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THE SANSKRIT ALPHABETS

Sanskrit is written in the Devanagari script, which is also the main script for Hindi (The Contemporary Language of India). Devanagari is pronounced as it is written. This makes it quite easy to learn. The script is written from left to right and has no capital letters. Sanskrit is a phonetic language, meaning that the way a word is spelled corresponds to the way it is pronounced, and vice versa. So you don't find words like knife, with its mysteriously silent k, in Sanskrit.

Special Symbols

Vowel suppressor: called virama, this symbol is used to suppress the inherent vowel of a syllable.

Nasalization marker: there is usually at least one symbol which indicates nasalization of vowels or other sounds. In Devanagari, the anusvara and the candrabindu play that role.

Breath marker: the visarga indicates that a sound has a breathy quality.

Its script originated (and is still the same) as ancient Sanskrit. The DevNagari script is also common to several other Indian languages. The use of the special symbols varies widely from one language to another. Pronunciation in Hindi is relatively easy since, unlike English, letters are always pronounced exactly the same way.

There are 13 vowels, 33 consonants and 3 conjunct consonants in Hindi. Following are the Sanskrit Alphabets.

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