Consonants — व्यञ्जनानि

Where vowels are breath, consonants are shape. Sanskrit's grammarians did something extraordinary: they arranged the consonants by the place inside the mouth where the breath is shaped. Read aloud and feel.

The five groups (वर्गाः)

| Group | Letters | Place | |---|---|---| | Guttural (कण्ठ्य) | क ख ग घ ङ | back of throat | | Palatal (तालव्य) | च छ ज झ ञ | hard palate | | Cerebral (मूर्धन्य) | ट ठ ड ढ ण | tongue tip curled up | | Dental (दन्त्य) | त थ द ध न | tongue against teeth | | Labial (ओष्ठ्य) | प फ ब भ म | lips |

Each row of five follows the same pattern:

1. Unvoiced unaspirated — क (k)
2. Unvoiced aspirated — ख (kh, with a puff)
3. Voiced unaspirated — ग (g)
4. Voiced aspirated — घ (gh)
5. Nasal — ङ (ṅg)

Semivowels and sibilants

Beyond the five groups live the gentle in-between sounds.

• Semivowels य र ल व — y, r, l, v
• Sibilants श ष स — ś (palatal), ṣ (retroflex), s (dental)
• The breath ह — h, deep aspiration

Notice

The order is not arbitrary. The mouth moves from the back of the throat forward — a perfect anatomical journey, set down millennia ago by Panini and his predecessors.