This language is spoken in India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Malaysia. World’s oldest language is Sanskrit. The Sanskrit language has been spoken since 5,000 years before Christ. Sanskrit is still the official language of India.

Sanskrit is one of the oldest known languages over thousands of years. It is also called “Dev Vani”, the language of gods as it is said that Brahma introduced this language to the Sages of celestial bodies. It is believed that the Sanskrit language came from the Indo-European language family of the Indian subcontinent.

 

Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies

Apart from the fun, learning Sanskrit can also help you understand the etymology of a lot of words in Indian and non-Indian languages. Sanskrit is also a very systematic and syntactic language and the grammar of the language serves as a master template for most Indian and a few European languages.

 

Unfortunately or fortunately Sanskrit is a very complex language and, as such, generally quite difficult to study and acquire. 

It’s quite a complex language, so it won’t be feasible for you to learn Sanskrit through books. You’ll need some kind of tutor or a push from someone to learn Sanskrit.

 स्वराः  – swarah (vowels)

अ  आ  इ  ई  उ  ऊ  ऋ  ॠ  लृ  ए  ऐ  ओ  औ

a  ā  i  ī  u  ū  ṛ  ṝ  ḷ  e  ai  o  au

 

स्वराश्रितौ 

ंं – अनुस्वारः    ंः – विसर्गः

ṃ – anusvāraḥ    ḥ – visargaḥ

 

व्यञ्जनानि vyanjanaani (consonants)

क्  ख्  ग  घ्  ङ्

k  kh  g  gh  ṅ

 

च्  छ्  ज्  झ्  ञ्

c  ch  j  jh  ñ

 

ट्  ठ्  ड्  ढ्  ण्

ṭ  ṭh  ḍ  ḍh  ṇ

 

त्  थ्  द्  ध्  न्

t  th  d  dh  n

 

प्  फ्  ब्  भ्  म्

p  ph  b  bh  m

 

य्  र्  ल्  व्

y  r  l  v

 

श्  ष्  स्

ś  ṣ  s

 

ह्

h

• Before you begin.

It is very useful to take a moment and clear your mind of any notions of how to pronounce a transliterated Sanskrit word. Just focus on the word in front of you and try not to lengthen vowels or stress a syllable based on past habits or other influences. 

 

• Know the long and short vowel sounds.

In English, a vowel should either be short or long. Sanskrit also has short and long vowel sounds. The problem is it is hard to find out just why looking at the spelling which vowel is long and which one is short.

Let’s take an example – a yoga posture is called ‘asana’ in Sanskrit. If you make the second ‘a’ long then it becomes ‘a-saa-na’ which is incorrect. If you make the first ‘a’ long. Then it becomes ‘aa-sa-na’, which is correct.

 

• How to pronounce visarga

(The visarga) – pronounced as a voiceless h and is articulated at the tongue position of the previous vowel. It is not a full syllable.  [In front of क्  k and ख्  kh the visarga, called the jihvāmūlīya जिह्वामूलीय, ẖ   is pronounced as guttural breathing approximately like “ch” of “loch”. In front of प्  p and फ्  ph the visarga, called the upadhmānīya उपध्मानीय, ḫ  is pronounced as labial breathing approximately like “f”]

 

• How to pronounce anusvara

The anusvara is pronounced as a nasal of the class of the following mute. ṅka  ङ्क,  ñca  ञ्च,  ṇṭa  ण्ट,  nta  न्त,  mpa  म्प. At the end of a word and before vowels it is “m”. Before semi-vowels, sibilants, or ‘h” it nasalizes the previous vowel. In the last case, that is when the anusvāra nasalizes (anunāsika) the previous vowel, it is sometimes represented by the Chandra Bindu sign m̐.