Notes for Phonetic Transliteration
A main objective here is to write as phonetic as possible, so that any one who speaks
a little bit of the Bhaarateey languages but does not know a script, would SING
ALONG and or write pretty close, Sankrit / Hindee / Gujaraatee words as they
sound. For such a group of people, consistency is of paramount importance.
Spelling and grammar in poetry is not same as in prose in any language.. So in this
transliteration, one would find the same word written differently at different
occurrences, for example one would find Siy (isy), short sound (2 Maatra), Seey
(s&y), when poetry required 3 Maatra and Seeya (s&y·) when we require 4
Maatra. Short and long (or LAGHU and GURU) pronunciations of A, Aa, I, Ee, U,
Oo, E, Ai, O and Au are must for rhythmic singing or reading / reciting our prayers
and Maanas Paath.
The conventions:
A, (a) Aa, (a·) I, ( I ) Ee, (
ÛR ) U ( uuü ), Oo ( uuË), E (or Ae) ( E ), Ai ( Ee ),
O (ao )
Au (aø ), Am (aö ), Ah (¶).
Some distinct features in this transliteration convention. Transliteration of our scriptures using
international convention (that uses accents, underlines and overhead lines) is not well received by our children
t
out side of India. Therefore, instead some non phonetic letters are written with underlines, such as: t for , th
¬·. Here my intension is simply to indicate that underlined
letter’s sound is NOT phonetic. Four words; Keka-i (kekÛ ) Kaika-i (kwkÛ) Kaike-i
(k]wkeÛ) and Kaike-ee (k]wkeÛR) and four words; Raj (rj), Raja (rj·), Raaja (r·j·)
and Raaj (r·j), clarify some intricacies one would come across in reading my transliteration of Tulasee
for
q,
d for
d,
dh for
ß, and
n for
Maanas. .
Additional Examples to illustrate this convention:
A (Janak), Aa (Jaanaki) , I (Savita), Ee (Geeta) , U (Guru), Oo (Moorti), E (Devaki)
or Ae (Aekanaath), Ai (Kailaash), O (Gopi), Au (Alaukik) , Am (Govindm). Ah
(Namah Shivaay)
Raam (but Ram is now very well known), Laxaman (not Laxamana)
Seeta (not Sita), Hanumaan (not Hanuman or Hanumana), Paarvati (not Parvati),
Ganesh (not Ganesha), Swaamee and SwaamiNaaraayan Aaratee (not Arati or Aarti),
Aekaadashee, Eeshwar (not Ishwar or Ishwara), Bharat Bhaa-ee and Bhaarat Desh,
Pawan Putr Hanumaan and Patit Paawan Raam
All seven Kaand of Raam-Charit-Maanas by Tulaseedaaas are on this web site. My wish is
that one day my grandchildren, and others, will find this useful.
There is also a Mathematical objective in this endeavor. For past few years my research has
been in the history of mathematics. It is now well known that our Rishi employed very subtle
and obscure (to common people) ways of hiding mathematical and scientific concepts in our
prayers and rituals. I have found several examples in Raamaayan and many more are yet to
be discovered. You may read some of my work on this web site.
Prof. Hans Raj Joshi
Department of Mathematics
York University , Toronto, Canada.
e-mail: hjoshi@yorku.ca