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Sanskrit Lesson #3

by Bhikshuni Heng Hsien �丘�恒� �

Chinese translation by Bhikshuni Heng Yi �丘�恒� 中�

���三��題⽬是 ��������⼆�是�����書����� This Sanskrit lesson discusses

,“The Division into
期我們�介���������
Sounds”. Lesson 2 described the devanāgarī
《�嚴�》上������：「�知����性�����可������⼀��⽣�種種差 script in which Sanskrit is generally written.
������」(�⼀) In this issue we will introduce the Sanskrit
vowels.
�������明⽩��������可���同�������������同����使
The Avatamsaka Sutra says f the Bodhisattva
其明������種⾏門�����更加�嚴������
on the Seventh Ground:
�� ����看來��串��⼀��上���品���個��代���是��
Although he’s firmly intent upon the
明���同⼀個�����個�������會�同�����上���我們�是���� unutterable, the noiseless, voiceless, and
��但我們��������上���⾺�������學�����可幫助我們對���� naturally－till Tathagata voice, nonetheless
���明了�並且�知����是�⾃何��同���������幫你������� he strives for realizations which will adorn
this purity by dividing up all sound in
separate parts.1
�⼀：《�嚴�》⼗�品�⼆⼗����⾏�（��三⼗��三）
The Bodhisattva of the Seventh Bodhisattva
In last issue's Sanskrit Lesson #�, the list of Sanskrit Vowel Sounds on page �� was
stage realizes that the Buddha’s voice is
missing the two vowels u and ū. The complete list is given below. apart from anything said or any sound. But
上期���（��⼗⼀⾴） Sanskrit Vowel Sounds �中�列 u �ū��上� he, while never losing sight of this,
nevertheless at the same time goes ahead and
discriminates the pure Buddha sound into
separate sounds, and doing so he makes it
concrete and actual. This practice, far from
being a defilement, further ornaments the
Complex (Composite) purity of the Buddha’s sound.

The letters of the the alphabet

Simple Sounds 單�
a as the ‘a’ in ‘about’
ā as the ‘a’ in ‘father’
i as the ‘ee’ of ‘teen’ said fast
ī as the ‘ee’ in ‘teen’
u as the ‘oo’ of ‘moon’ said fast
ū as the ‘oo’ in ‘moon’
as ‘ri’ said fast with tongue tip
curled back.
even look like ornaments strung along a
cord, and the sounds they represent are
clearly distinguished. It's not a case of one
letter being pronounced one way in this word
and another way in that. Even if we're not
���「about」中�「a」�
Seventh Ground Bodhisattvas, we don’t want
���「father」中�「a」�
to be sloppy and confused in our sounds
���「teen」中�「ee」�但���短��� discriminations. Learning the Sanskrit
���「teen」中�「ee」� syllabary helps us become more aware of
sounds and where they come from, and the
���「moon」中�「oo」�但���短� very order of the alphabet helps us describe
�� those sounds.
���「moon」中�「oo」�
The last Sanskrit lesson introduced the
��「ri」��但��������� fourteen Sanskrit vowels. Here they are
again with their approximate pronounciation:

as ‘ri’, tongue tip curled slightly �「ri」��但������

back. Note:
tongue as before, say l. �「l」��但���� 1. Anabhilāpya-ruta-

is never found, but ‘should exist’. ��從未�⽤��但����� adhimucyate/sarva

svara- -vibhakti-visuddhy-
上⼀期���介���⼗�個���現�我們以������式�來介��個����� ca
以上�單�只�單⼀����������由⼀���另⼀��������「ā, ī, ū」�� abhinirharati.
短���⼀����但基�上��是相同��
7A.
Complex Sounds ��
Simple Sounds 單�
������是由單������且����是����先由�����中�������漸
All these are pronounced with a single,
往�����是���典���上�⽤�����果你知��⼀個��⾃����⼀個�� uniform pure sound, unlike English vowels
�����������只���你�中������知�了� which glide between one sound and another.
����⼦��間��兩個�： The long vowels in Sanskrit, such as ā, ī, ū,
take twice as long to say as the short ones,
visarga, a kind of puff of air, visarga�⼀種�������中噴��來� but they sound essentially the same.
only found at the end of ��只��是����
words. Complex Sounds ��

'after-sound� 「��」往往������使其� e as in ‘day’; ���「day」中

amounts to nasalizing the ��� is really a + i �「ay」；其�是
vowel before it. said together a � i ����
fast.
�� 成��
ai as in ‘aisle’; ���「aisle」中
a+i �「ai」；是 a �
together. i �⼀��
o as in ‘go’; is ���「go」中�
a + u said 「o」；是 a � u
fast. ����成��
au as in ‘out’; ���「out」中
made up of a �「ou」；由 a �
+ u. u �合成��

Quite sensibly, the letters go from simple to

complex, and within each group the letters
go in order, starting with sounds produced in
the back part of the mouth, and working
towards the front. This is the order used in
Sanskrit dictionaries and in indices to
Sanskrit works. If you know the place in the
mouth that each sound comes from, you
don't need to consult a phonetic chart--just
check your mouth.

Between the vowels and consonants are

found two other letters: