Pronunciation and Phonetics

Learning proper pronunciation can be done without much knowledge of phonetics, actually. A basic knowledge, however, helps to make pronunciation clearer and thus facilitates the process of learning how to speak a foreign language properly.

eAmbalam introduces a phonetic chart which is based on Dhevanagari script. The sounds of vowels and consonants and other speech sounds in Sanskrit and the languages which have completely or mostly borrowed from it can be covered with the help of the chart. A few other sounds common to some languages in this group and outside are also put in. Unique sounds of some languages are specified too.

Diacritical marks are used to aid perfect pronunciation. World over, these marks have been created and propagated by scholars to make understanding of the differences in speech sounds in different languages better. Team eAmbalam also has created a phonetic chart which helps even first timers to pronounce words accurately.

Our Phonetic chart is unique, comprehensive, learner friendly and is divided into four columns wherein:

• In the first column, the letter is written with the associated diacritical mark.
• In the second column, an example is given in Dhevanagari language containing the letter.
• In the third column, an example is given in English, which contains the sound closes to the letter or instructions in few cases, to facilitate better understanding.
• In the fourth column, an audio button is placed with the help of which you can hear the actual pronunciation of the letter.

An open minded approach with the above introduction and guidelines will definitely enable the user to understand the speech sounds of any language and pronounce it like a native, which is eAmbalam’s aim in this exercise.

VOWELS
Syllable	Usage in Sanskrit	Usage in English
A or a	Aḍavu	Arise
Ā or ā	Ānanda	Vast
I or i	Indhira	Sing
Ī or ī	Īśha	Meal
U or u	U ṣhā	Good
Ū or ū	Ū rdhhva	Boost
R or r	Riṣh i	Try
Ṛ or ṛ	Ni ṛ uti	Grr!
Lr or lr		Pronounce L and R together.
E or e	Eka	Ate
AI or ai	Aikya	Sight
O or o	Ojas	Robe
AU or au	Audh ā rya	Now
A M or am	Śhiva m	Drum
A HA or aha	R ā ma ha	Aha!
Syllable	Usage in Sanskrit	Usage in English

 

CONSONANTS
Syllable	Usage in Sanskrit	Usage in English
KA or ka	Kavi	Car
KHA or kha	Khalu	Mark -Him
GA or ga	Gamana	Gut
GHA or gha	Ghata	Ugh!
Ṅ A or ṅa	Tura ṅ ga	Ring
CHA or ca	Chakra	Chart
CHHA or cha	Chhandas	Branch
JA or ja	Jagath	Jug
JHA or jha	Jhallari	Fudge
NYA or nya	Gnyana	Knew
Ṭ A or ṭ	Ṭ anka	Top
ṬHA or ṭha	Pāṭha	Pothole
ḌA or da	Ḍ amaruka	Dog
Ḍ HA or ḍ ha	Mūḍ ha	Madhouse
Ṇ A or ṇ a	Ga ṇ a	Wander
THA or tha	Thanu	Health
THHA or thha	Athha	Theater
DHA or dha	Dha śha	This
DHHA or dhha	Dhhana m	Dha with an additional H sound
NA or na	Namask ā raha	Nut
PA or pa	Path ā ka	Past
PHA or pha	Phala m	P with a H sound
BA or ba	Bandhhu	Ball
BHA or bha	Bhadra	Abhor
MA or ma	Manas	Money
YA or ya	Yama	Yummy
RA or ra	Rajas	Rub
LA or la	Lath ā	Lust
VA or WA, va /wa	A śh va or A śhwa	Water/Valour
ŚHA or śha	Śhakthi	Shutter
ṢHA or ṣ ha	Ṣh a ṇ mukha	Shunt
SA or sa	Sarasvatī	Sun
HA or ha	Hari	Hum
Ḷ A or ḷ a	Ar āḷ a	Bold
KṢHA or k ṣ ha	Ak ṣh i	Try to pronounce Ka, Sa & Ha – all at one time.
Extra Vowels in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada & Malayalam Scripts
É or é	Éṇi	Angel
Ō or ō	Ō m	Ō M
ZHA	Exclusive to Tamil & Malayalam	Fold the tip of your tongue backwards and try to pronounce it with the aid of the audio button.
Syllable	Usage in Sanskrit	Usage in English