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'?

Writing Sanskrit vowels and symbols

A short post, about a video on writing Sanskrit vowels, and some experiments with chisel tip pen.

Om!
In the above writing, I have tried to create the effect as if the character is created using a strip of ribbon.

Om!



Above:
Shiva's third eye.
While playing around with the chisel tip pen, stumbled upon this visual.

The two 'normal' eyes are for the physical world - sun and moon. The third, vertical eye is the 'fire', fire of knowledge, that burns away all ignorance, pain, arrogance, attachment.

We all are equipped with it, it is for us to realize and use this third eye.

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

https://PracticalSanskrit.com/

https://facebook.com/PracticalSanskrit