Letters and Vowel Marks

Vowels

Also known as: svara ("tone")

देवनागरी
IAST
a
ā
i
ī
u
ū
e
ai
o
au

Stops and Nasals (ka kha gha gha ṅa …)

Also known as: vyañjana ("manifestation")

To define a specific consonant, like kha, we need to know four things:

The set of letters that share a point of pronunciation is called a varga. Traditionally, the unvoiced unaspirated consonant is used to identify the varga. For instance, the group {ta tha da dha na} is called "tavarga."

kavarga (ka kha ga gha ṅa)

देवनागरी
IAST
ka
kha
ga
gha
ṅa

cavarga (ca cha ja jha ña)

देवनागरी
IAST
ca
cha
ja
jha
ña

ṭavarga (ṭa ṭha ḍa ḍha ṇa)

देवनागरी
IAST
ṭa
ṭha
ḍa
ḍha
ṇa

tavarga (ta tha da dha na)

देवनागरी
IAST
ta
tha
da
dha
na

pavarga (pa pha ba bha ma)

देवनागरी
IAST
pa
pha
ba
bha
ma

Semivowels (ya ra la va)

Also known as: antaḥstha ("in-between")

देवनागरी
IAST
ya
ra
la
va

Note that ru is रु and is रू.