Reading Sanskrit words
Most of the ideas in Indian psychology were first written in Sanskrit, and Buddhist ideas often in Pali. You do not need to learn either language. You only need to recognise the words, say them well enough to use them in class, and know that one word can be spelled in several ways.
Three ways of writing the same word
Take the word for "mind as a whole" in the Yoga tradition. You will meet it in three forms:
- Devanagari, the script used for Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi and other languages: चित्त.
- IAST, the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration. Scholars use it to write Sanskrit exactly in Roman letters, with marks above and below some letters: citta.
- Plain English spelling, which drops the marks and writes sounds the way an English reader expects: chitta.
These guides use the plain spelling in the running text, because it is easier to read. The word cards and the glossary give the other two forms. Where the syllabus uses a spelling, such as "Sankhya", the guides use that spelling too.
The guides' pronunciation hints
Each word card has a "say" line, such as say: muh-nuhs for manas. Read the hint as if it were an English word, one piece at a time. The pieces do not show stress, because Sanskrit does not stress syllables the way English does. Three rules matter most:
- A short a sounds like the u in "but", so it is written "uh". Manas is not "man-ass".
- A long ā sounds like the a in "father", written "aa".
- A plain u in a hint, as in gu-ru or bud-dhi, is the short u of "put". A double oo is the long u of "food".
Many Indian languages drop the short a at the end of a word. A Hindi speaker says "yog" and "karm" where a Sanskrit reciter says "yo-guh" and "kur-muh". Both are heard in Indian classrooms. The hints follow the Sanskrit form.
Vowels
| Letter (IAST) | Hint | Sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | uh | the u in "but" | manas: muh-nuhs |
| ā | aa | the a in "father", held longer | ātman: aat-muhn |
| i | i | the i in "sit" | citta: chit-tuh |
| ī | ee | the ee in "feet" | Gītā: gee-taa |
| u | u | the u in "put" | guru: gu-ru |
| ū | oo | the oo in "food" | sūtra: soo-truh |
| ṛ | ri | a short "ri", as most Indian speakers say it today | Ṛg Veda: rig-vay-duh |
| e | ay | the ay in "say"; always long | Veda: vay-duh |
| ai | ai | the ai in "aisle" | Vaiśeṣika: vai-shay-shi-kuh |
| o | o | the o in "go"; always long | moha: mo-huh |
| au | ow | the ow in "cow" | Bauddha: bowd-dhuh |
Consonants that surprise English readers
| Letter (IAST) | Hint | Sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| c | ch | always the ch in "church", never k or s | citta: chit-tuh |
| ch | chh | ch with a puff of breath | chandas: chhuhn-duhs |
| ś and ṣ | sh | both are close to the sh in "ship"; ṣ is said with the tongue curled back | puruṣa: pu-ru-shuh |
| ṭ, ḍ, ṇ | t, d, n | the tongue curls back to touch the roof of the mouth | Vedānta: vay-daan-tuh |
| t, d, n | t, d, n | the tongue touches the back of the upper teeth | tattva: tuht-tvuh |
| th, dh, ph, bh, kh, gh | th, dh, ph... | the letter plus a puff of breath. th is never the th in "thin", and ph is never f | artha: uhr-thuh |
| ñ, ṅ | ny, ng | ñ is the ny in "canyon"; ṅ is the ng in "sing" | saṅgha: suhng-ghuh |
| jñ | gy or dny | said "gy" in much of north India and "dny" in Maharashtra | jñāna: gyaa-nuh |
| ṃ | m or n | a nasal sound that takes the shape of the next consonant | Sāṃkhya: saang-khyuh |
| ḥ | h | a soft breath after the vowel | duḥkha: duh-khuh |
| v | v | between English v and w | vidyā: vid-yaa |
One word, many spellings
When you search a library catalogue or read a different textbook, try the other spellings below. They are the same word.
| In these guides | Also written | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sankhya | Samkhya, Sāṃkhya, Sāṅkhya | The ṃ before kh is said like ng. Books choose different letters for it. |
| chitta | citta | IAST writes the "ch" sound as c. Many English books write ch. |
| Rig Veda | Ṛgveda, Rigveda | ṛ is written ri in plain English spelling. |
| Upanishad | Upaniṣad | ṣ is written sh in plain English spelling. |
| Vaisheshika | Vaiśeṣika | Both ś and ṣ become sh. |
| nirvana | nirvāṇa (Sanskrit), nibbāna (Pali) | Buddhist texts in Pali often use a different form of the same word. |
| karma | karman (Sanskrit stem), kamma (Pali) | Hindi speakers say "karm", dropping the final vowel. |
Sanskrit and Pali
Sanskrit is the classical language of the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and most of the philosophical schools. Pali is a related language. The Theravada school of Buddhism preserved its collection of the Buddha's teachings, the Pali Canon, in it. Many Pali words are softer forms of Sanskrit ones: dhamma for dharma, kamma for karma, nibbāna for nirvāṇa. The glossary marks each word as Sanskrit or Pali.