` sh na?vvtu, sh naE? Éun´…, sh vIy¡? krvavhE, tejiSv navxI?tmStu ma iv?iÖ;avhE?

,
` zaiNt/> zaiNt/> zaiNt?>.

yena]rsmaçaymixgMy mheñrat! , k«Tõm! Vyakr[> àae´< tSmE pai[nye nm>.

vaKykar< vrêic< Éa:ykar< ptÃilm!, pai[in< sUÇkar< c à[tae=iSm muinÇym!.
` zaiNt/> zaiNt/> zaiNt?>.

1 A # % [!
2 \ ¤ kœ
3 @ Aae 'œ
4 @e Aae c!
5 h y r v qœ
6 l~ [!
7 | m ' [ n m!
8 H É |!
9 " f x ;!
10 j b g f z!
11 o ) D Q w c q t v!
12 k p y!
13 z ; s r!
14 h l!
#it maheñrai[ sUÇai[.
1. The maheñrai[ sUÇai[, also known as àTyahar sUÇ are fourteen in number and they represent the
alphabets in a certain order.
2. The final letters in all the sUUÇa are consonants and Panini calls them #t! (that which goes (away)) letters.
They have been placed there for the formation of àTyahar (abbreviations).
3. #t! = AnubNx = that which is added, indicatory letters, tag letters; which carry information. After giving out
their information they go away. In the maheñr sUÇ their purpose is to mark the end of a àTyahar. The short
A that is added to all the consonants in the maheñr sUÇ is to facilitate enunciation. It is not the status of an
#t! letter. The exception to this is the A~ which is nasalised and attached to the l! in the sūtra - l~[!. That
nasalised A~ has the status of an #t! letter.
#t! = AnubNx = that which is added, indicatory letters, tag letters; which carry information. These are defined in
section 1.3.2 to 1.3.8 of the Astaadhyayi of Panini. We need to see the following two sutras now –
s %pdeze=jnunaisk #t! 1.3.2
U
p %pdeze,7,-, Ac!,1,-, Anunaisk>,1,-, #t!,1,-,
v %pdez Aa*a½ar[m!, %pidZyte Anen #it %pdez> ZaaôvaKyain sUtpaQ> iolpaQí*, tÇ yae
& Ac! Anunaisk> s #Ts<}ae Évit
In the Paninian terminology the word %pdez refers to all that is enunciated at the outset in the zaô and also that
by which the subject matter is taught- the sUÇpaQ and the xatupaQ etc. Therefore, now the maheñr-sUÇ
get the status of being the %pdez. In the %pdez, a nasalised vowel is considered to be an #t! letter
Now, in the maheñr-sUÇ the A in the sUÇ - l~[! is nasalised, theerfore, it is an #t! letter. How does one

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 know which vowels are nasalised? By the Tradition of Teaching – as indicated by the pirÉa;a àit}a
AanunaisKya> pai[nIya>
* iolpaQ - means the complete paQ> i.e. sUÇpaQ, xatupaQ, g[paQ, Aadez, Aagm, àTyy,Aaid.
hlNTym! 1.3.3
p hl!,1,-, ANTym!,1-,
v %pdeze ANTy< hl! #t! Syat!
&
In the %pdez the final is an #t! letter. The #t! letter is dropped after its function as an indicator is over. This is
said in the following sUÇa -

tSy laep> 1.3.9

tSy,6,-, laep>,1,-,
v tSy #tae laep> Syat!
&
That #t! is dropped. This elision is technically called a laep>. This laep in the Paninian conceptualization, is a
substitution, an Aadez>. In effect, it is a substitution with a blank. The laep is defined in the next sūtra

AdzRn< laep> 1.1.60

AdzRnm!,1,-, laep>,1,-,
v tSy #tae laep> Syat!
&
Not being seen, not being heard, not being enunciated, not being available absence, destruction of the letters –
these are the various synonyms of laep. What is meant by these is called laep. When what is not seen or heard,
that is, deliberately dropped, it is called laep (elision)

Formation of àTyahar of àTyahar is explained in the following sūtra -

AaidrNTyen sheta 1.1.71
Aaid>,1,-, ANTyen,3,-, sh,0, #ta,3,-,
v AaidrNTyen #Tys}ken sh g&ýma[> tNmXypittana< v[aRna< ¢ahkae Évit, SvSy c êpsy,
& A[!, Akœ, Ac!, hl!,
The first letter along with the final #t! letter forms a àTyahar or an abbreviation and it stands for itself and the
intervening components, The #t! letter being only an indicatory letter, is not counted. It merely serves as a
marker – marking the end of a àTyahar.
E.g. – the àTyahar - A[! formed beginning with A of the first maheñr-sUÇ and ending with a [! stands for
A, # & %. Similarly, the àTyahar - Ac! stands for A, #, %, \, ¤, @, Aae, @e & AaE
 The #t! letters of each of the sUÇ do not count.
 There are a total of 44 àTyahar used in the AóaXyayI

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The represenatation of the alphabet in the maheñr-sUÇ is as follows
# sUÇ Represents-
1 A # % [!
2 \ ¤ kœ
All vowels
3 @ Aae 'œ
4 @e AaE c!
5 h y r v qœ
Semi-vowels
6 l [!
7 | m ' [ n m! Nasals
8 H É |!
The 4th consonants of all the classes
9 " F x ;!
10 j b g f z! The 3rd consonants of all the classes
11 o ) D Q w c q t v! The 2nd consonants of all the classes
12 k p y!
The 1st consonants of all the classes
13 z ; s r!
14 h l! Sibilants

Now we shall see how the Sanskrit alphabet is classified traditionally according to the rules of pronounciation.

Vow el s
First we shall study the classification of vowels
The first classification is based on the length of the pronounciation. And the second based on the external effort of
the accent on the vowels

^kalae=JH+SvdI"RPlut> 1.2.27
^kal>,1,-, Ac!,1,-, ùSv-dIrx-Plut>,1,-,
v % ^ %3 - #Tyev< kalae Ac! ywa³m< ‘ÿSv-dI"R-Plut>’ - #Tyev<s<}ae Évit, ÿSv> - dix,
& mxu, dI"R> - lúmI, gaErI, Plut> - devdÄ3 AÇ Ais,
The vowel % is taken as a prototype and the three types based on the length are defined as follows –
ùSv> - one unit of pronounciation – like that of % (one maÇa)
dI"R> - two units of pronounciation – like that of ^ (two maÇa)
Plut> - three units of pronounciation – like that of %3 (three maÇa)
Again each of these has three more forms based on the accent or Svr. They are defined in the following sUÇ -

%½Eé%daÄ> 1.2.29
%½E>,0, %daÄ>,1,-,
v taLvaid;u sÉage;u Swane;u ^XvRÉage in:pÚae Ac! %daÄ-s<}> Syat!
&
The vowel that arises at the top portion of its place of origin is called the %daÄ>, This is a very simplistic
definition. The iz]a-zaô has a more descriptive definition that is given in the kaizka-v&iÄ

nIcErnudaÄ> 1.2.30

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 nIcE>,0, AnudaÄ>,1,-,
v taLvaid;u sÉage;u Swane;u AxaeÉage in:pÚae Ac! AnudaÄ-s<}> Syat!
&
The vowel that arises at the bottom portion of its place of origin is called the AnudaÄ>

smahar> Svirt> 1.2.31

smahar>,1,-, Svirt>,1,-,
v %daÄ-AnudaÄTve smaiÿyete yiSmn! sae Ac! Svirt-s<}> Syat!
&
The vowel in which the qualities of both the %daÄ & AnudaÄ exist together is called Svirt>
Each vowel has nine forms:
There are three according to the length of the pronounciation
Each of those three has three forms according to the accent or Svr
Further each of these nine has two more forms – the nasalised (Anunaisk>) and the non-nasalised
(Annunaisk>)

The definition of what is meant by nasalisation is explained in the sūtra below –

muonaiskavcnae=nunaisk> 1.1.8
muonaiskavcn>,1,-, Anunaisk>,1,-,
v muo-siht-naiskya %½ayRma[ae v[aeR Anunaisk>-s<}> Syat!,
&
The letter that is pronounced using the nose along with its regular point of articulation is called nasal, the
Anunaisk>
tidTwm! - A, #, %, \ @;a< v[aRna< àTyekm! Aòadz Éda>, l&-v[RSy Öadz, tSy dI"aRÉavat!,
@camip Öadz, te;a< ÿSvaÉavat!.
Thus the vowels A, #, % & \ have 18 forms. Let us take the vowel A as a prototype and see all the 18 forms
1. %daÄ has no notation marks
2. AnudaÄ is denoted with an under-score
3. Svirt is denoted with a vertical line above
4. The notation mark indicating nasalization is a crescent with a dot above
Av[R> ÿSv dI"R iPlta Nasalised

1 A Aa A# A~ Aa~ A~#

2 A/ Aa/ A/# A~/ Aa~/ A/~#

3 A? Aa? A?# A~? Aa~? A~?#

The vowel ¤ does not have dI"R forms; hence has only 12 forms
Similarly, the dipthongs - @c! - @ , Aae, @e & AaE do not have any ÿSv forms; hence they too have only 12
forms

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The classification of the vowels of the whole alphabet based on their point of articulation, internal effort, external
effort etc., follows -
C l as s i fi cat i on bas ed on AaSym! or Swanm!
Firstly we shall see the classification according to the point of articulation called AaSym! or Swanm!
• Ak…hivsjRnIyana< k{Q>
All the 18 forms of the vowel A, the letters of the k-vgR , the hkar and the ivsgR, all have their AaSym! as the
throat – k{Q>, Therefore, they are called the k{Q(a> - gutturals.
• #cuyzana< talu
All the 18 forms of the vowel #, the letters of the c-vgR , the ykar and the zkar, all have their AaSym! as the
palate – talu, Therefore, they are called the talVya> - palatals.
• \qur;a[a< mUxaR
All the 18 forms of the vowel \, the letters of the q-vgR , the re) and the ;kar, all have their AaSym! as the top of
the palate – mUxaR, Therefore, they are called the mUxRNya> - cerebrals
• ¤tulsana< dNta>
All the 12 forms of the vowel ¤, the letters of the p-vgR , the letter l and the letter s, have their AaSym! as the
teeth – dNta>, Therefore, they are called the dNTya> - dentals
• %pUpXmanIyana< AaeóaE
All the 18 forms of the vowel %, the letters of the p-vgR and the %pXmanIy* have their AaSym! as the lips –
AaeóaE, Therefore, they are called the Aaeó(a> - labials
(* is an AxRivsgR – to be discussed later)
• |m'[nana< naiska c
The letters |, m, ', [ have the nose also as their AaSym! , along with the corresponding AaSym!, Therefore, they
are called the Anunaiska> - nasals of their corresponding classes.
• @dEtae> k{Qtalu
All the 12 forms of @ & @e have the combined point of articulation of the throat and the palate. Therefore, they
are called the k{Qtalu - gutturo-palatals
• AaedaEtae> k{Qaeóm!
All the 12 forms of Aae & AaE have the combined point of articulation of the throat and the lips. Therefore, they
are called the k{Qaeóm! - gutturo-labials
• vkarSy dNtaeóm!
The vkar has the point of articulation as the combination of the teeth and the lips. Therefore, it is called the
dNtaeóm! - dento-labial
• ijþamUlIySy ijþamUlm!
The point of articulation of the ijþamUlIy is the base of the tongue, the ijþamUlm!
• naiska AnuSvarSy
The nose is the point of origin of the AnuSvar

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yÆ - Effort
The following is the classification based on effort – yÆm!, The effort is further classified into –
1. The internal effort – Aa_yNtr-àyÆm!,
2. The external effort – baý-àyÆm!,

The internal effort – Aa_yNtr-àyÆm!

• Aa*> pÂxa, Sp&ò-#;TSp&ò-#;iÖv&t-s<v&t-Éedat!, tÇ Sp&ò< àyÆ< SpzaRnam!,
#;TSp&òmNtSwanam!, #;iÖv&tm! ^:m[am!, ivv&t< Svra[am!, ûSvSy Av[RSy àyaege
s<v&tm!, ài³ya dzaya< tu ivv&tm! @v,

There are five kinds of internal effort –

1. Sp&ò-àyÆm! - the effort that brings about a complete contact between the articulator surfaces. The 25 class
consonants have this kind of effort. They are called SpzaR>.
2. #;TSàp&ò-yÆm! - the effort that brings about an incomplete contact between the articulator surfaces. The
semi-vowels i.e. y, r, l & v have this kind of effort. They are called ANtSwa>.
3. ivv&t-àyÆm! - an open kind of an effort in which the articulator surfaces remain open. All the vowels have
this kind of an effort
4. #;iÖv&t-àyÆm! - a partially open effort in which the articulator surfaces remain partially open. The sibilants
– z ; s h have this kind of an effort. The sibilants are called ^:ma[>.
5. s<v&t-àyÆm! - an effort in which the articulator surfaces remain contracted. The vowel – A has this kind of
an effort at the time of pronounciation. For the derivational purposes in grammar it is considered to be having a
ivv&t-àyÆm!, It is necessary to consider it so, so that one can consider A and Aa to be sv[R to each other

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C l as s i fi cat i on bas ed on i nt e rnal e ffort
kog"' qQfF[
Sp&òm!
cDjH| twdxn
$;TSp&ò
yvrl
m!
ivv&tm! A # % \ ¤ @ Aae @e AaE
$;iÖv&tm
z;sh
!
s<v&tm! The A is s<v&t in àyaeg but is ivv&t in ài³ya

The ex t ern al effort – baý-àyÆm!,

• baýàyÆ> tu @kadzca, ivvar> s<var> ñasae nadae A"ae;ae "ae;ae ALpàa[ae mhaàa[
%daÄae AnudaÄ> Svirt> #it,
• orae ivvara> ñasa> A"ae;aí, hz> s<vara vada "ae;aí vgaR[a< àwm-t&tIy-pÂma y[í
ALpàa[a>, vgaR[a< iÖtIy-ctuwIR zlí mhaàa[a>,
There are eleven types of external effort –
1. ivvar - the effort in which the mouth remains more open
2. s<var – the effort in which the mouth remains more closed than the previous
3. ñas – the effort in which the air moves freely
4. nad – the effort that produces a deep sound
5. "ae; – the effort that gives a resonance to the sound
6. A"ae;– the effort that does not give the resonance to the sound
7. ALpàa[ – the effort in which there is less aspiration of air; the non-aspirates have this effort
8. mhaàa[ – the effort in which there is more of aspiration of air; the aspirates have this effort
9. AnudaÄ – already discussed
10. %daÄ – already discussed
11. Svirt – already discussed
Classification based on external effort -
ivvar>, ñas>, A"ae;, kocDqQtwp)z;s or!
s<var>, nad, "ae;, g"'jH|fF[dxnbÉmyvrlh hz!
The 1 , 3 , 5 ,of the class, y[! and all the
st rd th

ALpàa[> kg'cj|Qf[tdnpbmyvrl
vowels
mhaàa[> o"DHQFwx)Éz;sh The 2 , 4 of the class and zl!
nd th

Note: The ivsgR, the ijþamUlIy, the %pXmanIy and the AnuSvar are sounds that can be pronounced along
with vowels only and never independently. The AnuSvar, the ivsgR, the AxRivsgR, ijþamUlIy and the
%pXmanIy arise as a result of the siNx rules. Of these –
1. The ijþamUlIy has its Swan as the nose
2. The ijþamUlIy and the %pXmanIy have their own Swan as the base of the tongue and the lips, respectively
3. The ivsgR alone has no particular Swan. The Swan of the ivsgR depends upon the preceding vowel on
which it is dependent on. Therefore, the pronounciation of the ivsgR is also based on the preceding vowel. e.g.
ram>, kiv>, ram>, gué>, hre> etc.

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sv[RT v
The letters that belong to the same technical category, that have the same point of origin, AaSym! and the same
internal effort, are called sv[R or homophonic. This is defined in the following sUÇa-

tuLyaSyàyTn< sv[Rm! 1.1.9

tuLyaSyàyÆ<,1,-, sv[Rm!>,1,-,
v tuLyzÓ> s†zpyaRy>, AaSye Évm! AaSy<,* taLvaidSwanm!, àytn< , àyÆ>
& Sp&òtaidv[Rgu[>, tuLy> AaSye àyÆae YSy v[RSy yen v[eRn sh, s smanjatIym! sv[Rs<}ae
Évit,
The word tuLy in the sūtra means equal. When the AaSy and A_yataraàyÆ are the same for any two letters,
they are considered to be mutually sv[R to each other, provided they belong to the same category. The outcome
of this stated in the v&iÄ as follows -
v A A A #it Çzae Akara %daÄ-AnudaÄ!-Svirta>, àTyek< sanunaiska inrnunaiska> c ÿSva-dI"R-
& PlutÉedadœ Aòadzxa iÉ*Nte, twa #v[R>, twa %v[R>, twa \v[R>, ¤v[RSy n siNt, t<
ÖadzÉedm! Aac]te, sNXy]ra[a< ÿSva n siNt, taNyip ÖadzàÉedain,
Each of the four vowels A # % & \ have 18 forms, as seen before, that are sv[R to each other. The vowel ¤ has
only 12 forms because it does not have any ÿSv forms
* The mouth is called AaSym! , primarily by the definition. ASyte AiSmn! #it AaSym! – the place where
you throw (food) into. Then the secondary derivation, the Swanm! or the point of articulation is called, by the
definition, AaSye Éam! AaSym! – that which is present in the AaSym!,
ANtSwa iÖàÉeda>, re)vijRta yala> sanunaiska inrnunaiska> c, re)-^:m[a< n siNt,
The semi-vowels, except the re) have two forms sv[R to each other; a nasal and a non-nasal. The re) and the
sibilants do not have any sv[R letters.

vaitRk- vGyaeR vGyeR[ sv[R>,

The class consonants are sv[R to each other. The letters k o g " & ' to each other. So too are the letters of the
cvgR, etc.
vaitRk. \kar-¤karyae> sv[Rs¡}a v´Vya,
It has already been mentioned that ¤ does not have a dI"R. This vaitRk says that \ and ¤ are mutually sv[R to each
other. Therefore, whenever a substitution of a dI"R is necessary with reference to ¤, the \ is substituted.

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