Pronunciation guide · page viii

1य

2ya as y in yes

3र

4ra as r in remember

5ल

6la as l in light

7व

8va as v in vine, as w in swan

9श

10śha as sh in shape

11स

12sa as s in sin

13ष

14ṣha as sh in show

15ह

16ha as h in hut

17क्ष

18kṣha as in freak show

19ज्ञ

20jña as in big young

21ड़

22d̤a

23ढ़

24d̤ha

25There is no sign in English to represent the sounds

26ड़

27and

28ढ़

29they

30have been written as d̤a and d̤ha, but the tip of the tongue quickly

31flaps down.

32Note - In the explanation of the couplets to simplify

33the spelling of Hindi words we have used a minimum

34of diacritical marks, retaining only the long mark (-) for

35the long vowels and omitting the other diacritics, which

36are sometimes used in rendering Hindi or Sanskrit

37words into English. Some subtleties of Hindi

38pronunciation, such as the difference between retroflex

39and dental consonants, are therefore lost. The gain in

40simplicity, however, seems to outweigh this loss.