'''Sanskrit''' is written in the '''Devan?gar?''' (????????) script, shared with Nepali, Marathi and a number of other Indian languages. Learning Devanagari is not quite as difficult as you might think at first glance, but mastering it takes a while and is beyond the scope of most travellers. See '''Learning Devanagari''' for a primer.
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Aspiration means "with a puff of air", and is the difference between the sound of the letter "p" in English '''''p'''in'' (aspirated) and ''s'''p'''it'' (unaspirated). In this phrasebook, aspirated sounds are spelled with an h (so English "pin" would be ''phin'') and unaspirated sounds without it (so "spit" is still ''spit''). Sanskrit aspiration is quite forceful and it's OK to emphasize the puff: ''b'''h'''arti''.
Sanskrit retroflex consonants, on the other hand, are not really found in English. They should be pronounced with the tongue tip curled back. Practice with a native speaker, or just pronounce as usual — you'll usually still get the message across.
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" !bgcolor=#EEEEEE|Devanagari !bgcolor=#EEEEEE|Transliteration !bgcolor=#EEEEEE|Equivalent/Comments