Sandhi · when vowels meet
When two words run together, the final sound of one fuses with the first sound of the next — that is sandhi. Rows = final sound, columns = initial sound, each cell = the result. Tap a cell for an example and the phonetic reason. Cells marked ⚠ are still being verified — don't memorise them yet. In class we always write the unsandhied word-by-word form: sandhi is listen-only.
| final↓ initial→ | a | ā | i | ī | u | ū | e | o |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | ||||||||
| ā | ||||||||
| i | ||||||||
| ī | ||||||||
| u | ||||||||
| ū | ||||||||
| e | ||||||||
| o | ||||||||
| ai | ||||||||
| au |
Tap any cell above to see detail here
High-frequency visarga rules (final -ḥ)
-aḥ
aḥ + voiced consonant → o
rāmaḥ + nagaram → rāmo nagaraṃ P02 rāmaḥ+n→rāmo
-aḥ
aḥ + a → o '
aḥ+a→o; the following a is elided, written with avagraha (…o 'a…)
-aḥ
aḥ + any vowel except a → a
Before any vowel other than a, the visarga of aḥ drops, leaving a, with hiatus (e.g. rāmaḥ iti → rāma iti)
-aḥ
aḥ + voiceless sound (k/kh/p/ph…) → aḥ
hyaḥ + (清音前/句末) → hyaḥ P11 hyaḥ 清音前原樣
-āḥ
āḥ + voiced consonant or vowel → ā
-āḥ (e.g. plural -āḥ) before any voiced sound: the visarga drops, leaving only ā
-iḥ / uḥ
iḥ / uḥ + voiced consonant or vowel → ir / ur
After i/u, visarga becomes r before a voiced sound (e.g. muniḥ + asti → munir asti)