108 The Nectar of Instruction
a — like the win rule but held twice as long as short u.
r — like the riin rim.
t — like ree in reed.
| — like / followed by r (ir).
e — like the e in they.
ai — like the aiin aisle.
o —~ like the oin go.
au — like the ow in how,
th (anusvdra) — a resonant nasal like the nin the French word bon.
h (visarga) — a final h-sound: ah is pronounced like aha; ih like ihi.
The consonants are pronounced as follows:
k ~ asin kite jh — as in hedgehog
kh— as in Eckhart fi — asin canyon
g — asin give t — asin tub
gh— as in dig-hard th — as in light-heart
h — asin sing d — asindove
¢€ — asin chair dha- as in red-hot
ch — as in staunch-heart n — asrna (prepare to say
j — asin joy the rand say na).
Cerebrals are pronounced with tongue to roof of mouth, but the
following dentals are pronounced with tongue against teeth:
t | — asin tub but with tongue against teeth.
th — as in light-heart but with tongue against teeth.
d — asin dove but with tongue against teeth.
dh— as in red-hot but with tongue against teeth.
n — as in nut but with tongue between teeth.
p — asin pine ] — asin light
ph— as in uphill (not f) v — asin vine
b — asin bird § (palatal) — as in the sin the German
bh— as in rub-hard word sprechen
m — as in mother s (cerebral) — as the sh in shine
y — asin yes 8 — asinsun
r —asinrun h — asin home
There is no strong accentuation of syllables in Sanskrit, only a flow-
ing of short and long (twice as long as the short) syllables.
