International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration - Revision history

AidanHeim7993963: formatting fix

2026-03-03T21:42:03Z

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2022-01-07T04:42:09Z

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← Older revision		Revision as of 10:12, 7 January 2022
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	{{Short description\|~~a transliteration~~ scheme ~~that allows the lossless romanisation of~~ Indic scripts ~~as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages~~}}		{{Short description\|Transliteration scheme for Indic scripts}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=May 2016}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=May 2016}}
	{{Use Indian English\|date=May 2016}}		{{Use Indian English\|date=May 2016}}
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	\| languages = [[Sanskrit]] and other [[Languages of South Asia\|Indic Languages]]		\| languages = [[Sanskrit]] and other [[Languages of South Asia\|Indic Languages]]
	\| time = 17th century–present		\| time = 17th century–present
	\| ~~romanized_from~~ = [[Indic scripts]]		\| romanised-from = [[Indic scripts]]
	}}		}}
	{{Contains special characters\|Indic}}		{{Contains special characters\|Indic}}

	The '''International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration''' ('''IAST''') is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless [[romanisation]] of [[Brahmic family\|Indic scripts]] as employed by [[Sanskrit]] and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during the nineteenth century from suggestions by [[Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet\|Charles Trevelyan]], [[William Jones (philologist)\|William Jones]], [[Monier Monier-Williams]] and other scholars, and formalised by the Transliteration Committee of the Geneva [[International Congress of Orientalists\|Oriental Congress]], in September 1894.<ref>{{Cite book\|url=http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/MWScanpdf/mw010033.pdf\|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary\|last=Monier-Williams\|first=Monier\|publisher=Clarendon Press\|year=1899\|location=Oxford\|pages=xxx\|author-link=Monier Monier-Williams}}</ref> IAST makes it possible for the reader to read the Indic text unambiguously, exactly as if it were in the original Indic script. It is this faithfulness to the original scripts that accounts for its continuing popularity amongst scholars. ~~But many{{who\|date=June 2021}} find it misleading when 'Tha' is suggested to be used to denote the (T2)'Tta' sound and not the (T3)'Tha'.{{clarify\|date=June 2021}}~~		The '''International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration''' ('''IAST''') is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless [[romanisation]] of [[Brahmic family\|Indic scripts]] as employed by [[Sanskrit]] and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during the nineteenth century from suggestions by [[Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet\|Charles Trevelyan]], [[William Jones (philologist)\|William Jones]], [[Monier Monier-Williams]] and other scholars, and formalised by the Transliteration Committee of the Geneva [[International Congress of Orientalists\|Oriental Congress]], in September 1894.<ref>{{Cite book\|url=http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/MWScanpdf/mw010033.pdf\|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary\|last=Monier-Williams\|first=Monier\|publisher=Clarendon Press\|year=1899\|location=Oxford\|pages=xxx\|author-link=Monier Monier-Williams}}</ref> IAST makes it possible for the reader to read the Indic text unambiguously, exactly as if it were in the original Indic script. It is this faithfulness to the original scripts that accounts for its continuing popularity amongst scholars.

	==Use==		==Use==
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	The IAST scheme represents more than a century of scholarly usage in books and journals on classical Indian studies. By contrast, the [[ISO 15919]] standard for transliterating Indic scripts emerged in 2001 from the standards and library worlds. For the most part, ISO 15919 follows the IAST scheme, departing from it only in minor ways (e.g., ṃ/ṁ and ṛ/r̥)—see comparison below.		The IAST scheme represents more than a century of scholarly usage in books and journals on classical Indian studies. By contrast, the [[ISO 15919]] standard for transliterating Indic scripts emerged in 2001 from the standards and library worlds. For the most part, ISO 15919 follows the IAST scheme, departing from it only in minor ways (e.g., ṃ/ṁ and ṛ/r̥)—see comparison below.

	The Indian [[National Library at Kolkata romanization]], intended for the romanisation of all [[Brahmic family\|Indic scripts]],{{Citation needed\|date=June 2019\|reason=It fails for the Indic scripts of Further India. Is the target perhaps Indian scripts, not Indic scripts? The link implies 'Indic' = 'Brahmic', not 'Indian'.}} is an extension of IAST.		The Indian [[National Library at Kolkata romanization]], intended for the romanisation of all [[Brahmic family\|Indic scripts]], is an extension of IAST.

	==Inventory and conventions==		==Inventory and conventions==
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	\|˜		\|˜
	\|		\|
	\|[[chandrabindu]]		\|[[chandrabindu]]<ref>See, now, the [[Talk:International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration#Candrabindu\|Talk page]], where m̐ is recommended.</ref>
	\|-		\|-
	\|ऽ		\|ऽ
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	* {{Cite web \|url=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stone-catend/trind.htm \|title=Transliteration of Indic Scripts: How to use ISO 15919 \|last=Stone \|first=Anthony \|access-date=2016-12-02 \|url-status=bot: unknown \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414223033/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stone-catend/trind.htm \|archive-date=14 April 2016 \|df=dmy-all }}		* {{Cite web \|url=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stone-catend/trind.htm \|title=Transliteration of Indic Scripts: How to use ISO 15919 \|last=Stone \|first=Anthony \|access-date=2016-12-02 \|url-status=bot: unknown \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414223033/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stone-catend/trind.htm \|archive-date=14 April 2016 \|df=dmy-all }}
	*{{Cite web \|url=http://indology.info/email/members/wujastyk/\|title=Transliteration of Devanagari\|last=Wujastyk\|first=Dominik\|date=1996\|website=INDOLOGY\|access-date=2016-12-02}}		*{{Cite web \|url=http://indology.info/email/members/wujastyk/\|title=Transliteration of Devanagari\|last=Wujastyk\|first=Dominik\|date=1996\|website=INDOLOGY\|access-date=2016-12-02}}
	* [http://www.personal.psu.edu/ejp10/psu/gotunicode/macron.html Typing a macron] - page from Penn State University about typing with accents
	* [http://www.yorku.ca/earmstro/ipa/ International Phonetic Alphabet chart with pronunciation guide]
	* [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5ph4C2WV1JqZ1pjNTkxVll1ZGM A visual chart which shows clearly 1. Which part of the mouth for each sound 2. The 3 groups where the 12 diacritics appear. - from Dina-Anukampana Das]
	* [https://vimeo.com/groups/sanskrit Sanskrit Pronunciation Tips for beginners & Simple Charts to help memorize where the diacritics fit in. - pages from Dina-Anukampana Das]		* [https://vimeo.com/groups/sanskrit Sanskrit Pronunciation Tips for beginners & Simple Charts to help memorize where the diacritics fit in. - pages from Dina-Anukampana Das]
	* [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5ph4C2WV1JqeEdnZVhOVWx1MUE A pronunciation guide with chart and pronunciation tips. - from Dina-Anukampana Das]
	* [https://sites.google.com/site/technicalhindi/files/IAST%20and%20other%20Roman%20encodings%20to%20Devanagari%20%20Converter_04.html?attredirects=0&d=1 IAST <==> Devanagari online converter (Transliteration tool)]
	* [https://www.ashtangayoga.info/sanskrit/transliteration/transliteration-tool/#iso_iast_kolkata/simplified/xn--tryambaka%20yajmahe%20sugandhi%20puivardhanam%0Aurvrukamiva%20bandhann%20mtyormukya%20mmtt%20-4hi4aqoc295an760gsa61soa76dlb23e Sanskrit Transliteration Tool]
	* [http://sprachen.acamat.de/sanskrit/Itx.htm Full Itx – Encoding Shema ] - with Unicode entities and audio examples
	* [https://www.yesvedanta.com/keyswap-sanskrit-diacritics-transliteration-typing-tool/ Keyswap – IAST Diacritics Windows software (for Sanskrit scholars)]

	{{DEFAULTSORT:International Alphabet Of Sanskrit Transliteration}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:International Alphabet Of Sanskrit Transliteration}}

2600:1702:20A0:2DB0:B8D4:AAD2:42A7:31E3: There appeared to be an error in "c" and "ch" - all other sources I've found for IAST listed as I've done here

2021-07-04T09:12:17Z

There appeared to be an error in "c" and "ch" - all other sources I've found for IAST listed as I've done here

New page

{{Short description|a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox romanization
| engvar = gb
| name = International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration
| altname = IAST
| languages = [[Sanskrit]] and other [[Languages of South Asia|Indic Languages]]
| time = 17th century–present
| romanized_from = [[Indic scripts]]
}}
{{Contains special characters|Indic}}

The '''International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration''' ('''IAST''') is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless [[romanisation]] of [[Brahmic family|Indic scripts]] as employed by [[Sanskrit]] and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during the nineteenth century from suggestions by [[Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet|Charles Trevelyan]], [[William Jones (philologist)|William Jones]], [[Monier Monier-Williams]] and other scholars, and formalised by the Transliteration Committee of the Geneva [[International Congress of Orientalists|Oriental Congress]], in September 1894.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/MWScanpdf/mw010033.pdf|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary|last=Monier-Williams|first=Monier|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1899|location=Oxford|pages=xxx|author-link=Monier Monier-Williams}}</ref> IAST makes it possible for the reader to read the Indic text unambiguously, exactly as if it were in the original Indic script. It is this faithfulness to the original scripts that accounts for its continuing popularity amongst scholars. But many{{who|date=June 2021}} find it misleading when 'Tha' is suggested to be used to denote the (T2)'Tta' sound and not the (T3)'Tha'.{{clarify|date=June 2021}}

==Use==
University scholars commonly use IAST in publications that cite textual material in Sanskrit, [[Pāḷi]] and other classical Indian languages.

IAST is also used for major e-text repositories such as SARIT, Muktabodha, GRETIL, and sanskritdocuments.org.

The IAST scheme represents more than a century of scholarly usage in books and journals on classical Indian studies. By contrast, the [[ISO 15919]] standard for transliterating Indic scripts emerged in 2001 from the standards and library worlds. For the most part, ISO 15919 follows the IAST scheme, departing from it only in minor ways (e.g., ṃ/ṁ and ṛ/r̥)—see comparison below.

The Indian [[National Library at Kolkata romanization]], intended for the romanisation of all [[Brahmic family|Indic scripts]],{{Citation needed|date=June 2019|reason=It fails for the Indic scripts of Further India. Is the target perhaps Indian scripts, not Indic scripts? The link implies 'Indic' = 'Brahmic', not 'Indian'.}} is an extension of IAST.

==Inventory and conventions==
The IAST letters are listed with their [[Devanagari]] equivalents and phonetic values in [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]], valid for [[Sanskrit]], [[Hindi]] and other modern languages that use Devanagari script, but some phonological changes have occurred:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Vowels and codas
!Devanāgarī
!colspan=2|Transcription
!Category
|-
|अ
|a
|A
|rowspan=10|monophthongs and [[syllabic consonant|syllabic]] [[liquid consonant|liquid]]s
|-
|आ
|ā
|Ā
|-
|इ
|i
|I
|-
|ई
|ī
|Ī
|-
|उ
|u
|U
|-
|ऊ
|ū
|Ū
|-
|ऋ
|ṛ
|Ṛ
|-
|ॠ
|ṝ
|Ṝ
|-
|ऌ
|ḷ
|Ḷ
|-
|ॡ
|ḹ
|Ḹ
|-
|ए
|e
|E
|rowspan=4|[[diphthong]]s
|-
|ऐ
|ai
|Ai
|-
|ओ
|o
|O
|-
|औ
|au
|Au
|-
|ं
|ṃ
|Ṃ
|[[anusvara]]
|-
|ः
|ḥ
|Ḥ
|[[visarga]]
|-
|ँ
|˜
|
|[[chandrabindu]]
|-
|ऽ
|'
|
|[[avagraha]]
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Consonants
|-
![[velar consonant|velars]]
![[palatal consonant|palatals]]
![[retroflex consonant|retroflexes]]
![[dental consonant|dentals]]
![[labial consonant|labials]]
!Category
|-
|क k  K
|च c  C
|ट ṭ  Ṭ
|त t  T
|प p  P
| [[tenuis consonant|tenuis]] stops
|-
|ख kh  Kh
|छ ch  Ch
|ठ ṭh  Ṭh
|थ th  Th
|फ ph  Ph
| [[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]] stops
|-
|ग g  G
|ज j  J
|ड ḍ  Ḍ
|द d  D
|ब b  B
|[[voiced consonant|voiced]] stops
|-
|घ gh  Gh
|झ jh  Jh
|ढ ḍh  Ḍh
|ध dh  Dh
|भ bh  Bh
|[[breathy-voiced]] stops
|-
|ङ ṅ  Ṅ
|ञ ñ  Ñ
|ण ṇ  Ṇ
|न n  N
|म m  M
|[[nasal stop]]s
|-
|ह h  H
|य y  Y
|र r  R
|ल l  L
|व v  V
|[[approximant]]s
|-
|  
|श ś  Ś
|ष ṣ  Ṣ
|स s  S
|  
|[[sibilant]]s
|}

Some letters are modified with diacritics: Long vowels are marked with an overline. Vocalic (syllabic) consonants, retroflexes and ṣ ({{IPA|/[[ʂ]]~[[ɕ]]~ʃ/}}) have an underdot. One letter has an overdot: ṅ ({{IPA|/ŋ/}}). One has an acute accent: ś ({{IPA|/ʃ/}}).

Unlike [[ASCII]]-only romanizations such as [[ITRANS]] or [[Harvard-Kyoto]], the diacritics used for IAST allow capitalization of proper names. The capital variants of letters never occurring word-initially ({{IAST|Ṇ Ṅ Ñ Ṝ}}) are useful only when writing in all-caps and in [[Pāṇini]] contexts for which the convention is to typeset the ''[[Aṣṭādhyāyī|IT]]'' sounds as capital letters.

==Comparison with ISO 15919==
For the most part, IAST is a subset of [[ISO 15919]] that merges: the retroflex (underdotted) liquids with the vocalic ones ([[ring (diacritic)#Ring below|ringed below]]); and the short [[close-mid vowel]]s with the long ones. The following seven exceptions are from the ISO standard accommodating an extended repertoire of symbols to allow transliteration of Devanāgarī and other Indic scripts, as used for languages other than Sanskrit.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Devanāgarī
!IAST
!ISO 15919
!Comment
|- 
||{{lang|hi|ए / े}}
||e
||ē (e)
||ISO ''e'' generally represents short {{lang|hi|ए / ॆ}}, but optionally represents long {{lang|hi|ए / े}} in Devanagari, Bengali, Gurmukhi, Gujarati, and Odia script.
|-
||{{lang|hi|ओ / ो}}
||o
||ō (o)
||ISO ''o'' generally represents short {{lang|hi|ऒ / ॆ}}, but optionally represents long {{lang|hi|ओ / ो}} in Devanagari, Bengali, Gurmukhi, Gujarati, and Odia script.
|-
||{{lang|sa|अं / ं}}
||ṃ
||ṁ
||ISO ''ṃ'' represents [[Gurmukhi]] ''[[Gurmukhi#Other signs|tippi]]'' {{lang|pa| ੰ}}.
|-
||{{lang|hi|ऋ / ृ}}
||ṛ
||r̥
||ISO ''ṛ'' represents ड़ {{IPAslink|ɽ}}.
|-
||{{lang|hi|ॠ / ॄ}}
||ṝ
||r̥̄
||for consistency with ''r̥''.
|-
||{{lang|hi|ऌ / ॢ}}
||ḷ
||l̥
||ISO ''ḷ'' represents ळ {{IPAslink|ɭ̆}}.
|-
||{{lang|hi|ॡ / ॣ}}
||ḹ
||l̥̄
||for consistency with ''l̥''.
|}

== Computer input by alternative keyboard layout==
The most convenient method of inputting romanized Sanskrit is by setting up an alternative [[keyboard layout]]. This allows one to hold a modifier key to type letters with diacritical marks. For example, {{keypress|alt|a}} = ā. How this is set up varies by operating system.

[[Unix|Linux/Unix]] and BSD desktop environments allow one to set up custom keyboard layouts and switch them by clicking a flag icon in the menu bar.

[[Mac OS X|macOS]] One can use the pre-installed US International keyboard, or install Toshiya Unebe's Easy Unicode keyboard layout.

[[Microsoft Windows]]
Windows also allows one to change keyboard layouts and set up additional custom keyboard mappings for IAST. This Pali keyboard installer<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fsnow.com/pali/keyboard/|title=Pali Keyboard|website=fsnow.com|access-date=2019-10-21}}</ref> made by Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator (MSKLC) supports IAST (works on Microsoft Windows up to at least version 10, can use Alt button on the right side of the keyboard instead of Ctrl+Alt combination).

== Computer input by selection from a screen==
{{further|Unicode input#Selection from a screen}}
[[File:Gucharmap screenshot.png|thumb|300px|Applet for character selection]]

Many systems provide a way to select Unicode characters visually. [[ISO/IEC 14755]] refers to this as a ''screen-selection entry method''.

[[Microsoft Windows]] has provided a Unicode version of the Character Map program (find it by hitting {{keypress|Win|R}} then type <code>charmap</code> then hit {{keypress|Enter}}) since version NT 4.0 – appearing in the consumer edition since XP. This is limited to characters in the [[Basic Multilingual Plane]] (BMP). Characters are searchable by Unicode character name, and the table can be limited to a particular code block. More advanced third-party tools of the same type are also available (a notable [[freeware]] example is [[Andrew West (linguist)#BabelMap|BabelMap]]).

[[Mac OS X|macOS]] provides a "character palette" with much the same functionality, along with searching by related characters, glyph tables in a font, etc. It can be [https://web.archive.org/web/20110109234035/http://www.apple.com/pro/techniques/glyphspalette/ enabled] in the input menu in the menu bar under System Preferences → International → Input Menu (or System Preferences → Language and Text → Input Sources) or can be viewed under Edit → Emoji & Symbols in many programs.

Equivalent tools – such as [[gucharmap]] ([[GNOME]]) or [[List of KDE applications|kcharselect]] ([[KDE]]) – exist on most Linux desktop environments.

Users of SCIM on Linux based platforms can also have the opportunity to install and use the sa-itrans-iast input handler which provides complete support for the ISO 15919 standard for the romanization of Indic languages as part of the m17n library.

== Font support ==
{{expand section|date=September 2016}}

Only certain [[font]]s support all the Latin [[Unicode]] characters essential for the transliteration of Indic scripts according to the [[ISO 15919]] standard. For example, the [[Arial]], [[Tahoma (typeface)|Tahoma]] and [[Times New Roman]] font packages that come with [[Microsoft Office 2007]] and later versions also support precomposed Unicode characters like ''ā, ḍ, ḥ, ī, ḷ, ḹ, ṃ, ñ, ṅ, ṇ, ṛ, ṝ, ṣ, ś, ṭ'' and ''ū,'' glyphs for some of which are only to be found in the [[Latin Extended Additional]] Unicode block. The majority of other text fonts commonly used for book production are defective in their support for one or more characters from this block. Accordingly, many academics working in the area of Sanskrit studies now make use of [[free and open-source software]] like [[LibreOffice]], instead of [[Microsoft Word]], in conjunction with free OpenType fonts like FreeSerif or [[Gentium]], both of which have complete support for the full repertoire of conjoined diacritics in the IAST character set. Released under the [[GNU FreeFont]] or [[SIL Open Font License]], respectively, such fonts may be freely shared and do not require the person reading or editing a document to purchase proprietary software to make use of its associated fonts.

==See also==
{{col div|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Devanagari transliteration]]
* [[Āryabhaṭa numeration]]
* [[Hunterian transliteration]]
* [[Harvard-Kyoto]]
* [[ITRANS]]
* [[National Library at Kolkata romanization]]
* [[ISO 15919]]
* [[Shiva Sutra]]
* [[Template:IAST]]
{{colend}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links ==
* {{Cite web |url=http://shashir.autodidactus.org/shashir_umich/sanskrit_transcription.html|title=Shashir's Notes: Modern Transcription of Sanskrit|last=Reddy|first=Shashir|access-date=2016-12-02}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stone-catend/trind.htm |title=Transliteration of Indic Scripts: How to use ISO 15919 |last=Stone |first=Anthony |access-date=2016-12-02 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414223033/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stone-catend/trind.htm |archive-date=14 April 2016 |df=dmy-all }}
*{{Cite web |url=http://indology.info/email/members/wujastyk/|title=Transliteration of Devanagari|last=Wujastyk|first=Dominik|date=1996|website=INDOLOGY|access-date=2016-12-02}}
* [http://www.personal.psu.edu/ejp10/psu/gotunicode/macron.html Typing a macron] - page from Penn State University about typing with accents
* [http://www.yorku.ca/earmstro/ipa/ International Phonetic Alphabet chart with pronunciation guide]
* [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5ph4C2WV1JqZ1pjNTkxVll1ZGM A visual chart which shows clearly 1. Which part of the mouth for each sound 2. The 3 groups where the 12 diacritics appear. - from Dina-Anukampana Das]
* [https://vimeo.com/groups/sanskrit Sanskrit Pronunciation Tips for beginners & Simple Charts to help memorize where the diacritics fit in. - pages from Dina-Anukampana Das]
* [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5ph4C2WV1JqeEdnZVhOVWx1MUE A pronunciation guide with chart and pronunciation tips. - from Dina-Anukampana Das]
* [https://sites.google.com/site/technicalhindi/files/IAST%20and%20other%20Roman%20encodings%20to%20Devanagari%20%20Converter_04.html?attredirects=0&d=1 IAST <==> Devanagari online converter (Transliteration tool)]
* [https://www.ashtangayoga.info/sanskrit/transliteration/transliteration-tool/#iso_iast_kolkata/simplified/xn--tryambaka%20yajmahe%20sugandhi%20puivardhanam%0Aurvrukamiva%20bandhann%20mtyormukya%20mmtt%20-4hi4aqoc295an760gsa61soa76dlb23e Sanskrit Transliteration Tool]
* [http://sprachen.acamat.de/sanskrit/Itx.htm Full Itx – Encoding Shema ] - with Unicode entities and audio examples
* [https://www.yesvedanta.com/keyswap-sanskrit-diacritics-transliteration-typing-tool/ Keyswap – IAST Diacritics Windows software (for Sanskrit scholars)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:International Alphabet Of Sanskrit Transliteration}}
[[Category:Hindustani orthography]]
[[Category:Romanization of Brahmic]]
[[Category:Sanskrit transliteration]]
[[Category:Encodings]]