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Periyāḻvār’s Divine Rendition - Periyāḻvār Tirumoḻi 4000 Divya Prabandham

Pronunciation of Sanskrit words to relish the Nalayira Divya Prabandham lyrics

To better understand and relish the lyrics in this book of nalayira divya prabandham in tamil with meaning, it is interesting to learn that the 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ḻ	ழ்/as the outdated ‘zh’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:.

ṉa	ன/ ‘na’ in ‘tenant’
pa, ba	ப/ ‘pa’ in pun, ‘ba’ in ‘bus’

Frequently Occurring Consonant Clusters

ṅga	ங்க/’nga’ in ‘Ganga’
ñja	ஞ்ச/’nja’ in ‘tinge’ ‘Ninja’
ṉḍṛa	ன்ற/‘ndra’, in the name ‘tundra’
mba	ம்ப/ ‘mbo’ in the word ‘symbol’
ṇḍa	ண்ட/ ‘nde’ in the name ‘thunder’
ndha	த்த/ ‘ndha’ in ‘panther’
ṭṛṛa	ற்ற/ ‘tra’ in ‘etcetra’

Book titles and guide to references

Śri Brahma-samhitā 5.56:

Śrī Brahma-samhitā, Ch. 5, Verse 56

Gītā 11.33:

Bhagavad-gitā, Ch. 11, Verse 33

Back to Godhead # 31-06, 1997:

Back to Godhead Magazine, Vol. 31, No.6, 1997

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmsta Ādi 9.10:

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmộta, Adi-līlā, Ch. 9, Verse 10

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmộta Madhya 19.151:

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmộta, Madhya-līlā, Ch. 19, Verse 151

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmsta Antya 8.34:

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmộta, Antya-lilā, Ch. 8, Verse 34

Jaiva Dharma 10:

Jaiva Dharma, Ch. 10

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead 21:

Krşņa, The Supreme Personality of Godhead chapter 21

Mundaka Upanișad 1.2.12:

Mundaka Upanişad Canto 1, Ch. 2, Verse 12

Nectar of Devotion 34: The Nectar of Devotion, Ch. 34

Path of Perfection 10: Path of Perfection, Ch. 10

Bhāgavatam 1.3.28: Srimad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 1, Ch. 3, Verse 28

Surrender unto Me 9.22: Surrender unto Me, Gītā Ch.9, Verse 22

Teachings of Lord Kapila 14.32, purport:

Teachings of Lord Kapila, Ch. 14, Verse 32