Pronunciation of Chants
SANSKRIT
The Nland Translation Committee uses a significant amount of Sanskrit in its translations.
Sanskrit words may seem intimidating at first sight because they are so long. However, once
they are broken down into syllables, they are easy to pronounce. Sanskrit follows very regular
rules and contains no silent letters such as those in English. The Translation Committee
employs the standard romanizationfor Sanskrit, with the following exceptions: for the sake of
easier pronunciation, we have replaced , , , and c (found in the system most commonly used
in the West) with i, sh, h, and ch.
Vowels
In general, vowels are pronounced as in Italian or Spanish. There is, however, a distinction
between long and short vowels. A line over a vowel indicates that it is long.
short a as in siesta, but long as in car.
short I as in sit, but long as in feet.
short u as in put, but long as in loot.
The following vowels are always long:
e as in day
ai as in pie
o as in go
au as in how
Consonants
Most consonants are pronounced as in English. The aspirated consonants (kh, gh, ch, jh, th, dh,
th, dh, ph, bh) are pronounced as the consonant plus a noticeable aspiration of breath. For
example, the aspirated consonants th and ph must never be pronounced as in the words thing
and photo, but as in pothole and shepherd. Also note the following:
g is always pronounced hard as in go, never as in gem
is pronounced as the ng in hanger
is pronounced as in lunch before a consonant; before a vowel, as in canyon
, h, , h, , and h are pronounced approximately as in English, but with the
tongue turned back along the palate
is a breathing sound, generally at the end of a word
m is a nasal sound, pronounced like an m at the end of a word; if it comes before a
consonant it is assimilated to it, becoming either n, , , , or m. In principle, it
nasalizes the preceding vowel.
Accent
In classical Sanskrit, each syllable received approximately the same emphasis; vowels were
lengthened rather than stressed. Although today we tend to stress syllables, it should not be so
emphatic as in English. Accent is placed on the next-to-last syllable when this contains a long
vowel or ends with more than one consonant (not including ). Otherwise, it is placed on the
last previous syllable that contains a long vowel or ends in more than one consonant. If none
exists, the stress is placed on the first syllable. Other syllables containing long vowels may be
somewhat stressed. For example, yogin is pronounced yo-gi-ni, not yo-gi-ni.
TIBETAN
The Nland Translation Committee has transcribed Tibetan words to reflect pronunciation as
accurately as possible. Most of the teachers with whom our sagha is familiar are from Kham.
The Vidydhara, however, wanted us to employ Lhasa pronunciation, rather than Kham dialect,
because it is considered more proper Tibetan. Therefore, we say Kagy rather than Kaj.
Notice that and should be pronounced approximately as in the German words ber and
mglich, or in the French words connu and oeuvre.
In 2010, we introduced a few changes in the way we represent Tibetan words phonetically. (No
changes have been made for Sanskrit.) Words once spelled with ph and th are now spelled
with t and p. Some words ending in e, previously spelled with a hyphen in order to
clarify pronunciation, are now spelled with a final acute accent () and no hyphen. Here are
some examples of old and new spellings:
dathn datn
Nyingthik Nyingtik
phowa powa
phurba purba
Ri-me Rim
shi-ne shin
FREQUENTLY MISPRONOUNCED WORDS
The following words often tend to be mispronounced:
A-va-lo-ki-tesh-va-ra: The accent, if any, is on the fifth syllable.
BO-DHI-SAT-TV-NM (from mantra in oryoki chant): The accent, if any, is on the fourth
syllable.
Bud-dha: Pronounce the u of the first syllable like that in put, not as in boot.
DHAR-M-M (from mantra in oryoki chant): The accent, if any, is on the second syllable.
dn: Observe the umlaut.
gu-ru: The accent, if any, is on the first syllable.
Ka-gy: Do not pronounce as Ka-j (Kham dialect) or Kar-gyu.
Kar-ma-pa: The accent, if any, is on the first syllable.
Lo-dr: Observe the umlaut.
Mi-ky: Observe the umlaut.
Pad-m-ka-ra: The accent, if any, is on the second syllable.
pra-j-p-ra-mi-t: The accent, if any, falls on the second, third, and last syllables, which are
long. The next-to-last syllable is not stressed.
rk-ha-sa: The accent, if any, is on the first syllable.
Ro-cha-na: The accent, if any, is on the first syllable.
Seng-ge: The second g is pronounced hard as in get.
Sha-ta-kra-tu: Although people frequently stumble over this word, it is pronounced just as it is
spelled. Accent, if any, is on the first and third syllables.
Tro-l: Observe the umlaut.
Tu-hi-ta: The accent, if any, is on the first syllable.
Vi-dy-dha-ra: The accent, if any, is on the second syllable.
Vi-ma-la-mi-tra: The accent, if any, falls on the first and fourth syllables.
vi-na-ya: The accent, if any, on the first syllable.
2010 by the Nland Translation Committee
