Vowels in Sanskrit are pronounced almost as in Italian. The sound of the short ‘a’ is like the u in but, the long ā is like the ‘a’ in far and held twice as long as the short a, and e is like the ‘a’ in evade. Long ‘ī’ is like the ‘i’ in pique. The vowel ‘ṛ’ is pronounced like the ‘re’ in the English word fibre. The ‘c’ is pronounced as in the English word chair, and the aspirated consonants (ch, jh, dh, etc.) are pronounced as in staunch-heart, hedge-hog, red-hot, etc. The two spirants ‘ś’ and ‘ṣ’ are pronounced like the English ‘sh’; ‘s’ is pronounced as in sun. Thus Kṛṣṇa is pronounced KRISHNA, Caitanya is pronounced CHAITANYA, etc.
Pronunciation of Tamil words
Vowels
English
Tamiḻ/As sound of
a
அ/“a” in ‘alloy’, ‘adieu’ {short ‘a’};as in “butter’,‘utter’.
ā
ஆ/”a” in “arm’, ‘art’, ‘bark’ {long a}
I
இ/“i” in ‘rip’, ‘pick’ {short i}
ī
ஈ/“i” in ‘skiing’, “e” in ‘peep’, ‘eat’ {long i}
u
உ/“u” in ‘push’, ‘pull’ {short u}
ū
ஊ/”o” in “boot’, ‘proof’, as “u” in ‘true’, “rude’ {long u}
e
எ/“e” in ‘economics’, ‘end’, ‘came’, ‘take’.
ē
ஏ/“ae” in ‘aeroplane’ or “ay” in ‘pray’.
ai
ஐ/”ai” in ‘aisle’, ‘ice’, ‘idea’.
o
ஒ/”o” in ‘go’, ‘low’. {short o}
ō
ஓ/“o” in ‘Over’, ‘Omen’ {long o}
au
ஔ/”ow” in ‘cow’
ag
ஃ/”ach” in ‘stomach’. When used before a letter say “pa”—pronounced as ‘fa’
Consonants
k, g
க்/“k” in “back”, “pack”; “g” in ‘gum’
ṅ
ங்/“ing” in ‘wing’, ‘tring’; “ng”in ‘Kangaroo’
c,j
ச்/“ch” in ‘chin’, ‘approach’; “j” in ‘justice’
ñ
ஞ்/“inj” in ‘brinjal; ‘jñāna’
ṭ, ḍ
ட்/”it” in ‘it’, ‘beť, ‘tub’; “d” in ‘dust’
ṇ
ண்/as ‘n’ in ‘Under’, ‘Wander’
t, d
த்/“th” in ‘bath’, ‘thick’, author; “dh” in ‘dharma’
n
ந்/“n” in ‘month’, ‘enthusiasm’; “n” in ‘nut’
p, b
ப்/“p” in ‘tip’, ‘cup’, ‘pun’; “b” in ‘bus’
m
ம்/“m” in ‘slam’, ‘mom’, ‘must’
y
ய்/’y’in ‘boy’, ‘young’
r
ர்/“r” in ‘river’ {light r}, ‘run’
l
ல்/“l” in “travel’. {light l}, ‘luck’
v
வ்/“v” in ‘van’, ‘vacate’
ḻ
ழ்/as the outdated ‘zh’
ḷ
ள்/“l” in “plum’. Tip of tongue to touch roof of mouth
ṛ
ற்/Hard “r” as in ‘mirror’, ‘error’, ‘crush’
ṉ
ன்/“in” in ‘pin’ {light n}; ‘tenant’
Letters from other languages
j
ஜ்/“j” in ‘taj’ and ‘ge’ in ‘bridge’
Śrī
ஸ்ரீ/shri in ‘shriek’
ś
ஷ்/sh in ‘shark’
s
ஸ்/s in ‘bus’, ‘safari’
ha
ஹ/’h’ in ‘hut’, ‘hum’
ksha
க்ஷ/’ksh’ in ‘bookshop’, ‘workshop’.
Compound Letters
Vowels combine with the sounds of consonants to make compound alphabets, some of which have multiple pronunciations:.
