Sanskrit : Semi-vowels, sibilants, etc.

Sanskrit : Semi-vowels, sibilants, etc.

Semi-vowels, sibilants, etc.

The sixth group of consists of three subgroups.

Semivowels

य	र	ल	व
ya	ra	la	va

Sibilants

श	ष	स
śa	sa	sa

Aspirate

ह

य	sounds like the 'y' in young.
र	sounds like the real 'r', similar to the Scottish pronunciation.
ल	sounds like the 'l' in laugh.
व	sounds like the 'v' in vast.
श	has no direct equivalent in English. It is like the 'g' a German would say when speaking English and saying "Germany".
ष	sounds like the first sound in shall.
स	is similar to the 's' in same.
ह	sounds like the 'h' in harmony.

There are three other consonants that one finds in use.

ळ	क्ष	झ
la	ksa	jna

ळ	is usually included in the semi-vowels.
	It is similar to ऌ but is pronounced with the tip of the tongue folded back.
क्ष	is usually a conjunct being क + ष
झ	is also a conjunct, ज + ञ

The first and the third are used frequently in old Sanskrit texts. The second is in common use today.

Continue to consonant vowel combinations.

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Unicode conversion from original site (IIT Madras) completed by Walter Stanish. Hosted at pratyeka.