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Samskruta Adhyayanam (संस्कृत अध्ययनम्)

Sanskrit Classes at Chinmaya Vrindavan

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10/30/09

Alphabet Grouping

अ to औ are called स्वर (swara) - vowels

अ इ उ ऋ लृ  - ह्रस्व स्वर (hrasva swara) - short vowels

आ ई ऊ ॠ ए ऐ ओ औ  - दीर्घ स्वर (deergha swara) - long vowels (note that ए ऐ ओ औ are nitya deergha, no hrasva for them)

अं  is called अनुस्वार (anuswaara)
अः is called विसर्ग (visarga)

क to ह are called व्यञ्जन (vyanjana) - consonants

क to म are called वर्गीय व्यञ्जन (vargIya vyanjana) - grouped consonants 

य to ह are called अवर्गीय व्यञ्जन (avargIya vyanjana) - un-grouped consonants

वर्गीय व्यञ्जन (vargIya vyanjana) - grouped consonants, are further divided into

अल्पप्राण (alpapraaNa) -  the 1st and 3rd alphabet of each वर्ग (varga) group

महाप्राण (mahaapraaNa) - the 2nd and 4th alphabet of each वर्ग (varga) group

अनुनासिक (anunaasika) - nasal consonants - the 5th alphabet of each वर्ग (varga) group

Further, the SAME vargIya vyanjana-s are regrouped as - 

कर्कश (karkasha) - Hard consonants - the 1st & 2nd alphabet of each varga (group)

मृदु (mRudu) - Soft consonants - the 3rd & 4th alphabet of each varga (group)

अनुनासिक (anunaasika) - nasal consonants - the 5th alphabet of each varga (group)

Also, each varga is identified by the starting alphabet of that particular varga -  कवर्ग, चवर्ग, टवर्ग, तवर्ग, पवर्ग (ka-varga, cha-varga, Ta-varga, ta-varga, pa-varga).

As per the origination of the sound, the vyanjana-s are classified as thus -

कवर्ग, ह, : (visarga) -> कण्ठ्य (ka-varga, ha, -H -> kaNThya) - Gutturals - Pronounced from the throat

चवर्ग, य, श -> तालव्य (cha-varga, ya, sha -> taalavya) - Palatals - tongue touches the front of the palate

टवर्ग, र, ष -> मूर्धन्य (Ta-varga, ra, Sha -> mUrdhanya) - Cerebrals - tongue rolls all the way, as if towards the head

तवर्ग, ल, स -> दन्त्य (ta-varga, la, sa -> dantya) - Dentals - tongue touches the teeth

पवर्ग, व  -> ओष्ठ्य (pa-varga, va -> oShThya) - Labials - lips are essential in their pronunciation

अवर्गीय व्यञ्जन (avargIya vyanjana) - ungrouped consonants are of 3 types

य   र   ल   व -> अन्तस्थ (antastha) - Semi-vowels - soft consonants

श ष स -> ऊष्म (uShma) - Sibilant - hard consonants - made with a hissing noise

ह -> महाप्राण (mahaapraaNa) - Aspirate - soft consonant

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Posted by Rashmi Kashi (Kaavya Sindhu) at 5:03 PM

Labels: Alphabet

8 comments:



Unknown6/5/17, 8:50 AM

Nice info...
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Kesava Tadipatri9/11/17, 11:42 AM

Very good info. A quick Q - why is ॡ (the long for ऌ) not mentioned.
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Replies



Kaavya Sindhu9/11/17, 4:16 PM

There are actually 6 forms of अ - अ आ आऽ and अ (in उदात्त, अनुदात्त and स्वरित forms) and like wise for इ उ ऋ ऌ too. Similarly, there are 5 forms for ए ऐ ओ औ (as they are nitya deergha and do not have hrasva equivalents).

The akSharamaala does not contain any of these either.
These are used only in certain circumstances, like in vedic chanting, etc. Similarly ॡ is not used in regular words. Hence not included in the list. Hope that helps.



Kesava Tadipatri10/2/17, 11:16 PM

Thank you for replying. Though ऌ and ॡ are very rare, they are mAtRukA mantras, which are Bhagavat svarUpaas. They are there in Vedic mantras. So, they should be in Akshara mAla, even though we don't use in day-to-day life.

ऌशः meaning giver of joy to Aditi, where ऌ means आदिति
ॡजिः meaning conquerer of Diti by killing her sons, where ॡ means दिति

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Unknown4/2/19, 10:25 AM

What is mrudu vyanjana
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Rashmi Kashi (Kaavya Sindhu)4/2/19, 10:43 PM

कर्कश (karkasha) - Hard consonants - the 1st & 2nd alphabet of each varga (group)
मृदु (mRudu) - Soft consonants -