Pronunciation guide: Devanagari, IAST and endings

Vowels

अ	a	a in “about”
आ	ā	a in “father” (long)
इ	i	i in “sit”
ई	ī	ee in “see” (long)
उ	u	u in “put”
ऊ	ū	oo in “food” (long)
ऋ	ṛ	vowel r, like “ri” in “rich” (short)
ॠ	ṝ	the same, held longer
ऌ	ḷ	vowel l, like “le” in “table”
ए	e	ay in “day” (always long)
ऐ	ai	ai in “aisle”
ओ	o	o in “go” (always long)
औ	au	ow in “now”

Vowel signs (mātrās) after a consonant: का kā · कि ki · की kī · कु ku · कू kū · कृ kṛ · के ke · कै kai · को ko · कौ kau. A consonant with no sign has a built-in short a (क = ka).

Consonants

Throat (velar)

क	k	k in “skin”
ख	kh	k with a puff, “blockhead”
ग	g	g in “go”
घ	gh	gh in “doghouse”
ङ	ṅ	ng in “sing”

Palate

च	c	ch in “church”
छ	ch	ch with a puff, “staunch heart”
ज	j	j in “jam”
झ	jh	dgeh in “hedgehog”
ञ	ñ	ny in “canyon”

Tongue curled back (retroflex)

ट	ṭ	t with the tongue tip curled back
ठ	ṭh	the same with a puff
ड	ḍ	d, tongue curled back
ढ	ḍh	the same with a puff
ण	ṇ	n, tongue curled back

Teeth (dental)

त	t	t with the tongue on the teeth (French t)
थ	th	t with a puff, “at home” (never “thin”)
द	d	d on the teeth
ध	dh	dh in “adhere”
न	n	n in “nut”

Lips

प	p	p in “spin”
फ	ph	p with a puff, “uphill” (never “f”)
ब	b	b in “bat”
भ	bh	bh in “abhor”
म	m	m in “mat”

Others

य	y	y in “yes”
र	r	a light tapped r
ल	l	l in “love”
व	v	between v and w
श	ś	sh in “shine”
ष	ṣ	sh with the tongue curled back
स	s	s in “sun”
ह	h	h in “hand”

An h after a consonant (kh, gh, th, dh, ph, bh…) means a puff of breath; it is never the English “th”, “ph” or “sh” sound.

Special signs

कं	ṃ	anusvāra: a nasal hum, sounding like the nasal of the next consonant (saṃskṛta)
कः	ḥ	visarga: a soft breath echoing the vowel before it (devaḥ ≈ “deva-ha”)
क्	—	virāma: removes the built-in a (क ka → क् k)
कँ	m̐	candrabindu: the vowel is said through the nose
कऽ	’	avagraha: an a dropped after e or o (so ’ham = so aham)

What the marks in IAST mean

Line on top (ā ī ū ṝ): a long vowel, held about twice as long.
Dot under r, l (ṛ ṝ ḷ): r or l used as a vowel.
Dot under t, d, n, s (ṭ ḍ ṇ ṣ): tongue tip curled back (retroflex).
ṃ: anusvāra (nasal hum) · ḥ: visarga (echoing breath).
ṅ: ng as in “sing” · ñ: ny as in “canyon” · ś: sh as in “shine”.

Long and short syllables, and stress

A syllable is heavy if its vowel is long (ā ī ū ṝ e ai o au), or it is followed by two consonants, or it ends in ṃ or ḥ; otherwise it is light. Usual modern stress (as in Latin): stress the second-last syllable if it is heavy (saṃ·skṛ·ta: skṛ is light, so the stress falls on the heavy saṃ; ma·hā·bhā·ra·ta; rā·mā·ya·ṇa); if not, go back to the third-last, then the fourth-last. Old Vedic pitch accents are not shown.

Common endings (inflections)

Nouns: deva (masculine, “god”)

devaḥ	the god (subject)	devāḥ	the gods
devam	the god (object)	devān	the gods (object)
devena	by / with the god	devaiḥ	by the gods
devāya	to / for the god	devebhyaḥ	to / for the gods
devāt	from the god	devebhyaḥ	from the gods
devasya	of the god	devānām	of the gods
deve	in / on the god	deveṣu	in the gods
he deva	O god!	he devāḥ	O gods!

Verbs: bhū “to be, become”, present tense

bhavati	he / she / it is	bhavanti	they are
bhavasi	you are (one person)	bhavatha	you are (several)
bhavāmi	I am	bhavāmaḥ	we are

Dictionary headwords are stems (deva, bhū); in texts the words carry these endings, and sounds join across word boundaries (sandhi).

Sanskrit–English Dictionary

Sanskrit Dictionary

Every headword in Monier Williams’ Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1872), in Sanskrit alphabetical order. Jump by letter above, use the page tabs, or keep scrolling — more words load as you go.

Search in IAST (ātman), plain letters (atman), Devanagari (आत्मन्) or English (fire). Pronunciation key · English index · Random entry

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अ a 8,053 ह h 707 आ ā 2,039 इ i 230 ई ī 97 उ u 2,421 ऊ ū 89 ऋ ṛ 112 ॠ ṝ 2 ऌ ḷ 3 ॡ ḹ 1 ए e 133 ऐ ai 115 ओ o 71 औ au 240 क k 3,446 ख kh 347 ग g 933 घ gh 192 ङ ṅ 3 च c 909 छ ch 193 ज j 855 झ jh 82 ञ ñ 2 ट ṭ 60 ठ ṭh 8 ड ḍ 64 ढ ḍh 18 ण ṇ 4 त t 1,501 थ th 16 द d 1,440 ध dh 554 न n 2,949 प p 7,626 फ ph 141 ब b 618 भ bh 1,037 म m 2,273 य y 682 र r 1,065 ल l 813 व v 5,330 श ś 1,725 ष ṣ 68 स s 6,120

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Source and licence. Monier Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Etymologically and Philologically Arranged (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1872; first edition). Digital text: Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries (MW72, csl-orig/v02/mw72), © Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon project contributors, Cologne University, accessed 7 October 2026, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, provided without warranty.

Changes made here: entries for अ a, आ ā, ब b, भ bh, इ i, ई ī, उ u, ऊ ū, ऋ ṛ, ॠ ṝ, ऌ ḷ, ए e, ऐ ai, ओ o, औ au, क k, ख kh, ग g, घ gh, ङ ṅ, च c, छ ch, ज j, झ jh, ञ ñ, ट ṭ, ठ ṭh, ड ḍ, ढ ḍh, ण ṇ, त t, थ th, द d, ध dh, न n, प p, फ ph, म m, य y, र r, ल l, व v, श ś, ष ṣ, स s and ह h only; meanings trimmed for length and MW abbreviations expanded; Devanagari generated from the SLP1 keys with indic_transliteration; spelling notes, IPA pronunciations and labelled (“inferred”/“not given”) etymologies added. This adapted dictionary text is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Fonts: Noto Serif and Noto Serif Devanagari (SIL Open Font License).