Vedas come from certain fundamental sounds, and their variations. The slightest modification of the sound changes the meaning of what is said. No written language is able to represent all of the Vedic Sounds. It is impossible to write many of the words. The Vedas are God’s breath and can be transmitted from person to person only by voice.”

Conversations with Sai,
Chap. 8 – J. Hislop

In this article, you will find:

two charts with examples to help with pronunciation;

a presentation of the positions of the tongue;

a presentation of the vowels;

a presentation of the consonants;

a presentation of the other sounds;

a recap chart;

an audio file for each example.

Charts

The charts below provide some elements of pronunciation for each letter used in the learning documents of Vedic prayers.

Positions of the tongue

– Below are the 4 main positions of the tongue, represented with a contact between the tongue and the organ of speech (throat, palate, teeth).

Guttural sound	Palatal sound
Cerebral sound	Dental sound

– This contact may be full or slight and brief. The tongue may also approach at a large or short distance towards the concerned area to allow an air flow.

– Labial sounds are created with the lips joined or slightly opened or opened in a small circle and so on.

Labial sound

– Nasal sounds, which may also belong to one of the above families, imply an air flow in the nose.

16 vowels

Guttural (without contact): a ā ā3
e.g.: bhagavān, rudrāya

Please note the difference between ‘a’ (as in ‘up’, without effort from any part of the mouth) and ‘ā’ (as in ‘farther’, uttered with the mouth widely opened).

Palatal (without contact): i ī ī3 ē ai
e.g.: kavim, vājinīvatī, dēvī, utainam

The sound ‘a’ + the sound ‘i’ give the sound ‘ē’. It is half-guttural, half-palatal sound.
‘ē’ = ‘a’ + ‘i’.

The sound ‘ai’ is uttered as a brief ‘a’ followed by a long ‘ī’. It is a guttural then palatal sound.

Cerebral (without contact): ṛ ṝ
e.g.: pṛthivī, amṛta

The tongue does not touch the top of the palate.

Dental (without contact): ḷ
e.g.: kḷptam

The tongue does not touch the teeth.

Labial (without contact): u ū ū3 ō au
e.g.: guru, sūktam, namō, asau

The sound ‘a’ + the sound ‘u’ give the sound ‘ō’. It is a half-guttural, half-labial sound.
‘ō’ = ‘a’ + ‘u’.

The sound ‘au’ is uttered as a brief ‘a’ followed by a long ‘ū’. It is a guttural then labial sound.

25 consonants, organized in 5 co-phonic columns of 5 each

In order to utter them, the following vowel used in the recordings is ‘a’.

Guttural: k kh g gh ṅ
e.g.: kavīnām, mukhā, giri, ghōṣha, śhaṅkara

Palatal: ch chh j jh ñ
e.g.: vachasā, chhanda, rājam, jhañjhanam, pañcha

Cerebral: ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ
e.g.: kōṭi, kāṇṭhāya, mṛḍayati, mīḍhuṣhē, gaṇapati

Dental: t th d dh n
e.g.: tīrthyāya, ratha, dēvī, dhanvanē, nātha

Labial: p ph b bh m
e.g.: paśhupati, phalam, bindu, bhava, maṅgalam

4 semi-consonants also called semi-vowels

e.g.: sarasvatyai, namō vrātapatayē

‘v’ is mostly uttered as a ‘w’. In case that ‘v’ is followed by another consonant, then the ‘v’ is harder, with a contact between upper teeth and lower lip.

3 sibilant & 1 aspirated consonants

e.g.: śhiva, puruṣha, sītā, saha, hrasva, hṛdaya

The tongue is very close to the contact point (palate, teeth, throat) in order to create the “whistling”.

Other sounds

1 jihvāmūlīya, noted [hk] (guttural sound)
e.g.: nama[hk] kakubhāya, du[hk]kha

The back of the tongue quickly approaches towards the throat till contact. The sound stops in a ‘k’, creating a ‘hhhk’ sound.

1 upadhmānīya, noted [fp] (dental-labial sound)
e.g.: sī[fp] puruṣham, na[fp] prachōdayāt

The upper teeth and lip approach towards the lower lip till contact. The sound stops in a ‘p’, creating a ‘fffp’ sound.

1 anusvāra, noted ṁ (nasal sound)
e.g.: saṁvatsarō vā, vaiśhnavīṁ lōka

Before ‘v’, it becomes a nasal ‘v’ with slightly opened lips. Before ‘l’, it becomes a nasal ‘l’. In both cases, ‘ṁ’ can also be uttered as a ‘m’.

1 visarjanīya, noted ḥ (guttural sound)
e.g.: namaḥa, dhanuḥu, śhāntiḥi, kṣhamācharāḥa

The sound ḥ is followed by a vowel uttered as an echo (half powered) of the vowel preceding the ḥ.

1 other cerebral consonant: ḻ
e.g.: iḻaspadē

3 gm-kāras noted gm, ge and g’ge
e.g.: sarvagm, paśhūgestāgeśhchakrē, priyag’geśhraddhē

They occur only in the taittirīya Vedic branch. The ‘gm’ is uttered with joined lips. The ‘e’ is very short.

1 svarabhakti
e.g.: sammareśhinaḥa, sahasraśhīreṣhā, barehiṣhi

If the ‘r’ sound is followed by ‘śh + vowel’, ‘ṣh + vowel’, ‘s + vowel’ or ‘h + vowel’, it is uttered as the vowel ‘ṛ’ or ‘re’, with a very slight contact tongue-palate. This sound occurs in other śhākhās (Vedic branches) also, but is best preserved by taittirīya chanters.

The sound ‘jñ’
e.g.: jñāna, yajñēna

The sound ‘jñ’ is uttered by positioning the tongue for a ‘j’, and immediately creating the sound ‘ñ’. Hence, before uttering the ‘ñ’, the tongue is in the palatal position with a large contact with the palate.

Recap Chart

Mahāṛṣhi Pāṇinī states in his Pāṇinīya śhīkṣhā (Treatise on Grammar) how carefully and attentively the Vedic sounds are to be chanted: “Just as a tigress carries her children, her teeth biting without hurting, yet, without fear of them falling down. In like manner, express and utter the sounds.”

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