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Introduction to Sanskrit, Part Two

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This book is also available in hardback (a better edition) from South Asia Books sabooks@computerland.net

Also available by Thomas Egenes is Learning the Sanskrit Alphabet, 188 pages from MUM Press mumpress@mum.edu 800-831-6523 or 641-472-1101

The objective of this booklet with cassette is to provide the student with an elementary guide for the acceptable pronunciation of Sanskrit terms transliterated in Latin characters. As the author says: "...They should enable speakers of English to pronounce Sanskrit words so that they are recognizable to Indian Scholars..."
Consecuently, the reader will not find any phonetic introduction to the "devanagari" script. The aim looked for is merely that the student can pronounce Sanskrit words with some accuracy.. It is not tried to obtain a perfect intonation by one of the very few 50.000 hindus who still today affirm in official census to have Sanskrit as their first language. In fact, he who reads the selected words as an example is not a native professor, as you can notice when he commits some isolated slip in the emission of the "aspirated" consonants (bh, ph, gh, dh, etc.)
Briefly, this booklet with cassette will allow to pronounce Sanskrit words (if duly transliterates in Latin characters only), without feeling inhibited or ridiculous.