Sanskrit Pronunciation
Ucchāraṇam Saṁskṛita उच्चारणम् संस्कृत
VOWELS
Vowels marked like ā are sounded twice as long as short vowels. The four dipthongs, e, ai, o, au, are always sounded long, but never marked as such.§
अ a as in about§
आ 
ā …tar, father§
इ 
i …fill, lily§
ई 
ī …machine§
उ 
u …full, bush§
ऊ 
ū …allude§
ऋ 
ṛi …merrily§
ॠ 
ṛī …marine§
लृ lṛi …revelry§
ए 
e …prey§
ऐ 
ai …aisle§
ओ 
o …go, stone§
औ 
au …Haus§
GUTTURAL CONSONANTS
Sounded in the throat.§
क् k …kite, seek§
ख् kh …inkhorn§
ग् g …gamble§
घ् gh …loghouse§
ङ् ṅ …sing§
PALATAL CONSONANTS
Sounded at the roof of the mouth.§
च् ch …church§
छ् çh …much harm§
ज् j …jump§
झ् jh …hedgehog§
ञ् ñ …hinge§
CEREBRAL CONSONANTS
Tongue turned up and back against the roof of the mouth. (Also known as retroflex.)§
ट् ṭ …true§
ठ् ṭh …nuthook§
ड् ḍ …drum§
ढ् ḍh …redhaired§
ण् ṇ …none§
DENTAL CONSONANTS
Sounded with the tip of the tongue at the back of the upper front teeth.§
त् t …tub§
थ् th …anthill§
द् d …dot§
ध् dh …adhere§
न् n …not§
LABIAL CONSONANTS
Sounded at the lips.§
प् p …pot§
फ् ph …path§
ब् b …bear§
भ् bh …abhor§
म् m …map§
SEMIVOWELS
य् y …yet (palatal)§
र् 
r …road (cereb.)§
ल् l …lull (dental)§
व् v …voice (labial), but more like w when following a consonant, as in swāmī.§
ह् h …hear (guttural)§
SIBILANTS
श् ś …sure (palatal)§
ष् sh …shut (cerebral)§
स् s …saint (dental)§
ANUSVĀRA
The dot over Devanāgarī letters represents the nasal of the type of letter it precedes; e.g.: अंग = aṅga. It is transliterated as ṁ or as the actual nasal (ṅ, ñ, n, ṇ, m). At the end of words it is sometimes म् (m).§
VISĀRGA (:) ḥ
Pronounced like huh (with a short, stopping sound), or hih, after i, ī and e.§
ASPIRATES
The h following a consonant indicates aspiration, the addition of air, as in nātha or bhakti. Thus, th should not be confused with th in the word then.§
Special Characters§
ज्ञ jñ …a nasalized sound, like gya or jya.§
क्ष = क्+ ष् ksh§
CONVENTIONS
1. As a rule, the root forms of Sanskṛit words are used (without case endings).§
2. च्छ् is transliterated as cçh, and च्च् as cch.§
3. Geographical and personal names (e.g., Hardwar), are generally marked with diacriticals only as main lexicon entries.§
4. Diacritical marks are not used for Tamil words.§