Sanskrit is the English word for the Saṃskṛtam (संस्कृतम्) language.
As we explore the Vedic Śāstras the ability to read and understand Saṃskṛtam will be helpful. Saṃskṛtam was originally an oral language, and is now most commonly written in Devanagari, a script used in many other Indian and South Asian languages such as Hindi, Marathi and Nepali.
To aid English native speakers we have also included the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST). IAST is a standardized system used to accurately representing Sanskrit, and other Indic languages using the Roman alphabet (Latin script). Diacritical marks are used to aid with accurate pronunciation.
Simple Vowels
| अ a short | आ ā long | इ i short | ई ī long | उ u short | ऊ ū long |
Semi-Vowels
| ऋ ṛ short | ॠ ṝ long | ऌ ḷ short |
Diphthongs
| ए e | ऐ ai | ओ o | औ au |