ऋ

[Shreyas Munshi]

****

Query about the pronunciation of ऋ, the 7th vowel in the Sanskrit वर्णमाला,heard in the "words like  'कृष्ण'.

In Gujarat and Maharashtra (perhaps, in some other states also), the  word कृष्ण is pronounced as krushNa, (IPA क्+ऋ+ʂ+ɳ+ə) where the vowel ऋ is pronounced /ru/, whereas  in other

 states, कृष्ण is popularly pronounced as 'krishna' (where the vowel ऋ is pronounced /ri/).

Here, I venture to stick my neck out and say that the correct pronunciation of the vowel ऋ is /ru/ or it is /ʰru/; the use of ऋ as /ri/ seems to have come into practice by default.

In Gujarat- Maharashtra, some  Gujaratis but most Marathi speakers would pronounce ऋ almost like /ʰru/.(Evidenced by the romanized name spellings Hrudaynath, Hrushikesh, etc.written in Devanagari as हृदयनाथ, हृषिकेश (showing the presence of the initial dash of the voiced glottal fricauve /h/ sound). 

Scholars and a lexicographer like Sir Monier Wialliams, on listening to the speakers of Sanskrit in the ancient India's 'seat of learning' areas of the UP  & Bihar, showed the pronunciation of the vowel ऋ as /ri/ because they heard those Sanskrit speakers pronounce ऋ as /ri/.

But, a schoolboy learner like me feels that something has gone wrong there.

In the varnamala, the first six sounds progress in a logical natural sequence:  अ आ इ ई उ ऊ. Why would the 7th vowel not match and progress to /ru/? And, instead of progressing to /ru/, why go in the reverse gear to /ri/? 

If the pronunciation of ऋ was to be the इ-sounding /ri/, then the great Panini would not have placed the  ऋ     in the 7th place. He would have placed the इ- sounding ऋ लृ (and their longer versions) in the 5th 6th 7th 8th immediately after अ आ इ ई.

After the  varnamala's second, third and the fourth  'front open unrouned' sounds  आ इ ई, followed by the fifth and sixth ' back open rounded उ ऊ, why, for the life of me, for the 7th vowel, one would go backwards in rear gear to the unrounded 

इ- sound of /ri/?

Could be because of those speakers' self granted idea of correctness or sheer casualness in using the organs of speech

I pray, scholars, please  throw light on this.

More importantly, I notice that the vowel ऋ is widely and, in a way, wrongly used popularly as the  consonant र with a vowel added as required.

Here, a question arises in my mind that the varnamala already  has the consonant र and the vowels अ आ इ ई उ and ऊ. Then why has there been a separate vowel ऋ?

This vowel ऋ is pronounced by some as /ri/ and some as /ru/?

Here, the logic of jumping back to the vowel sound /ri/, after  the vowel sounds इ ई उ ऊ, is not understood. Perhaps the speakers of Sanskrit in the UP-Bihar area at that time pronounced ऋ  as /ri/, and Sir Monier William went by that.

Sir Monier William was born in Bombay (now Mumbai) but had all his education in the UK. Had he  encountered Sanskrit speakers in Maharashtra, he would have, perhaps, transcribed the ऋ as.. /ru/!

Difference in pronunciation in the UP-Bihar area is a reality. Bugle pronounced as bigul. February as  फरवरी! September as सितंबर. " "इ-stand इ-straight and इ-state your इ-story in the correct इ-style".

What happened to the English words could easily happen to the Sanskrut words. "मै अस्पष्ट रुपसे कहता हुं". " अ-स्थायी मेम्बर्स ऑफ UN". पोलीस्टार for Pole-star. (Incidently, this happens in many languages in the world, not only Hindi). Surely, no offence is meant here.

To me, the ancient masters who systematically brought sounds together to actually 'create' the beautiful Sanskrit (Samskruta) language have specially created and used the additional vowel ऋ for a more evolved purpose. Philosophical. Perhaps  Vedantic. Going from 'near bandage' to 'no attachment'..अनासक्ति!

The process:

The consonants are formed when 'from a full freedom state, the tongue touches some or the other parts of the oral cavity (and falls into the world of attachments!)

ऋ is different.  For producing the sound ऋ, the tongue goes from the nearly attached state (like a retroflex approximant) to a fully unattached state of the tongue. बंधन to मुक्ति. Vedanta!

We notice that ऋ is used by the 'seers' for only some specific, philosophical words.

Examples: ऋग्वेद, ऋषि, ऋचा and the like. Not any other type of words..

Even for tree 'वृक्ष'vruksha,  it is the journey from a ' closed' seed to evolution!

So, the vowel ऋ has to be used discreetly for a special category of terms.

Should we, therefore, learn and teach the masses that the pronunciation of  ઋ is not /ri/, but It is /ru/ ( or /ʰru/?). It would be a massive revolution!

I prefer ʰru. 

The phonetic description of ʰru would be 'retroflex approximant.The tongue curles up towards the hard palate (like required for producing the Samskrut sounds ट ठ ड ढ ण  but not actually touching the hard palate.

On the other hand, 

/ri/ gets produced when the tongue does get  curved up but (lazily!) only towards and up to the soft  palate or the alveolar region without allowing the tongue to touch any of them That makes their /ri/ a front vowel.

Shreyas Munshi
shreya...@gmail.com, shreya...@rediffmail.com, shreyas...@rediffmail.com
C202, Mandar Apartments,
120 Ft D P Road,
Seven Bungalows, Versova,
Mumbai 400061. INDIA
Tel Res (91) (22) 26364290
Mobile 9819818197

[kenp]

ऋ वर्ण का सही उच्चारण।

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDEVowAbCig

"ऋ"और "रि" का अंतर। ‘ऋ’ वर्ण और उसकी मात्रा " ृ" । ‘ऋ’का उच्चारण ।ऋ’की विशेष बातें

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5y3I7j2uxM

संस्कृत वर्ण ऋ एवं ऌ का सही एवं शुद्ध उच्चारण ||

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GRmIpdQLno&t=17s

[NathRao]

Didn't this group had a long conversation on this topic (https://groups.google.com/g/samskrita/c/l6uhefjc6W4/m/8nRY-8f3AQAJ) a couple of months back? 

-Nath Rao

[Prakash Raj Pandey]

For me ऋ has two separate pronunciations, in everyday use it is रि (प्रिथिवी), but  रे (प्रेथिवी) when I  recite Veda  (शुक्लयजुर्वेद माध्यन्दिनीयसंहिता)

Please listen to the recital of दृंहस्व  in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OanL1mGkAD0 (2:38 -- 2:39)..

A scholarly approach should represent all traditions, and the practical approach is  to carry on the कुलपरम्परा.

 

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[Prakash Raj Pandey]

Please listen to the recital by the same Pandits 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IljUNmF_-zY 

पृथिव्या (0:39 -- 0:41) and ऋक्सामाभ्यां सञ्चरन्तो (0:46 - - 0:52)

[Shreyas Munshi]

The correct pronunciation of ऋ would be /hru/. No?

Shreyas Munshi
shreya...@gmail.com, shreya...@rediffmail.com, shreyas...@rediffmail.com
C202, Mandar Apartments,
120 Ft D P Road,
Seven Bungalows, Versova,
Mumbai 400061. INDIA
Tel Res (91) (22) 26364290
Mobile 9819818197

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/samskrita/CAAcMvrd3x_HL_BHyRznv%3DXwga04dXPdQo8ASpZs9hhahpEzrUA%40mail.gmail.com.

[संस्कृत संवादः]

When you pronounce "ल" (la), the tongue touches the root of the teeth (दन्तमूल) and then quickly releases, creating a burst of air. This burst naturally pairs with the vowel sound "अ" (a), forming "ल". On the other hand, if you keep the tongue in contact with the root of the teeth without releasing it, you produce the sound "ऌ" (ḷ), which is a vocalic "l". Therefore, when you combine "ऌ" (ḷ) with "अ" (a), it transforms into "ल" (la) because the release of the tongue is necessary to complete the sound with the vowel "अ".

Similarly, When you pronounce "र" (ra), the tongue touches the roof of the mouth (मूर्धा) and then quickly releases, creating a burst of air. This burst naturally pairs with the vowel sound "अ" (a), forming "र". On the other hand, if you keep the tongue in contact with the roof of the mouth without releasing it, you produce the sound "ऋ" (ṛ), which is a vocalic "r". Therefore, when you combine "ऋ" (ṛ) with "अ" (a), it transforms into "र" (ra) because the release of the tongue is necessary to complete the sound with the vowel "अ".

मंगलवार, 29 जुलाई 2025 को 2:33:39 am UTC+5:30 बजे Shreyas Munshi ने लिखा: