The Sanskrit Syllabary

The Sanskrit Syllabary is written with the baseline drawn above the letters, or what we would consider placement in the upper zone of our Roman Alphabet.

Spoken, Sanskrit has a beautiful musical quality.   Written Sanskrit is an alphabet-syllabary.  Every consonant is voiced with a short a sound, “ah”.  This “a” sound is always implied with consonants in words unless another vowel letter is attached to them.  Vowels are only written out in their full form if they begin a word.  Otherwise, simple diacritics are added to the consonant to represent these sounds.  The written form places the baseline at the top of the upper zone.  The baseline is drawn in above the letters.  Each word is made by joining the letters with a baseline.  In the Sanskrit alphabetical order, the letters are grouped according to where they are produced in the throat and mouth.  The Devanagari script pictured at below begins with the sixteen Sanskrit vowels.


The Devanagari script is revered for its beauty, clarity and tradition.  Sanskrit serves in many traditional, religious, and ceremonial rituals throughout India.  Though there is much debate on what and where the first language was, Sanskrit is considered one of the oldest languages in the world, and many believe it to be the 'Mother of all languages.'  The written letters are soft and flowing.  Try to write a few ... the last stroke is the horizontal baseline at the top.  Sanskrit is written left to right just like our Roman letters.