#kannada script

ಕನ್ನಡ ಲಿಪಿ - Kannaḍa Lipi - Kannada Script - Consonants Hello everyone! Here’s a lesson on how to read and write in Kannada. Kannada, like most Indian languages, is an abugida, which means that each letter has an inherent vowel, which happens to be a ([ə])  in Kannada. So that means the base form of all letters in Kannada has this vowel. Furthermore, Kannada’s consonants are traditionally organized into 6 sets of five plus 1 set of six, and each set is related in some way. Each letter (or ಅಕ್ಷರ - akṣara) is given with its IAST romanization and IPA transcription.

* The actual pronunciation of this conjunct consonant is contested, since theoretically, it should be pronounced jña [d͡ʒɲə] but in practice is widely pronounced gya [gjə] in colloquial speech, but according to Sanskrit phonological tradition, it should be pronounced as ngnya~gnya [ŋɲə~gɲə] (this consonant only appears in Sanskrit loanwords.)

The two conjuncts in the bottom row are the two most common conjunct ligatures in Kannada and are therefore treated as letters unto themselves.

The pronunciation of each letter is as follows:

ಕ - k as in the ck in lack

ಖ - kh as in the k in kit

ಗ - g as in the g in bag

ಘ - gh is like g but releasing air as you say it

ಙ - nga as the ng in the word bang

ಚ - c as in the tch in the word batch

ಛ - ch is like the ch in the word chat

ಜ - j as in the dge in the word badge

ಝ - jh is like j but with a release of air

ಞ - ñ as in the Spanish ñ

ಟ - ṭ as in the t in the word bat

ಠ - ṭh as in the t in the word tap

ಡ - ḍ as in the d in the word damp

ಢ - ḍh is like ḍ with a release of air

ಣ - ṇ is similar to the English n but you need to position the tip of your tongue on the back roof of your mouth instead of the front

ತ - t is like the English t but pronounced by putting your tongue to your teeth

ಥ - th is like t but with a release of air

ದ - d is like the English d but with your tongue on your teeth instead

ಧ - dh is like d but with a release of air

ನ - n is like the English n

ಪ - p is like the p in the word cap

ಫ - ph is like the p in the word pen

ಬ - b is like the English b

ಭ - bh is like b but with a release of air

ಮ - m is like the English m

ಯ - y is like the English y

ರ - r is like the Spanish r but not rolled (not all the time anyway)

ಲ - l is not like the English l, and you put your tongue to the soft part just behind your upper teeth, called the soft palate

ವ - v is similar to the English v but occasionally sounds like w

ಶ - ś is like the English sh

ಷ - ṣ is like the English sh (mostly a spelling convention)

ಸ - s is like the English s

ಹ - h is like the English h

ಳ - ḷ is like l except you place the tip of your tongue to the back roof of your mouth the same way you did for ṇ

ಕ್ಷ - kṣa is difficult, but pronounce this nonsense word and notice the ksh: shockshave

Diacritics

Diacritics are the changes in the form of letters to reflect a particular vowel. Each vowel sound has its own complete, independent form (when it is at the beginning of a word for example). See below.

In Kannada, the mark used to indicate a long vowel is known as ದೀರ್ಘ (dīrgha).

*This vowel is a purely hypothetical letter used to represent an obsolete vowel in Sanskrit texts.

**This symbol: ಂ, is known as the ಅನುಸ್ವಾರ (anusvāra), and the realization (the ultimate pronunciation and changes induced) is called ಅನುನಾಸಿಕ (anunāsika). It nasalizes vowels, and is distinct from ನ್ (terminated n), but is pronounced differently based on what kind of consonant it precedes. If it’s a velar, it is pronounced as [ŋ]; if it’s a palatal, it is pronounced as [ɲ]; if it’s a retroflex it is pronounced as a [ɳ]; if it’s a dental or a sonorant ([s], [ʃ], or [ʂ]), it is pronounced as [n]; and if it’s a labial, then it is pronounced as [m].

***This symbol: ಃ, is known as the ವಿಸರ್ಗ (visarga), and its presence is mostly a spelling convention. It means “sending forth”, and as such, it echoes the vowel it is placed after. So, ಅಃ is pronounced [əhə] and ಇಃ [ɪhɪ]. It appears almost exclusively in Sanskrit loanwords, like ದುಃಖ (duḥkha - grief/pain), where it may even be ignored when pronouncing the words.

To indicate a particular vowel other than the base vowel ಅ, the letters in Kannada change form slightly. The example letter ಕ and its forms are given beneath each complete vowel.

A full table of how each letter changes form can be found on the Kannada script Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kannada_alphabet#Akshara.

Conjunct Consonants and Consonant Diacritics

The consonant diacritic is known as ಒತ್ತಕ್ಷರ (ottakṣara), and typically, no more than two consonant diacritics can be stacked on top of each other, as in the word ವಸ್ತ್ರ (vastra). Below is a table of corresponding diacritics for each single consonant (excluding conjuncts). Note, that in most of them, typically the top line of each character is removed to make it a diacritic, and then placed to the bottom right of a given letter. Below is a table for the most common diacritics.

That’s all for this lesson! Just keep writing the letters over and over, and practice changing the vowel, and you’ll be reading Kannada in no time! 

Practice reading the following words and write out their IAST romanization:

ಗರೀಬು

ಮಾರಾಟ

ಹಾಲು

ಪಟ್ಟಿಗಳು

ಮೆಣಸಿನಕಾಯಿ

ಹಲಸಿನಹಣ್ಣು

ತಾಳ

ಪ್ರೌಢಶಾಲೆ

ಪಾಠ

ಘಂಟೆ

ಮತ್ತು

ರಾತ್ರಿ

ಚಾಪೆ

ಚಪ್ಪಲಿ

ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ