Anusvāra (ṁ)

Nasale Laute

Examples:

• evaṁ pronounced as eva-m

Anusvāra pronounced as "m" before semivowels

Before semivowels (y, r, l, v) and vowels (a, ā, i, ī, u, ū, r̥, r̥̄, l̥, l̥̄, e, ai, o, au), the Anusvāra indicates that the preceding vowel is nasalised. We can come close to the correct nasalisation when we pronounce the Anusvāra in front of these as m.

Examples:

• Saṁyoga (deep connection) pronounced as sa-m-yoga
• Saṁvit (understanding) pronounced as Sa-m-vit

Anusvāra pronounced as class nasal in front of fricatives

The Anusvāra indicates the nasalisation of the preceding vowel also in front of fricatives (ś, ṣ, s and h). We can come close to the correct nasalisation when we pronounce the Anusvāra in front of fricatives (ś, ṣ, s and h) like the corresponding class nasal (ñ, ṇ, n and ṅ):

Examples:

• Saṁśaya (doubt) pronounced as Sa-ñ-śaya
• Saṁskṛta (Saṃskṛt) pronounced as Sa-n-skṛta
• siṁha (lion) pronounced as si-ṅ-ha

Anusvāra pronounced as class nasal in front of plosives

In front of a plosive the Anusvāra is pronounced as homorganic (produced at the same place of articulation) nasal, i.e.:

• in front of a labial plosive like p, the bilabial nasal m is pronounced,
• in front of a dental plosive like t the dental nasal n is pronounced,
• in front of a guttural plosive like k, the guttural nasal ṅ''' is pronounced
• etc.

Please note: In Saṃskṛt, this is usually only the case with compound words in which the first part ends on an m. In Hindi, alternative spellings exist for many words. Since the Anusvāra is easier to write than graphically complex ligatures, this spelling is preferred in modern languages; in Saṃskṛt prints however, the ligatures are usually written out:

• Hindī and Hiṁd
• Mumbaī or Muṁbaī

Examples:

• paraṁ-tapa (killer of enemies) is pronounced as para-n-tapa

Anusvāra at the end of a word

According to one of the Sandhi rules, in Saṃskṛt, an m at the end of a word which is followed by a word starting with a consonant, turns into an Anusvāra. The pronunciation does change alongside according the previous explained rules.

Merke: After applying these roles the pronunciation as m for an Anusvāra is only used in front of vowels, semivowel and labial plosives. Otherwise, as shown above, the respective class nasal is used.