Sanskrit was traditionally written in various scripts over time, but Devanagari is now the most widely recognized script for Sanskrit. Early inscriptions of Sanskrit were written in the Brahmi script, from which other Indian scripts eventually evolved. The Devanagari script, which is commonly used today for Sanskrit, evolved from the Brahmi script via intermediary scripts like Gupta and Nagari.
Today, Sanskrit is an official language of the Indian states of Uttarakhand and is also used for religious, academic, and cultural purposes throughout India and beyond. It is commonly studied and spoken by scholars, practitioners, and enthusiasts worldwide.
The Sanskrit alphabet in Devanagari is categorized into Vowels and Consonants . Additionally, Sanskrit includes specific numerals which, although less common today, are part of traditional Sanskrit texts and inscriptions.
Below is a breakdown of the Vowels, Consonants, and Numerals in the Sanskrit (Devanagari) script.
In Sanskrit, vowels are called स्वराः (svarāḥ) and are essential phonetic sounds that form the basis of the language. There are 13 main vowels in Sanskrit, characterized by their pure, open sounds. Unlike in English, Sanskrit vowels can exist as independent vowels, without a consonant, or as dependent vowels that combine with consonants. Dependent vowels are used in combination with consonants and cannot stand alone.
For instance, अ in अग्नि (agni), meaning "fire," is an independent vowel. When the consonant क (ka) combines with the vowel आ (ā), it forms का (kā), where "ा" is the dependent vowel mark for "ā".
In Sanskrit, consonants are called व्यञ्जनानि (vyañjanāni). There are 33 main consonants in Sanskrit, each representing a distinct sound. These consonants are organised into groups called वर्गाः (vargāḥ), based on where and how they are pronounced:
Below are all the consonants used in Sanskrit.
In addition to the primary 33 consonants in Sanskrit, there are also a few additional consonants that have been introduced to represent sounds borrowed from other languages, especially for accurate pronunciation of loanwords from Persian, Arabic, and modern Indian languages. These are also called उपध्मानीय (upadhmānīya) or supplementary consonants.
Traditional Sanskrit grammar does not include these characters.
Sanskrit has its own unique numeric symbols, which were historically used to represent numbers and fractions in various texts and inscriptions. These numeral letters are part of a larger system of ancient Indian mathematics and have roots in the Brahmi script.
At present, however, they have largely fallen out of use in favor of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system (0-9) and Latin numerals for everyday calculations.
There are 46 main letters in Sanskrit script. Out of them, 13 are vowel letters and remaining 33 letters are consonants.
An ancient Indian grammarian, Panini, is credited with the formalization of Sanskrit grammar in his work, the Ashtadhyayi, and he is known for his systematic approach to the structure of Sanskrit, including its phonetics, and syntax. Therefore, he is often referred to as the "father of Sanskrit letters", having lived around the 4th to 6th century BCE.
In Sanskrit, there are 13 vowel letters (स्वराः / Svarāḥ) and 33 consonant letters (व्यञ्जनानि / Vyañjanāni).
In addition to these letters, Sanskrit has its own numeral system that historically represented numbers and fractions. Furthermore, there are additional consonants used to accurately pronounce the loanwords from other languages.
Sanskrit is primarily spoken in India and Nepal. In India, it is used in the recitation of prayers, mantras, and sacred texts during rituals, ceremonies, and other forms of worship, particularly in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. In Nepal, Sanskrit plays a significant role in religious practices and is taught in schools, with the country also celebrating Sanskrit Day.
Globally, interest in Sanskrit is growing, as universities in countries like the United States and Germany offer relevant programs in literature studies, as well as courses in religious and philosophical contexts.
Sanskrit has a relatively small number of speakers today, with estimates suggesting around 25,000 to 50,000 fluent speakers.
Recently, there have been ongoing efforts in India to revive spoken Sanskrit, with various communities and institutions encouraging its use in daily life. Meanwhile, in Nepal, Sanskrit is taught in some schools, and universities such as Tribhuvan University and Kathmandu University offer undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Sanskrit.
Sanskrit has influenced many modern languages in the Indian subcontinent, including Nepali, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Marathi, and Gujarati. These languages have a substantial portion of their vocabulary and grammatical structure derived from Sanskrit.
Besides, it also shares vocabulary and grammatical structures with several Indo-European languages, such as Latin and Greek. For instance, the Sanskrit word "पितृ" (pitṛ), meaning "father," resembles the Latin "pater" and the Greek "patēr".
