# Sanskrit phrasebook

Sanskrit (संस्कृतम्) is an ancient language in which many Hindu religious texts were written. It is an Indo-European language, and hence related to languages such as Greek and Latin. Similar to Latin, it is now primarily a liturgical language and not spoken as a native language by any significant sector of the population. Nevertheless, as many contemporary Indian languages are descended from Sanskrit, and even those unrelated to Sanskrit have been strongly influenced by it, learning Sanskrit is of immense value to those with a keen interest in Indian culture. Sanskrit has also had a strong influence on many languages of Southeast Asia. It is one of the official languages of India.

## Writing

Sanskrit is written in many scripts in different parts of India and Southeast Asia. It is predominantly written in the Devanāgarī (देवनागरी) script, shared with Hindi, Nepali, Marathi and a number of other Indian languages. Learning Devanagari is not quite as difficult as you might think at first glance, but mastering it takes a while and is beyond the scope of most travellers. See Learning Devanagari for a primer.

## Pronunciation

Most English speakers find Sanskrit pronunciation rather challenging, as there are 11 separate vowels and 35 separate consonants, employing a large number of distinctions not found in English. Don't let this intimidate you: for the vast majority of its speakers, Sanskrit is not a mother tongue, and many speakers are quite used to regional accents and mangling in various degrees.

### Vowels

The key distinction is the difference between short and long vowels. In this phrase book, long vowels are noted with a macron (ā), with short vowels listed without one. You will often come across non-standard romanizations, noted in parentheses below when applicable.
| Devanagari | Transliteration | Equivalent |
| अ | a | as in about |
| आ | ā | as in father |
| इ | i | as in sit |
| ई | ī (ee) | as in elite |
| उ | u | as in put |
| ऊ | ū (oo) | as in flute |
| ऋ | ṛ | as in Scottish heard, trip. |
| ए | e | long e as in German "zehn". It is not a diphthong; the tone does not fall. |
| ऐ | ai | as in Mail, sometimes a longer ए. In Eastern dialects as in bright. |
| ओ | o | as in German Kohle, not a diphthong; tone does not fall. |
| औ | au | as in oxford. In Eastern dialects as in German lauft, or English town. |

### Consonants

Many Sanskrit consonants come in three different forms: aspirated, unaspirated and retroflex.
Aspiration means "with a puff of air", and is the difference between the sound of the letter "p" in English pin (aspirated) and spit (unaspirated). In this phrasebook, aspirated sounds are spelled with an h (so English "pin" would be phin) and unaspirated sounds without it (so "spit" is still spit). Sanskrit aspiration is quite forceful and it's OK to emphasize the puff: bharti.
Sanskrit retroflex consonants, on the other hand, are not really found in English. They should be pronounced with the tongue tip curled back. Practice with a native speaker, or just pronounce as usual — you'll usually still get the message across.
| Devanagari | Transliteration | Equivalent/Comments |
| क | k | as in skip. |
| ख | kh | as in sinkhole. |
| ग | g | as in go. |
| घ | gh | as in doghouse. |
| ङ | ṅ | as in sing. Does not occur independently. |
| च | c | as in church. |
| छ | ch | as in pinchhit. |
| ज | j | as in jump. |
| झ | jh | as in dodge her. |
| ञ | ñ | as in canyon. Does not occur independently. |
| ट | ṭ | as in tick. Retroflex, but still a "hard" t sound similar to English. |
| ठ | ṭ | as in lighthouse. Retroflex |
| ड | ḍ | as in doom. Retroflex |
| ढ | ḍ | as in mudhut. Retroflex |
| ण | ṇ | retroflex n as in Pandit. |
| त | t | as in hither ( and thither) |
| थ | th | aspirated version of the previous letter, as in thither |
| द | d | dental d. as in the |
| ध | dh | aspirated version of the above. |
| न | n | dental n. as in near. |
| प | p | as in spin. |
| फ | ph | as in uphill. |
| ब | b | as in be. |
| भ | bh | as in abhor. |
| म | m | as in mere. |
| य | y | as in yet. |
| र | r | as in Spanish pero, a tongue trip. Don't roll as in Spanish rr, German or Scottish English. |
| ल | l | as in lean. |
| व | v | as in Spanish vaca, between English v and w, but without the lip rounding of an English w. (IPA: ʋ). |
| श | ś | as in shoot. |
| ष | ṣ | almost indistinguishable retroflex of the above. slightly more aspirated. |
| स | s | as in see. |
| ह | h | as in him. |

## Phrase list

Some phrases in this phrasebook still need to be translated. If you know anything about this language, you can help by plunging forward and translating a phrase.

### Basics
#### Hello.

    नमस्ते. ( )

#### How are you?

    भवान्‌ कथमसि?? ( ?)

#### Fine, thank you.

    ठीकम्, धन्यवादः। ( )

#### What is your name?

    भवतः नाम किमस्ति?? ( ?)

#### My name is ______ .

    मं नाम ______ . ( mam naama _____ .)

#### Nice to meet you.

    मेलनेन बहु सन्तोषः। ( )

#### Thank you.

    धन्यवादम् . ( dhanyavaadam)

#### Yes.

    आम् . (aam )

#### No.

    न . (na )

#### Do you speak English?

    किं त्वम् आङ्ग्लभाषां वदसि ? ( kim tvam aanglabhasham vadasi?)

#### Where is the toilet?
### Problems
#### Can I use your phone?
### Numbers
#### 1

    एकम(ékam)

#### 2

    द्व (dvá),

#### 3

    त्रि (trí)

#### 4

    चतुवार् (catur)

#### 5

    पञ्चन् (páñcan)

#### 6

    षष्ठ ( )

#### 7

    सप्तम (saptán)

#### 8

    अष्टम (astam )

#### 9

    नवम (navam )

#### 10

    दशम ( dasham)

#### 11

    एकादश ( ekadash)

#### 30

    त्रिंशत् (triṃśát)

#### 40

    चत्वारिंशत् (catvāriṃśát)

#### 50

    पञ्चाशत् (pañcāśát)

#### more
### Time
#### now

    अधुना (adhuna)

#### Days
##### today

    अद्य (adya)

##### yesterday

    ह्यस् (hyas)

##### tomorrow

    श्वस् (śvas)

##### Saturday
#### Months
##### December
#### Writing time and date
### Colors
#### black

    कृष्ण (krishna)

#### white

    श्वेत (shweta)