Introduction

Samskrit is a natural language and its grammar is descriptive (not prescriptive). Samskritam is formed by - sMykœ
(Well, good, proper) + k«tm! (Made) = well made. This is so called, as the grammar written for the language is so
transparent that once one knows the grammar, every word can be broken-down to its level of the root. In the
same way, starting from the roots, the words can be built-up.
The Sa ms krit Alphabet
The Samskrit alphabet is written in a script called devnagrI. It is written as below, (also the transliteration scheme
- detailed) –
A a Aa ā # i $ ī % u
Vowels ^ ū \ å § è ¤ ÿ @ e
@e ai Aae o AaE au
k-vgR k k o kh g g " gh ' ì
c-vgR c c D ch j j H jh | ï
q-vgR q ö Q öh f ò F òh [ ë
t-vgR t t w th d d x dh n n
p-vgR p p ) ph b b É bh m m
y-vgR y y r r l l v v
z-vgR z ś ; ñ s s h h
a< à a> ù

Vowels - Svr
There are five simple vowels and four diphthongs in the Samskrit Language. They are -
Simple Vowels A # % \ ¤
Diphthongs @ @e Aae AaE

The vowels are the sounds, which can be pronounced independently. Based on the length of the pronunciation,
they are classified as -
1. ÿSv> (short)- one maÇa
2. dI"R> (long)- two maÇa
3. Plut> - three maÇa
The Plut> shall be ignored, for the time being only
Of the simple vowels, first four have both the short & the long forms. The fifth one, ¤ does not have a long form.
The diphthongs are all long. Therefore, for all practical purposes, there are 13 vowels in the Samskrit Language.
They are –
A l l Vo w e l s
Simple Vowels Diphthongs
 A Aa # $ % ^ \ § ¤ @ @e Aae AaE
a ā i ī u ū å è ÿ e ai a au

Consonants – VyÃna>
There are 33 consonants in the Samskrit alphabet. A consonant cannot be pronounced independently by itself. It
can be pronounced only in combination with a vowel. The vowel A is added uniformly to all consonants to
facilitate pronunciation. However, they can be represented by the consonant symbol with a nether stroke (called
hlNt) as illustrated below –
k – consonant followed by the vowel A
kœ – consonant by itself – without the vowel A

Classification of the Sa mskrit Alphabet

According to the point of articulation, the letters of the Samskrit alphabet are divided into five groups, as follows
–
1 Throat Guttural k{Q(a>
2 Palate Palatal talVya>
3 Roof of the Mouth Cerebral mUxRNya>
4 Teeth Dental dNtya>
5 Lips Labial Aaeó(a>

They are further classified into groups based on the type of effort used. When we classify the consonants and
vowels according to the effort, it again involves two types of classifications. The first one is based on how the
articular surfaces come in contact with each other. This is called internal effort. Based on the internal effort the
consonants and vowels are divided into five groups as follows –
k, o, g, ", '.
c, D, j, H, |.
Hard & Soft Mutes
Sp&òa> VyÃn q, Q, f, F, [.
(The 25 class consonants)
t, w, d, x, n.
p, ), b, É, m.
$;TSp&ò> ANtSwa> Semi-vowels y, r, l, v.
$;iÖv&t> ^:ma[> Sibilants ;, z, s.
ivv&t> Vowels A, Aa, #, $, \, §, ¤, %, ^.
s<v&t> Short A **
** This A is s<v&t> only for enunciation but for all grammatical purposes it is taken as ivv&ta>.
The second kind of effort is called the external effort. Based on this the 25 mutes are divided into soft
consonants and hard consonants.
 The First & Second of each class of mutes are the hard consonants – the surds.
 The Third & Fourth are the soft consonants – the sonants.
 The Fifth of the class are the nasals and are soft consonants.

The First & Third are non-aspirates – ALpàa[a, The Second & Fourth are aspirates – mhaàa[a,
On the basis of the above, the following is a comprehensive classification of the Samskrit alphabet represented
in devnagrI –
semi-
vowels Mutes (not resonant sounds - consonants) sibilants
vowel
Svr VyÃna> ^:ma[>
ANtSw>
Internal Effort
ivv&t ivv&t Sp&òa> $;TSp&òa> $;iÖiv&ta>
Aa_yNtr àyÆ
ivvar-ñas-A"ae; s<var-nad-"ae;
surd sonant
(hard) (soft)
External Effort
non-
baý àyÆ non-asp. asp. asp. nasal aspirate
asp. ALpàa[
ALpàa[ mhaàa[ mhaàa[ ALpàa[ mhaàa[
ALpàa[
ÿSv dI"R class1 class2 class3 class4 class5
Guttural k{Q(a> A* Aa k o g " ' > h

Palatal talVya> # $ c D j H | y z
Cerebral mUxNR ya> \ § q Q f F [ r ;

Dental dNtya> ¤ t w d x n l s
Labial Aaeó(a> % ^ p ) b É m v **
Gutturo-palatal @
k{Qtalu @e
Gutturo-labial Aae
k{Qaeóm! AaE
* This A is s<v&t> only for enunciation but for all grammatical purposes it is taken as ivv&ta>
** v is a dNtaeóm! (dento-labial)

A-k…-h-ivsjRnIyana< k{Q, #-cu-y-zana< talu, \-qu-;a[a< mUxaR, ¤-tu-l-sana< dNta>, %-pu-%pXmanIyana< AaeóaE, |-
m-'-[-nan< naiska c, @dEtae> k{Qtalu, AaedaEtae> k{Qaeóm!,vkarSy dNtaeóm!, ijþamUlIySy ijg!vamUlm!, naisk
AnuSvarSy. - Swan AiÉVyÂk-s&UÇai[.
A, Aa, k… (k-vgR) h! & ivsgR are uttered by the throat
#, $, cu (c-vgR) y! & z! are uttered by the palate
\, §, qu (q-vgR) r! & ;! are uttered by the cerebral
¤, tu (t-vgR) l! & s! are uttered by the dental
%, ^, pu (p-vgR) & AxR-ivsgR, preceding the ;! or á , viz. %pxmanIy, are uttered by the labial
|!, m!, 'œ, [!, & n! are uttered by the nasal, in addition to the above 5 points
@ & @e are uttered by both throat & palate [@t! + @et! --> @dEtae> (;óI / iÖcnm!)]
Aae & AaE are uttered by both throat & labial [Aaet! + AaEt! --> AaedaEtae> (;óI / iÖcnm!)]
v! is uttered by dental & labial
AxR-ivsgR , preceding kœ or o! , viz. ijþamUlIy, is uttered by te mouth of tongue
AnuSvar is uttered with the help of the nasal
Other S ymbols
is the dot above the vowel and originates from a m! or a n!
AnuSvr a<
This shall be discussed in detail in the siNx rules
ivsgR a> is the aspirate sound that originates from a s! or r! at the end of the word
AxRivsgR is the modification of the ivsgR under certain conditions
is not strictly a symbol of the Samskrit language.
Av¢h =
It is used to represent an elided/omitted A

Consonant followed b y Vowels – sSvrVy Ãnain

The consonants when they join with vowels are represented as follows. The representation here is for the
consonant k. For all other consonants the same convention should be followed –
Consonant Vowel Symbol of the Vowel
kœ + A = k the nether stroke is removed
kœ + Aa = ka a
kœ + # = ik i
kœ + $ = kI I
kœ + % = k… u
kœ + ^ = kª U
kœ + \ = k« &
kœ + § = k© ©
kœ + ¤ = „ ¤
kœ + @ = ke ae
kœ + @e = kE aE
kœ + Aae = kae aae
kœ + AaE = kaE aaE

Conjunct Consonants – s< y u ´ ]rai[

When two or more consonants come together without a vowel intervening, it is called a conjunct consonant. A
conjunct consonant can have any number of constituents. But in the language we do not see more than five
coming together. When the conjunct consonants are written, certain conventions are followed. Sometimes each
consonant loses a part of itself when it joins with another. At other times one is written over the other.
Sometimes a totally new symbol represents the conjunct consonant. There are no definitive rules for this but
certain conventions are followed and one has to be familiar with them for a proper reading and writing of the
language. Conjunct Consonants Detailed

Rule 1 – In a conjunct consonant, the letter that corresponds to the last sound is generally represented in full,
because it has a vowel, and the letters corresponding to the previous sound(s) are represented by their vertical
half or a part of the whole. The exceptions to this rule are – ', D, q, f, F, r, h,
The order of writing is the same as the order of pronunciation, barring a few exceptions
Rule 2 – When in a conjunct consonant, the consonants – ', D, q, f, F, r, h come in any position other than
the last, they are represented in full and the lower halves of the letters of the sound that follows is placed above
the letters
Rule 3 – When the sound corresponding to r! is part of a conjunct consonant, the following conventions are
followed –
 If the consonant r! is preceded by a consonant, i.e. it is the second member of the conjunct, then it is
represented as a stroke on the body of the preceding consonant. In case the preceding consonant is – ', D,
q, f, F, it is represented as a double stroke below
 If the consonant r! is followed by a consonant, i.e. it is the first member of the conjunct and is preceded by a
vowel then it is represented as a hook on top of the next Svr-VyÃn , consonant that is followed by a vowel,
crossing over the consonant(s) that may intervene
Sa mskrit Nu merals
The Samskrit numerals are written as follows-
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

xatu – the verbal root

The starting point i.e. the most fundamental unit of Samskrit is the xatu– the verbal root. There are approximately
2000 roots in the language. xatu = one who supports, hence the name.
All xatu have ‘action’ as their inherent meaning i.e. every xatu denotes an action. Therefore a xatu is a i³ya
vack>.