Pronunciation

[Shreyas Munshi]

Which is correct: Sanskrit or Sanskrut?

Shreyas Munshi
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[N M]

Neither 

Naresh

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[Mohan Chettoor]

It is संस्कृतम् and nothing else.

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[Rajesh Kumar]

संस्कृतम् (Saṁskṛtam)

Syllable	Meaning
सम् (sam)	Together, well, completely
कृत (kṛta)	Made, formed, constructed
-तम् (-tam)	Neuter singular suffix (noun)

संस्कृतम् literally means "refined," "well-formed," or "perfected" — referring to a polished and cultivated language.

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[N M]

Incorrect! Need to account for "स्" that preceeds "कृत"

Naresh

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[kenp]

AS per AI.......

The correct term is "Sanskrit". 

"Sanskrit" is the standard English transliteration of the ancient Indian language known as संस्कृत (Sanskṛta) in Devanagari script.
The forms "Sanskrut" or "Sanskritam" are not standard or correct in English transliteration.
"Sanskritam" is a Sanskrit word that means "Sanskrit" or "the language," but in English, we typically use just "Sanskrit."

Summary:

Correct in English: Sanskrit
The Sanskrit word: Sanskrit / संस्कृत (Sanskṛta)

[Harry Spier]

Dear list members,

S. K. Chaterji wrote an article in 1861 (attached) describing how sanskrit was pronounced at that date in the different parts of India.

Harry Spier

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[Harry Spier]

Dear list members,

S. K. Chaterji wrote an article in 1961 (attached) describing how sanskrit was pronounced at that date in the different parts of India.

Harry Spier

[N M]

B.S. in => B.S. out, as per AI

Naresh

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[Rajesh Kumar]

Thank you. Are you referring to the attached article in 1960 ?

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[T.K Gopalan]

I’d like to say a word of caution regarding citing AI. AI could treacherously mislead!

***

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[T.K Gopalan]

What is BS IN AND BS OUT?

***

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[Narasimhan S]

Shouldn't it be "Samskritam" going by pure phonetic transliteration ?

- Narasimhan

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[T.K Gopalan]

Samskrtam is closer to संस्कृतम्। with the understanding that t transliterates त् and not ट्।

***

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[Lakshmanan Krishnamurti]

With all due respect it would be infructuous to determine the pronunciation of the name of the language by following an inaccurate ( Sanskrit) or incomplete ( sanskritam) transliteration to the Roman script by British/ German scholars who we can agree were not native speakers of the language.we shoukd also be careful of the influence of regional ngauages. In western India कृ is often pronounced like क्रु. In other parts कृ may be pronounced as क्रि. Further we should distinguish the Anu’s area indicated by the Bindu सं from the म् sound  सं vs सम् .

These simple precautions will prevent us us from pronouncing संस्कृतम् as सम्स्कृतम् or संस्क्रुतम् or सेन्स्क्रित्

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[Lakshmanan Krishnamurti]

With all due respect it would be infructuous to determine the pronunciation of the name of the language by following an inaccurate ( Sanskrit) or incomplete ( samskritam) transliteration to the Roman script by British/ German scholars who we can agree were not native speakers of the language.we should also be careful of the influence of regional ngauages. In western India कृ is often pronounced like क्रु. In other parts कृ may be pronounced as क्रि. Further we should distinguish the AnusvAra indicated by the Bindu सं from the म् sound  सं vs सम् .

These simple precautions will prevent us us from pronouncing संस्कृतम् as सम्स्कृतम् or संस्क्रुतम् or सेन्स्क्रित्

[Aurobind Padiyath]

From Ashtadhyayi.com. I got the following steps to account for the स्

सम् + सुट् + कर्तृ [सम्परिभ्यां करोतौ भूषणे ६.१.१३७ इति सुट्-आगमः]

→ सम् + स् + कर्तृ [इत्संज्ञालोपः । सकारोत्तरः उकारः उच्चारणार्थः, सोऽपि लुप्यते ।]

→ सरुँ + सुट् + कर्तृ [समः सुटि ८.३.५ इत्यनेन मकारस्य रुँत्वम् ]

→ सँरुँ / संरुँ + स् + कर्तृ [अत्रानुनासिकः पूर्वस्य तु वा ८.३.२ इति वैकल्पिकम् अनुनासिकत्वम् । अनुनासिकाभावे अनुनासिकात् परोऽनुस्वारः ८.३.४ इति अनुस्वारागमः ।]

→ सँःस्कर्तृ / संःस्कर्तृ [खरवसानयोर्विसर्जनीयः ८.३.१५ इति विसर्गादेशः]

→ सँस्स्कर्तृ / संस्स्कर्तृ [वा शरि ८.३.३६ इत्यनेन विसर्गस्य विकल्पेन सकारादेशे प्राप्ते; सम्पुंकानां सो वक्तव्यः इति वार्त्तिकेन नित्यम् सकारादेशः भवति ।]

[N M]

असत्यम्! Incorrect! कर्तृ नास्ति। There is no कर्तृ in the word संस्कृतम् 

Naresh

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[Aurobind Padiyath]

I was only  giving an example where स् is coming from. Not example of कृतम् . there the example was कर्तृ that's all but the sutras are the same.

Aurobind Padiyath

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[I Made Darmayasa]

For my article in English, I choose "Sanskrit" and not "Sanskrut".

 

Stop doing bad, never stop doing good. This should be the blood of all. (Darmayasa)

Berhentilah berbuat yang tidak baik, tetapi jangan pernah berhenti berbuat kebaikan. Ini hendaknya menjadi darah daging bagi semua.

--

[NathRao]

My $0.02:

'Sanskrit' is the transcription by early English travelers of how the name was pronounced in certain parts of India: The final syllable is clipped (like 'raam' for 'raama'-),

vowel, the anusvaara transcribed by 'n' (much like what ordinary English speakers do to nasalized vowels in French etc), and ऋ pronounced as 'ri'.

'samskrutam' is wrong wrong on at least two counts: Anusvaara is not 'm'. This seems to be from trying to type 'm' with under-dot diacritic, the standard transliteration of anusvaara, without the diacritic because English does not use diacritics [My brother was once puzzled by a book about Indian philosophy which kept mentioning one 'Samkara', till at long lost that it was Adi Sankara,] Also ऋ is not 'ru'. I don't know where this comes from. But, once in the past, I described the pronunciation of ऋ in Tamil Nadu (at least by people of my generation) as r followed by குறஂறியிலுகரம், and one person seems to have gotten very upset.People transcribe it as 'u', because Tami script does not have a separate way to write the குறஂறியிலுகரம்.

BTW,  even if I say so myself, the pronunciation of ऋ as r followed by குறஂறியிலுகரம் is closer to early descriptions, which say ऋ "contains r in the middle". For those unfamiliar with Tamil, குறஂறியிலுகரம் is an ultrashort (traditionally described as half a maatra or less) unrounded back vowel.   If the 'r' part starts with less contact than full on consonantal 'r' (took a while to learn, but can be done), this is close to praatishaakya description, which seems to point to a more central vowel, but still ultrashort and of course unrounded. It really grates on my ears when people use spelling pronunciation on things like "samskrutam". [with rounded one-maatra 'u', and an actual 'm'].

Finally, since वाक्, भाषा etc are feminine, may be we should say संस्कृता. [If you get upset by gendered language, you are in the wrong newsgroup.]

Regards

Nath Rao

[Lakshmanan Krishnamurti]

very nice.

Again from ashtadhyayi.com SC Vasu describes

The augment सुट् is placed before क when सम् , परि , and उप are followed by the verb कृ and the sense is that of ornamenting. Similarly
Thus संस्कर्ता, संस्कर्तुम्, संस्कर्तव्यम् ॥ The म् of सम् is changed to anusvara by ८.३.५

Similarly, संस्कृतं , क्ली, (सं + कृ + क्तः )

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[N M]

उपसर्गः (prefix) => सम्

धातुः (verb root) => स्कृ

New धातुः (verb root) सम्+स्कृ => सम्स्कृ => संस्कृ

संस्कृ + क्त प्रत्ययः (past passive participle as "nomenclatured" by westerners, but really is an adjective or a word qualifying another noun) => संस्कृत + नपुंसकलिङ्गम् => संस्कृतम् 

The above is a simple abbreviated algorithm of the derivation.

Going back to the original question..."how to pronounce "Sanskrit""...As the original questioner pointed out, this is a term used by Western Indologist and has been accepted by "पाण्डित्याः" for the sake of acceptance by the Westerner. But, true Pandits recognizes immediately that there is no "n" sound in the word, hence it should not be spelled with a "n". However, this is the shortcoming of a barbaric language, especially when it tries to dominate and retell the native speaker how they should speak their language. पाणिनि  and even पतञ्जलि pointed this out in their treatise, as they were exposed to the Yaavanas coming from the west, causing the native speaking language to be corrupted. Infact, some say this was the driving force for the codifying of the grammar. You may recall that prior to पाणिनि there were much more elaborate rules for grammar which became difficult to memorize and use, which exacerbated the degradation of the language. Had it not been for the rediscovery of पाणिनि works, and for the faithful Pandits that kept the torch alight, we may never have this refined, perfect language today. 

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Naresh

[Lakshmanan Krishnamurti]

Excellent. In Maharashtra कृ is often pronounced as क्रु

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[Sandeep Maher]

If at all possible it will be educative to hear the word vocalised as to how it should be pronounced... It will be good for learners like me, conceding it's just a droplet taken care of in an ocean ('Samskritam').

🙏🏽

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[T.K Gopalan]

“However, this is the shortcoming of a barbaric language, especially when it tries to dominate and retell the native speaker how they should speak their language”

There is no such thing as ‘barbaric’ language!

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[N M]

"Finally, since वाक्, भाषा etc are feminine, may be we should say संस्कृता. [If you get upset by gendered language, you are in the wrong newsgroup.]"  Hence the compound word संस्कृतभाषा when we are referring to the spoken form.

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Naresh

[T.K Gopalan]

Lakshmanan Krishnamurti mahodaya,

I am intrigued by क्ली। What does it mean? Frequently occurs in śabdakośa too.

Thanks.

T K Gopalan

***

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[Lakshmanan Krishnamurti]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHmoi838En8&t=29s&pp=2AEdkAIB

This may be a good sample

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[Lakshmanan Krishnamurti]

क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते।

क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप।।2.3।।
 

Hindi Translation By Swami Tejomayananda

।।2.3।। हे पार्थ क्लीव (कायर) मत बनो। यह तुम्हारे लिये अशोभनीय है, हे ! परंतप हृदय की क्षुद्र दुर्बलता को त्यागकर खड़े हो जाओ।।
 

English Translation By Swami Gambirananda

2.3 O Partha, yield not to unmanliness. This does not befit you. O scorcher of foes, arise, giving up the petty weakness of the heart.

On Sun, Jun 1, 2025 at 6:56 AM Lakshmanan Krishnamurti <lkrish...@gmail.com> wrote:

क्लीबे 

क्लीब

  

नपुंसकम्

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[Lakshmanan Krishnamurti]

क्लीबे 

क्लीब

  

नपुंसकम्

On Sat, May 31, 2025 at 11:44 PM T.K Gopalan <tkgo...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[T.K Gopalan]

🙏

***

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[NathRao]

Here are some examples of pronunciation of ऋ in Tamil Nadu vedic recitation. [Clicking on each word should take you to a YouTube video a little before the word is heard.]
वृणीमहे

शृन्वन् (1)

शृन्वन् (2)

शृन्वन् (3)

शृधि

These YouTube videos are part of the recording of an event where same mantras were recited by both Rgvedins and Yajurvedins. Here is the full playlist. One interesting fact is how each pronounce गणपतिं हवामहे. If only they had resisted the temptation to add background music.

Here is a short clip of Yesudas singing "Krishna Karuna" where he uses more or less the same pronunciation of  ऋ, to illustrate that this pronunciation is not limited to vedic recitation.

Regards

Nath Rao