Lesson 5 - Gujarati vowel signs
The vowels may be joined to any of the consonants, and are pronounced after them. They are then termed Barakhadi, and are as follows:-
kano - ા
ajju - િ ી
vaddu - ુ ૂ
ek maathra - ે
be maathra - ૈ
ek maathra kano - ો
be maathra kano - ૌ
anusvar - ં
All consonants have inherent vowel sound a. To denote the absence of the inherent vowel sound a is shown by the use of virama sign as shown below.
virama - ્
The vowels in combination with the Barakhadi are shown below.
kano - કા (kaa)
ajju - કિ કી (ki, kee)
vaddu - કુ કૂ (ku, koo)
ek maathra - કે (ke)
be maathra - કૈ (kai)
maathra kano - કો (ko)
be maathra kano - કૌ (kau)
anusvar - કં (kam)
Vowels by Shape
Now, we will learn a vowel e and ai which look have the basic a (અ) shape.
એ - vowel e(e as in enemy) . There is no long vowel for e.
ક(ka) કે(ke as in kay)
મ(ma) મે(me as in may)
લ(la) લે(le as in lay)
સ(sa) સે(se as in say)
કેમરા - kaymaraa/kemara
કમરા - kamaraa
મેલા - melaa/maylaa
લેક - lek/lake
સેક - sek/sake
સેલ - sel/sale
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ઐ
- vowel ai (ai as in gain)
ક(ka) કૈ(kai)
મ(ma) મૈ(mai)
લ(la) લૈ(lai)
સ(sa) સૈ(sai)
So similar to the previous lesson where you we used flashcards, make flashcard for each consonants and consonant with vowel sign, and try to write out various words. The words need not have any meaning, it will familiarize with the alphabets and identify them when you see them. Include the vowel signs introduced in this lesson too.
In this lesson you will learn
ઓ(o) ઔ (au) and the corresponding vowel signs.
ઓ - o
ક(ka) કો(ko)
મ(ma) મો(mo)
લ(la) લો(lo)
સ(sa) સો(lo)
Read the following words
સોલ- sol/sole
લોમ - lom/lome
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ઔ - au
ક(ka) કૌ(kau)
મ(ma) મૌ(mau)
લ(la) લૈ(lau)
સ(sa) સૌ(sau)
Read the following words
સ(sa) મ(ma)
સમ(sam) સામ(saam) સેમ(sem/same) સૈમ(saim) સોમ(som) સૌમ(sau)
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And finally we will have
અઁ(am) અ:(aha)
These two vowels are not that common and they are used for nasalization of some words. The sign half moon and a dot is called chandrabindu.
Chandra means moon.
અંગૂર - angoor/amgoor
These are the vowels with the basic અ(a) shape.
અ આ એ ઐ ઓ ઔ અઁ અ:
So the remaining vowels left are
ઇ ઈ ઉ ઊ ઋ
ઇ(i as in pin) ઈ(ee)
The vowel sign for i with our standard set of consonants is shown below.
ક(ka) કિ(ki)
મ(ma) મિ(mi)
લ(la) લિ(li)
સ(sa) સિ(si)
The long vowel (ee) sign is shown below.
ક(ka) કી(kee)
મ(ma) મી(mee)
લ(la) લી(lee)
સ(sa) સી(see)
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ઉ(u as in shoe) ઊ(oo as in shoot)
The vowel sign for u is
ક(ka) કુ(ku)
મ(ma) મુ(mu)
લ(la) લુ(lu)
સ(sa) સુ(su)ક કૂ મ મૂ લ લૂ સ સૂ
The long vowel oo is written as
ક(ka) કૂ(koo)
મ(ma) મૂ(moo)
લ(la) લૂ(loo)
સ(sa) સૂ(soo)
And finally ઋ (Ru)
The vowel sign is
ક(ka) કૃ(kRu)
મ(ma) મૃ(mRu)
લ(la) લૃ(lRu)
સ(sa) સૃ(sRu)
So the vowels and the corresponding vowel signs with ma is shown below.
અ આ ઇ ઈ ઉ ઊ ઋ એ ઐ ઓ ઔ અઁ અ:
મ મા મિ મી મુ મૂ મૃ મે મૈ મો મૌ મં/મઁ મઃ
Also note unlike devanagari script, Gujarati does not have a horizontal line written on top of it.