Sanskrit pronunciation guide

March 22, 2008 11:59 AM

I have a desperate need to gain some basic command over Sanskrit terms written in the English alphabet (i.e. with the diacritical marks). Can someone point me to a no-nonsense pronunciation guide, as I am having difficulty finding one that doesn't assume preexisting linguistics knowledge.
posted by aletheia to writing & language (3 answers total)

No-nonsense pronunciation guide.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:33 PM on March 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

That is not a no-nonsense guide, since it presumes you know what all the macrons, subscript dots, etc. are. This page has a "simplified guide to pronunciation" that gives English equivalents (short a is "u as in but"; long a "as in arm, harm"—but note that "final 'a' is not pronounced" is true only of modern Indian pronunciation, not of Sanskrit itself); this site has audio, which may be helpful.
posted by languagehat at 2:52 PM on March 22, 2008

The page that KokuRyu linked to provides sound files. It seems to be exactly what aletheia is asking for.
posted by bricoleur at 6:21 AM on March 23, 2008