Table of Contents
Acknowledgments x
Introduction 1
General Introduction to the Language 10
Level 1 The Transliterated Alphabet 11
A The Five Basic Vowels 13
B The Five Main Groups of Consonants 17
C The Long Vowels 31
D The Complex Vowels and Additional Sounds 33
E The Semi-Vowels 37
F The Sibilants 39
G h, h 40
H The Complete Alphabet 41
Level 2 The Devanagari Script 42
A The Five Basic (Simple) Vowels, Short and Long 42
B The Five Main Groups of Consonants 49
C The Remaining Vowels 65
D Table Showing the 16 mAtRRik4 74
E The Remaining Letters (semi-vowels, sibilants and h) 74
F The Complete Alphabet 79
G Conjunct Consonants 79
H Some Special Characters 94
I The Numerals 98
Level 3 Some Practical Examples 99
A shivasUtrANi 99
B Words and Sandhi 104
C The Four mahAvAkya-s 119
D Some Vedic Prayers and Quotations 120
Resources on the Internet 133
A General Resources 133
B Learning the Language 134
C Dictionaries and Grammar Tools 136
D Documents in Sanskrit 136
Glossary of Sanskrit Terms 138
Dictionary of Common Sanskrit Spiritual Words 150
Appendix 1 Transliteration Schemes 174
Appendix 2 Alternative Letter Forms 179
Appendix 3 Vowel Forms, with and without Consonants 180
Appendix 4 Writing the Script 182
Appendix 5 Answer to Final Example 185
Bibliography 186
Index 188
