Note: This page contains
IPA phonetic symbols
in Unicode. |
The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is the academic standard for the Romanization of Sanskrit. IAST is the de-facto standard used in printed publications, like books and magazines, and with the wider availability of Unicode fonts, it is also increasingly used for electronic texts. It is based on a standard established by the Congress of Orientalists at Athens in 1912.
The IAST allows a lossless transliteration of Devanagari (and other Indic alphabets, such as Śāradā), and as such represents not only the phonemes of Sanskrit, but allows essentially phonetic transcription (e.g. Visarga ḥ is an allophone of word-final r and s).
The National Library at Calcutta romanization, intended for the romanization of all Indic scripts, is an extension of IAST.
IAST sign inventory and conventions
The sign inventory of IAST (both small and Capital letters) shown with Devanagari equivalents and phonetic values in IPA, is as follows:
अ
a A | आ
ā Ā | इ
i I | ई
ī Ī | उ
u U | ऊ
ū Ū | ऋ
ṛ Ṛ | ॠ
ṝ Ṝ | ऌ
ḷ Ḷ | ॡ
ḹ Ḹ | vowels |
ए
e E | ऐ
ai Ai | ओ
o O | औ
au Au | diphthongs |
क
k K | च
c C | ट
ṭ Ṭ | त
t T | प
p P | unvoiced stops |
ख
kh Kh | छ
ch Ch | ठ
ṭh Ṭh | थ
th Th | फ
ph Ph | aspirated unvoiced stops |
ग
g G | ज
j J | ड
ḍ Ḍ | द
d D | ब
b B | voiced stops |
घ
gh Gh | झ
jh Jh | ढ
ḍh Ḍh | ध
dh Dh | भ
bh Bh | aspirated voiced stops |
ङ
ṅ Ṅ | ञ
ñ Ñ | ण
ṇ Ṇ | न
n N | म
m M | nasals |
| | य
y Y | र
r R | ल
l L | व
v V | semi-vowels |
| | श
ś Ś | ष
ṣ Ṣ | स
s S | | sibilants |
ह
h H | | | | | voiced fricative |
Note: Unlike