Alphabet boards a good thing for learning to read

बालः क्रीडति = bAlaH krIDati = boy plays.

What you see in the front is a wooden devanAgarI (देवनागरी) alphabet board. I had seen these ones for English in US, but it hadn't picked up in India for Indian languages. Now I found this, and my 3.5 year old has been playing with them and picking up.... he already reads most of the letters and picking up mAtrA (मात्रा).

These boards are a good thing, something which was not available to a generation or before earlier. They help make the letters come alive, something you can hold and feel. Giving it a whole new dimension to reading!

Anyone who wants to learn a new script, and has the kid in them, should try such board toys.

Of course, having a few smiley cars and building blocks and an ambulance will break the monotony too!




(c) Shashikant Joshi । शशिकांत जोशी । ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः ।

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meet the alphabet - letters and vowels o and au

After a little break here are the next letters. 

Please see the previous alphabet letters here:
a/अ ; aa/आ ; i/इ ; ii/ई ; u/उ ; oo/ऊ ; Ri/ऋ ; e/ए ; ai/ऐ

(above) compound vowel 'o' as 'o' in 'old' (13th vowel and letter)

This is ओ, o.
a, aa, i, ii, u, uu, Ri, Rii, LRi, LRii, e, ai make it 12.
'o' is the 13th vowel/letter. It is pronounced like the name of the English letter o; as 'o' of 'old', cold, open etc.

(above) old style 'o'

Linguistically, o is formed with a + u/uu = o = ओ
Words starting with ओ, o :

• o = ओ = a way of calling, like oye, ahoy, hola; compassion like oh; expressing other moods as well.
• o = ओ = name of brahmA
• okaH = ओकः  = house
• ojas = ओजस् (ओज) = body strength, vigor, vitality, splendor
• ojasvin = ओजस्विन् (ओजस्वि) = strong, brilliant, resplendent (tejasvi nAvadhItamastu = may our studies be splendid, brilliant, fruitful)
• ota = ओत = woven, with threads. commonly used with ota-prota = interwoven, horizontally and vertically.
• om = ॐ = sacred symbol om (a-u-m)
• oShadhiH = ओषधिः = an herb or medicinal plant. (auShadhiH is also correct)
• oShadhiishaH = ओषधीशः = oShadhi + iishaH = lord of herbs, the moon, which is considered aiding in the herb growth.
• oShThaH = ओष्ठः = a lip. bimboShTha = bimba + oShTha = lips like the ripe bimba fruit (red in color)

How to write 'o' :

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au, the 14th vowel.
aa + u/uu = au =औ
'au' is the 14th vowel/letter. It is pronounced close to au as in audience, audition etc.

The most common words formed with au, are usually formed when words starting with 'u' or 'o' are modified by adding a suffix.

e.g.

• auchityam = औचित्यम् = aptness. from uchita = apt, appropriate
• autsukyam = औत्सुक्यम् = anxiety. from utsuka = anxious
• audArya = औदार्य = generosity. from udAra = generous
• auddhatyam = औद्धत्यं = arrogance. from uddhata = arrogant, rude, insolent.
• audyogika = औद्योगिक = industrial. udyoga = industry, effort.
• aurabhra = औरभ्र = of sheep ; mutton. from urabha = sheep.
• auShThya = ष्ठ्य = labial, relating to the lips. the labial sounds u, oo, p, ph, b, bh, m, w

How to write au?

(c) Shashikant Joshi । शशिकांत जोशी । ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः ।

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Meet the alphabet - letters and vowels e and ai

first compound vowel 'e' as 'a' in 'fate' (11th vowel and letter)

this is ए e, é (to emphasize the accent).
a, aa, i, ii, u, uu, Ri, Rii, LRi, LRii make it 10.
e/é is the 11th vowel/letter. it is pronounced like the name of the english letter a; as 'a' of 'fate', mate, date etc.

but we skipped three very extremely rarely used vowels Rii, LRi, LRii. i think they were there purely because of linguistics rules, 'there ought to be a vowel here, as per the rules. but it is difficult to say, so maybe we will not use it.' must have been the thought.

just like in chemistry's periodic table of elements, as soon as they figured out the reasoning and structure of the table, scientists started to give names to elements not yet discovered but predicted. the not yet discovered elements were called eka-XYZ, e.g. eka-silicon, eka-boron in 19th century, and eka-mercury much later in 20th century. a little digression into eka-mercury, in 1996 scientists made it in lab, and it lasts for 30seconds before disintegrating. "in total, about 75 atoms of Copernicium (that is the new name of eka-mercury) have been detected using various nuclear reactions." - wow! that is LRi and LRii for us right there! :)


linguistically, e is formed with a + i/ii = e= ए

• eka = एक = one, alone, the only, OM, 
• ekaveNI = एकवेणी = one with a single plait, usually sign of a wife whose husband is away.
• eka-shRinga = एकशृंग  = one horned, rhinoceros.
• ekatra = एकत्र = collected in one place, gathered
• ekAdasha = एकादशी = 11th, 11th day in the lunar calendar, holy day
• etad = एतद् = this. compared to tat = that
• elA = एला = ilAyachI (इलायची hindi), cardamom
• eva = एव = only (ahameva = only me); for emphasis (evameva = exactly, surely, certainly)

how to write 'e' :

Meet the alphabet - letters and vowels Ri and Rii

The vowel Ri, calligraphic (left), single stroke cursive (right)

This vowel sound is the one of the most confusing sounds in Sanskrit, that have also got modified in regional languages in two different ways, unlike any other sounds. The other sound being that of 'GY'/'jn' (ज्ञ) as in GYaana/JNaana (ज्ञान)

short sound - RRi (ITRANS); ऋ (devanAgarI); ṛ (IAST)
long sound - RRI (ITRANS); ॠ (devanAgarI); ṝ (IAST)
As for sanskit use, a single Ri is sufficient, but since there is another sound in marAThi language, ITRANS chose RRi, rather than just Ri.


These are sixth and seventh letters and vowels of sanskrit. The longer vowel is extremely rarely used. The shorter vowel is also used in very few words, but it is used in some of the most common or important words. I for one, never understood why such a rarely used vowel was used for such important words (see later).

A few pointers will help in its pronunciation.

• In its current usage, in northern Indian languages it is said as 'ri', just like 'r' + 'i'. in this case ripu (रिपु, enemy) and RiShi (ऋषि, sage) would sound the same.
• In southerns Indian languages, the pronunciation is like 'ru', 'r' + 'u'. in this case ruchi (रुचि, interest) and Ruchaa (ऋचा, verse) would sound the same.
• Just like 'i' + 'a' makes 'ya' sound, and 'u' + 'a' makes the 'wa' sound, 'Ri' + 'a' makes 'ra' the normal 'r' of rain, ring etc.
• It also means that just like 'i' and 'ya' are said from front palate (moordhaa, between the base of teeth and roof of mouth cavity); 'u' and 'wa' are labials, said with the help of the lips; 'Ri' and 'ra' are also said from the same place, the moordhaa, roof of the palate. So trying to say 'wa' by quickly saying 'u' and 'a' gives us how to say 'u'. Similarly, trying to saying 'ra' slowl, breaking it into '??' And 'a' will give us a good idea on how to say 'Ri'. put your tongue on the roof of the palate, and try to say 'a'.
• Remember, 'Ri' is a vowel sound, which means you should be able to sustain it for long. What do ii mean? If you say 'ka' for long and 'cha' for long, you will only hear 'a' vowel sound, after 3 seconds, you can't say whether the speaker was saying 'ka' or 'cha' since all that is left after the first split second is the vowel sound. So when you say 'Ri/ऋ/ṛ', if you make it sound like 'ri' you will hear a sustained 'i'. If you make it sound like 'ru', you will hear a sustained 'u', both of which will be incorrect. So your tongue should remain at the roof while you say this vowel.

How to write 'Ri'?

Meet the alphabet - letters and vowels u and uu

the short sound is 'u' and sounds like 'u' of put. (उ)
the fifth letter and vowel of sanskrit.
it is said for 1 unit of time. the longer vowel, or diirgha is said for 2 units of sounds (represented in ITRANS as oo, uu, or U

 

meaning of 'u'

• shiva. the second sound of om a+u+m
• used as a filler word in verse
• exclamatory word expressing - calling someone; anger; order; approval; question
• also used typically with atha, na, kim to make atho, no, kimu. 'ek-ekam-api-anarthAya, kimu yatra chatuShTayam' (see earlier post)

how to write 'u'?

 

some common words starting with 'u' are -

• ukta (adj) = उक्त = spoken word, that which is said.
• ukti = उक्ति = saying
• ugra (adj) = उग्र = violent, scary, cruel. (n) shiva
• uchita = उचित = appropriate, worthy
• utkaNTha (adj) = उत्कण्ठा = (one with out-stretched neck) eager, ready to do
  
• uttara = उत्तर = north; better (uttam = best); of later; left (opposite of dakShiNa)
• uttaram = उत्तरम् = answer
• udAharaNa = उदाहरण = example
• upadesha = उपदेश = advice, direction, mentoring

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the sixth letter and vowel of sanskrit alphabet, and is spoken for two units of time, compared to 'u'.
the long vowel 'U' is written very much like the short vowel, except for a curl at the side.

  

how to write the letter 'U'?

 

some common words starting with 'U' are -

• UDha = ऊढ = married; pra+UDha = prauDha = matured man (-aa , woman)
• Una = ऊन = less; one less, as in 1 less than 20 (ekonavishanti, ek-Una-vinshati), 30 (ekontrinshati, ek-Una-trinshati), and in hindi unnees, unnatees, unchaalees etc
• UrUH = ऊरूः = thigh
• UrjA = ऊर्जा = food, energy
• UrNam = ऊर्णम्= wool; UrNanAbha = spider (as if making wool from navel)
• Uha = ऊह = to conjecture, guess, to understand, to put forward a point (as in for a topic)
• UhApoha = ऊहापोह = remove conjectures, consider both sides of the debate and find the right answers, to remove dilemma thus.

(c) Shashikant Joshi । शशिकांत जोशी । ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः ।

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Meet the alphabet - letters and vowels i and ii

Continuing with the vowel series, here are the short and long 'i' vowels.

The short sound is 'i' and sounds like 'i' of ink, think, sing etc.
It is said for 1 unit of time. The longer vowel, or diirgha is said for 2 units of sounds (represented in ITRANS as ee, ii, or I). The longer vowel for 3 units is not used in classical spoken Sanskrit, and is only used in Vedic chants, and is denoted by i3, the 3 denoting 3 units of time. malayAlam for one, has longer vowels as well, so I am told.

 

Writing i and ii is easy (see below). It is like an 'S' hanging from a stalk. But, the bottom of the S has one more curved 'knot', without which it would be the consonant 'D' sound.

  

The word 'i', or the verb root 'i' means - to go, to go near. the verb forms go like
एति इतः यन्ति (eti, itaH, yanti)
एषि इथः इथ (eShi ithaH itha)
एमि इवः इमः (emi ivaH imaH)
e.g. निर्बुद्धिः क्षयं एति  nirbuddhiH (mindless) kShayam (to ruin) eti (goes)

Meet the alphabet - the letter aa - आ

This is the second letter of the alphabet.

It is a long sound, similar to the 'a' of father, or hard.

A long vowel is called 'diirgha' (meaning long), and is said for two units of sounds. The short vowel being one unit of time. When counting the timing of a verse based on vowels, the short vowel is called 'laghu' (short), and long one is called 'guru' (heavy, more (in duration)). In chanting, or non-conversational speaking, there is a third longer vowel also, but that is not part of normal words used for conversation.

It is written in roman characters in ITRANS format as 'aa' or 'A' (single character to keep word length short and for readability). The use of a single character for a single sound is key to Sanskrit alphabet, and gives rise to some seeming complicated 'conjugate' letters, which are combinations of consonants. More on that much later when we talk about consonants.


The 'a' (short) and 'aa' (long) sounds have to be clearly understood. As mentioned in previous post on 'a', the confusion between the two can cause meaning difference of earth and sky, black and white. A suffix of -aa is the most common way of making the feminine form of the word.
E.g.
kRiShNa = lord kRiShna; kRiShNaa = draupadii (wife of the pAnDavas, daughter of drupada)
drupada = king of pA~nchAla; drupadaa = (of drupada), his daughter
jalada = jala+da = cloud; jaladaa = jala+daa = river
shiva = lord shiva, mahesha; shivaa = durgA, pArvatI, devI, shaktI

This happens mostly in the trailing sound. 'a' and 'aa' sounds in between a word are usually always pronounced correctly.

Meet the alphabet - the letter a - अ

The Sanskrit language's alphabet is very scientifically arranged. It shows the deep understanding of linguistics as early as 500 BCE (pANini's time) but the alphabet might have been in this order even in Vedic times, which might push it another 1-2 thousand years back, conservatively. We will see its arrangement in later posts. Check this

The letter 'a' is pronounced like 'u' of but, cut, shut etc.
In a word, the trailing sound of 'a' causes a lot of confusion in modern times. If it is not stressed enough, it sounds like a consonant without the vowel, like many English words put, cut, but etc. The lack of stress on trailing 't' is what would be called a 'halant' or vowel-less consonant sound.

When it is stressed, usually it ends up sounding like 'aa'.
E.g. yoga is pronounced erroneously like yogaa, whereas it is somewhat like "yo-g-uh" (NOT yogurt, but yogurt without the 'rt' sound!)

This confusion gives rise to errors of saying shiva as shivaa (pArvatI), brahma (brahman, the supreme unmanifest) as brahmaa (the creator, the manifest), drupada (the king) as drupadaa (his daughter), kRiShNa (the cowherd) as kRiShNaa (draupadI). gaNesha is pronounced as gaNeshaa. The 'sha' and 'ga' have exactly same vowel pronunciation, but mostly in English it is pronounced as 'ga' and 'shaa'. avoid such errors.

'a' is also a word in itself. The word 'a' (just the vowel), implies viShNu.

अकारो विष्णुरुद्दिष्ट उकारस्तु महेश्वरः ।
मकारस्तु स्मृतो ब्रह्मा, प्रणवस्तु त्रयात्मकः ॥ 

a-kāraḥ viṣhṇuḥ uddiṣhṭaḥ, u-kāraḥ tu mahéshvaraḥ |

makāraḥ tu smṛitaḥ brahmā, praṇavaḥ tu trayātmakaḥ || (IAST) 

a-kAraH viShNuH uddiShTaH, u-kAraH tu maheshwaraH |

makAraH tu smRitaH brahmA, praNavaH tu trayAtmakaH || (ITRANS)

The sacred 'om' is made up of a+u+m [a + u = o] and
a stands for viShNu
u stands for maheshwara (shiva)
m stands for brahmaa.
thus praNava (om) is trifold.

[The comments about the letter style is shown in handwriting]