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Devanāgarī & the alphabet (quiz)

The Sanskrit alphabet is arranged by the mouth — and that same order is the order every dictionary sorts by. Get the alphabet's structure and you get the lookup order for free. These 16 questions (beginner-friendly) cover the vowels and consonants, the five mouth positions and vargas, conjuncts, and the alphabetical order, grounded in Lessons 1–3 & 7 of Charles Wikner's A Practical Sanskrit Introductory.

The basics​

Quiz · vowels & consonants

2 questions

  1. Conceptbasicseasy

    What are the two fundamental divisions of the Sanskrit alphabet?

    Show answer
    The vowels (svara) and the consonants (vyañjana). svara = 'sound/tone'; vyañjana = an 'adornment' to the sound (a stop or restriction).
  2. Conceptbasicseasy

    On what principle is the Sanskrit alphabet arranged?

    Show answer
    According to the structure of the mouth — the sounds are ordered by where in the mouth they are produced (the mouth positions), from the back of the throat to the lips.

Vowels & the mouth positions​

Quiz · vowels and positions

4 questions

  1. Conceptvowelsmedium

    Name the five mouth positions, from the back of the mouth to the front, with their basic vowel.

    Show answer
    Guttural (kaṇṭhya, a) → palatal (tālavya, i) → cerebral/retroflex (mūrdhanya, ṛ) → dental (dantya, ḷ) → labial (oṣṭhya, u).
  2. Multiple choicevowelseasy

    At which mouth position is the vowel 'a' produced?

    • guttural (kaṇṭhya)
    • palatal (tālavya)
    • labial (oṣṭhya)
    • dental (dantya)
    Show answer
    guttural (kaṇṭhya). 'a' is the central, guttural vowel — the whole alphabet is an embellishment of this sound.
  3. Conceptvowelsmedium

    Vowels can be hrasva, dīrgha, or pluta. What do these mean?

    Show answer
    hrasva = short (held one measure, mātrā); dīrgha = long (two measures); pluta = prolonged (three or more measures, mainly Vedic).
  4. Multiple choicevowelshard

    The compound vowel 'e' is formed using which two mouth positions?

    • guttural + palatal
    • guttural + labial
    • palatal + labial
    • dental + labial
    Show answer
    guttural + palatal. 'e' arises when 'a' (guttural) is sounded through the 'i' (palatal) position — kaṇṭha-tālavya. 'o' is guttural + labial (kaṇṭhoṣṭhya).

Consonants — the vargas, semivowels, sibilants​

Quiz · the consonants

5 questions

  1. Conceptconsonantsmedium

    The first 25 consonants are 'stops' (sparśa). How are they arranged?

    Show answer
    In five sets (varga) of five, by mouth position, each named after its first letter: ka-varga (guttural), ca-varga (palatal), ṭa-varga (cerebral), ta-varga (dental), pa-varga (labial).
  2. Multiple choiceconsonantsmedium

    The pa-varga consonants (pa pha ba bha ma) are stops made at the …?

    • lips (labial)
    • teeth (dental)
    • throat (guttural)
    • palate (palatal)
    Show answer
    lips (labial). Each varga is a set of stops at one position; the pa-varga (labials) close at the lips.
  3. Conceptconsonantsmedium

    After the 25 stops come the four semivowels (antaḥstha). Name them.

    Show answer
    ya, ra, la, va.
  4. Conceptconsonantsmedium

    Name the three sibilants of Sanskrit (and note why they trip up beginners).

    Show answer
    śa (palatal), ṣa (cerebral), sa (dental). They are three distinct letters — a common lookup error is treating them as one 's'.
  5. Multiple choiceconsonantseasy

    Which single consonant comes last, after the sibilants?

    • ha
    • kṣa
    • ḷa
    • ṅa
    Show answer
    ha. ha is the final (aspirate) consonant of the alphabet.

Conjuncts​

Quiz · conjunct consonants

2 questions

  1. Conceptconjunctsmedium

    What is a conjunct consonant (saṃyoga)?

    Show answer
    Two or more consonants written together with no intervening vowel — the sign for the first loses its inherent 'a' and the letters are joined into one ligature (e.g. kṣa, jña).
  2. Multiple choiceconjunctshard

    The special conjunct क्ष (kṣa) is composed of which two consonants?

    • ka + ṣa
    • ka + śa
    • kha + sa
    • ca + ṣa
    Show answer
    ka + ṣa. kṣa = ka + ṣa; the other famous special conjunct, jña (ज्ञ), is ja + ña.

Alphabetical order (and why it matters)​

Quiz · the order

2 questions

  1. Multiple choiceorderhard

    In Sanskrit alphabetical order, do vowel-initial or consonant-initial words come first?

    • all vowels first, then consonants
    • consonants first
    • interleaved a, ka, ā, kha…
    • by length, short before long
    Show answer
    all vowels first, then consonants. The order is: all the vowels (a ā i ī u ū ṛ ṝ ḷ e ai o au), then anusvāra/visarga, then the consonants by varga, semivowels, sibilants, ha.
  2. Conceptorderhard

    Where do the anusvāra (ṃ) and visarga (ḥ) fall in alphabetical order?

    Show answer
    After the vowels and before the consonants — they are listed with the 'sixteen sakti' (the vowels plus aṃ/aḥ), so a word with ṃ/ḥ sorts ahead of consonant-initial material at that point.

Quiz · order & dictionary lookup

1 question

  1. Conceptlookupmedium

    Why does the mouth-position ordering of the alphabet matter when you use a dictionary?

    Show answer
    Because the dictionary's alphabetical order IS this order. a and ā, and ś/ṣ/s, are different letters in different positions — so you must respect the Sanskrit order (and the diacritics) to find a word; this is the single most common first-time lookup mistake.

See also​