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► Main Sounds
Main Sounds
“The Vedas come from certain fundamental sounds, and their variations. The slightest modification of the sound changes the meaning of what is said. No written language is able to represent all of the Vedic Sounds. It is impossible to write many of the words. The Vedas are God’s breath and can be transmitted from person to person only by voice.”
Conversation with Sai,
Chap. 8, by J. hislop
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Mahāṛṣhi Pāṇinī states in his Pāṇinīya śhīkṣhā (Treatise on Grammar) how carefully and attentively the Vedic sounds are to be chanted: “Just as a tigress carries her children, her teeth biting without hurting, yet, without fear of them falling down. In like manner, express and utter the sounds.”
In this document, you will find:
– a presentation of the positions of the tongue,
– a presentation of the vowels,
– a presentation of the consonants,
– a presentation of the other sounds,
– a recap chart,
– an audio file for each example.
– Below are the 4 main positions of the tongue, represented with a contact between the tongue and the organ of speech (throat, palate, teeth).
Guttural sound
Palatal sound
Cerebral sound
Dental sound– This contact may be full or slight and brief. The tongue may also approach at a large or short distance towards the concerned area to allow an air flow.
– Labial sounds are created with the lips joined or slightly opened or opened in a small circle and so on.
Labial sound– Nasal sounds, which may also belong to one of the above families, imply an air flow in the nose.
short
long
extended
long diphthong
guttural
a
ā
ā3
palatal
i
ī
ī3
ai
cerebral
ṛ
ṝ
dental
ḷ
labial
u
ū
ū3
ō
au
Guttural (without contact): a ā ā3
e.g.: bhagavān, rudrāya
Please note the difference between ‘a’ (as in ‘up’, without effort from any part of the mouth) and ‘ā’ (as in ‘farther’, uttered with the mouth widely opened).
Palatal (without contact): i ī ī3 ē ai
e.g.: kavim, vājinīvatī, dēvī, utainam
The sound ‘a’ + the sound ‘i’ give the sound ‘ē’.
The sound ‘ai’ is uttered as a brief ‘a’ followed by a long ‘ī’.
Cerebral (without contact): ṛ ṝ
e.g.: pṛthivī, amṛta
The tongue does not touch the top of the palate.
Dental (without contact): ḷ
e.g.: kḷptam
The tongue does not touch the teeth.
Labial (without contact): u ū ū3 ō au
e.g.: guru, sūktam, namō, asau
The sound ‘a’ + the sound ‘u’ give the sound ‘ō’.
The sound ‘au’ is uttered as a brief ‘a’ followed by a long ‘ū’.
25 consonants, organized in 5 co-phonic columns of 5 each
In order to utter them, the following vowel used in the recordings is ‘a’.
guttural
palatal
cerebral
dental
labial
non asp.
k
ch
ṭ
t
p
aspirated
kh
chh
ṭh
th
ph
non asp.
g
j
ḍ
d
b
aspirated
gh
jh
ḍh
dh
bh
nasal
ṅ
ñ
ṇ
n
m
Guttural: k kh g gh ṅ
e.g.: kavīnām, mukhā, giri, ghōṣha, śhaṅkara
Palatal: ch chh j jh ñ
e.g.: vachasā, chhanda, rājam, jhañjhanam, pañcha
Cerebral: ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ
e.g.: kōṭi, kāṇṭhāya, mṛḍayati, mīḍhuṣhē, gaṇapati
Dental: t th d dh n
e.g.: tīrthyāya, ratha, dēvī, dhanvanē, nātha
Labial: p ph b bh m
e.g.: paśhupati, phalam, bindu, bhava, maṅgalam
4 semi-consonants also called semi-vowels
palatal
cerebral
dental
labial
y
r
l
v
e.g.: sarasvatyai, namō vrātapatayē
‘v’ is mostly uttered as a ‘w’. In case that ‘v’ is followed by another consonant, then the ‘v’ is harder, with a contact between upper teeth and lower lip.
3 sibilants & 1 aspirated consonant
palatal
cerebral
dental
guttural
śh
ṣh
s
&
h
e.g.: śhiva, puruṣha, sītā, saha, hrasva, hṛdaya
The tongue is very close to the contact point (palate, teeth, throat) in order to create the “whistling”.
1 jihvāmūlīya, noted [hk] (guttural sound)
e.g.: nama[hk] kakubhāya, du[hk]kha
The back of the tongue quickly approaches towards the throat till contact. The sound stops in a ‘k’, creating a ‘hhhk’ sound.
1 upadhmānīya, noted [fp] (dental-labial sound)
e.g.: sī[fp] puruṣham, na[fp] prachōdayāt
The upper teeth and lip approach towards the lower lip till contact. The sound stops in a ‘p’, creating a ‘fffp’ sound.
1 anusvāra, noted ṁ (nasal sound)
e.g.: saṁvatsarō vā, vaiśhnavīṁ lōka
Before ‘v’, it becomes a nasal ‘v’ with slightly opened lips. Before ‘l’, it becomes a nasal ‘l’.
1 visarjanīya, noted ḥ (guttural sound)
e.g.: namaḥa, dhanuḥu, śhāntiḥi, kṣhamācharāḥa
The sound ḥ is followed by a vowel uttered as an echo (half powered) of the vowel preceding the ḥ.
1 other cerebral consonant: ḻ
e.g.: iḻaspadē
3 gm-kāras noted gm, ge and g’ge
e.g.: sarvagm, paśhūgestāgeśhchakrē, priyag’geśhraddhē
They occur only in the taittirīya Vedic branch. The ‘gm’ is uttered with joined lips. The ‘e’ is very short.
1 svarabhakti
e.g.: sammarśhinaḥa, sahasraśhīrṣhā, barhiṣhi
If the ‘r’ sound is followed by ‘śh+vowel’, ‘ṣh+vowel’, ‘s+vowel’ or ‘h+vowel’, it is uttered as the vowel ‘ṛ’, with a very slight contact tongue-palate. This sound occurs in other śhākhās (Vedic branches) also, but is best preserved by taittirīya chanters.
The sound ‘jñ’
e.g.: jñāna, yajñēna
The sound ‘jñ’ is uttered by positioning the tongue for a ‘j’, and immediately creating the sound ‘ñ’. Hence, before uttering the ‘ñ’, the tongue is in the palatal position with a large contact with the palate.
► Pronunciation Guide
Pronunciation Guide
“When all words emanating from you are sweet, your breath becomes Ṛg Vēda. When you restrict what you listen to and prefer only sweet speech, all that you hear becomes Sāma Gāna. When you do only sweet deeds, all that you do is Yajur Hōma. Then, you will be performing every day the Vēdapuruṣha Yajña, the yajña which propitiates the Vedic Spirit.”
– Bhagavān Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Discourse on 2 October 1981
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In this document, you will find:
– two charts with examples to help with pronunciation,
– some advice for the beginners,
– a list of specific sounds.
The charts below provide some elements of pronunciation for each letter used in the learning documents of Vedic prayers.
a:
up (short)
ā:
father (long)
i:
fill (short)
ī:
feed (long)
u:
full (short)
ū:
tool (long)
ē:
prey (long)
ai:
I (very short ‘a’ + ‘ī’)
ō:
go (long)
au:
cow (very short ‘a’ + ‘ū’)
ṛ:
acre, chr(i)stmas,
when ‘i’ is not pronouncedṝ:
as a prolongation of ‘ṛ’
ḷ:
fl(i)p, when ‘i’ is
not pronouncedk:
come
kh:
khaki
g:
good
gh:
aghast
ṅ:
monkey (fig. 1)
ch:
chum
chh:
Church-hill
(with a special stress)j:
jump
jh:
j + aspirated ‘h’
ñ:
onion
ṭ:
similar to the series below,
but with contact between
the tongue and the
upper part of the palateṭh:
ḍ:
ḍh:
ṇ:
t:
tea
the tongue touches
the upper and
the lower teethth:
ant-hill
d:
deed
dh:
d + aspirated ‘h’
n:
net
p:
pin
ph:
p + aspirated ‘h’
b:
big
bh:
b + aspirated ‘h’
m:
mum
y:
yes
r:
is rolled, as in the
Italian word cantarel:
class
v:
van
h:
hot (aspirated ‘h’)
śh:
sugar (without contact tongue/palate)
ṣh:
sharp (without contact tongue/palate)
s:
sing
As a first step, in order to make the learning easier, the pronunciation of certain letters may be simplified:
– ‘ṛ’ may be pronounced as a very brief and rolled ‘r’ (or a sound somewhere between ‘ri’ and ‘ru’);
– ‘śh’ and ‘ṣh’ may be pronounced as ‘sh’, as in dish;
– ‘ṇ’ may be pronounced as a classical/dental ‘n’;
– ‘ḍ’ and ‘ḍh’ may be pronounced as a classical/dental ‘d’ (and ‘dh’);
– ‘ṭ’ and ‘ṭh’ may be pronounced as a classical/dental ‘t’ (and ‘th’).
The second step is to acquire the proper pronunciation for each sound, so that the Vedas are chanted as accurately as possible, which is essential.
Note : - the importance of the aspirated ‘h’ (kh, gh, ṭh, ḍh, th, dh, ph, bh, chh, jh);
- the difference between ‘a’ (uttered without any effort from any part of the mouth) and ‘ā’ (uttered with widely open mouth) should be very clearly audible, especially when both these letters occur in the same word.
– ‘gm’ is a nasalized sound uttered with closed mouth, right from the uttering of ‘g’;
– in ‘ge’, the ‘e’ (small sized) is uttered very briefly;
– [fp] indicates a ‘fffffp’ sound;
– [hk] indicates a ‘hhhhk’ sound;
– ‘ḥ’ is a brief aspirated ‘h’; the following vowel is uttered as an echo (half-powered);
– ‘jñ’ is uttered by positioning the tongue for a ‘j’, and immediately creating the sound ‘ñ’;
– ‘ṁ’ followed by ‘l’ is uttered as a nasalized ‘l’;
– ‘ṁ’ followed by ‘v’ is uttered as a nasalized ‘w’, with slightly opened lips.
