2. V'yanjan/s (Consonants)
These v'yanjan/s (व्यंजन) are very logically arranged in following groups.
A. Sparsh
B. Antaḥsth
C. Uṣhm
A. Sparsh (स्पर्श)
"Sparsh" means "touch."
When speaking:
- Vibrations occur in the vocal cord as air passes through the mouth (and nose).
- The tongue and lips move, particularly when pronouncing consonants.
In the Devanagari script, most consonants are logically arranged based on the position of the tongue (what it touches) and the movements of the lips. These consonants are grouped into six sequences. Each of the first five sequences contains five consonants.
The first five sequences share a common phonetic pattern. In each of these five sequences, the first and the second consonant form one pair, while the third and fourth consonant form another pair. The last consonant of the first five sequences is a nasal consonant.
In first two sequences, the last consonant can be considered a nasalized form of the third consonant!
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B. Antaḥsth (Liquids)
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This is the 'middle' set. Antaḥsth (अन्तःस्थ) in Sanskṛiŧ means 'middle' or 'inner'. The semivowels 'ya' (य) and 'va' (व) were/are considered as consonants.
C. Uṣhm (Fricatives)
'Uṣhm' (उष्म) means hot! Isn't it amazing that terminologies developed separately resulted in related terms - 'Friction' and 'hot'!
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![[sibilant]](https://www.hindi.co/naagaree/varNN/sibilant.gif) |
![[aspirate]](https://www.hindi.co/naagaree/varNN/aspirate.gif) |
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There are two retroflex consonants - 'ड़' (ḍa) and 'ढ़' (ḍha) used in Hinđī. In Sanskṛiŧ and Marāthī, 'ळ' (ḍ`a) is used instead of 'ड़' (ḍa).
There are five other nuktā consonants - 'ज़' (Za), 'फ़' (Fa), 'ग़' (Ga), 'ख़' (Kha) and 'क़' (Qa) in Hinđī.
>> Click here to read about māŧrā/s...
* do not pronounce these ĐevaNāgarī consonants as regular pronunciation of its English transliteration.
** non-native speakers require a lot of practice to pronounce these consonants correctly.
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