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This week’s How to say looks at the word ‘Sanskrit’, the name of the language from which all the words in this series are. The video teaches you the correct pronunciation of the word and an easy way of understanding how to say it, for those who know English. This blog post is intended to give the readers more information on Sanskrit … or rather Sounskrut language.

According to current knowledge, Sanskrit originated thousands of years ago, in the Vedic era, on the Indian sub-continent. Currently used version of Sanskrit is distinct from the older form called Aarsha Sanskrit. The meaning of the word Sanskrit or Sounskrut is ‘refined’. Although Sanskrit has lost much of its place in the daily lives of people, all the Hindu religious ceremonies in India are performed in Sanskrit to the day.

The main confusion about the pronunciation of Sanskrit words written in English (Latin alphabet) comes from the fact that every consonant in Sanskrit has a short and a long (emphasised) pronunciation. I will be making a video to explain this difference however, as an attempt to explain this concept textually, here’s an example.

Consider the words ‘cool’ and cooler’. The pronunciation of ‘l’ in ‘cool’ is the short pronunciation in Sanskrit. How you say the syllable ‘le’ in coo-le-r is the long, emphasised pronunciation of the same consonant ‘l’ in Sanskrit. Better explanation in the video coming up in a few weeks. For the next week, lets learn how to say Chakra.