Vowel Sandhi Reference Table

Vowel Sandhi Reference Table¶


a	a>a	i	a>i	u	a>u	e	a+i	ya	i+a
a	a\<i	i	ā>i	u	ī>u	e	a+ī	ya	e+a
a	u>a	i	i\<a	u	u\<a	e	a>e	yā	i+a
a	e>a	i	i>i	u	u\<i	e	ā+i	yā	i+ā
a	o>a	ī	ā>+i	u	u>u	e	ā+ī	yā	ī+a
a	i>a	ī	i+\<a	u	u\<e	e	i>e	yā	e+a
ā	a>+a	ī	i>+i	u	o>u	e	e\<a	ri	e
ā	a>ā	ī	ī>+i	ū	a>+u	e	e\<i	va	u+a
ā	a+\<i			ū	ā>+u	e	e>e	va	o+a
ā	ā\<a			ū	u+\<i	e	o>e	vā	u+a
ā	ā>ā			ū	u>+u	o	a+u	vā	u+ā
ā	ā\<i			ū	ū\<a	o	a+ū	vā	o+a
ā	ā\<e			ū	ū\<i	o	a+e	ve	u+e
ā	i>+a					o	a>o	+y +v +m +d +n +t +r +l
ā	u>ā					o	i+u
ā	e>+a					o	i>o
ā	e>ā					o	o\<a
ā	o>+a					o	o\<i
						o	o\<e

How to use the reference table: First try to figure it out for yourself! If you can’t, then refer to the table.

Please deconstruct the following:

cepi =

mamassa =

ekova =

mūḷhosi =

tyassu =

tyāhaṃ =

svahaṃ =

sīlesvevassa =

nuttha =

navayime =

hidaṃ

idhāvuso

panassa

pañcime

dūratova

esāhaṃ

icchāmahaṃ

pubbevassa

yena midhekacco

lābhīmhi

māyaṃ

tatrāpāsiṃ

tyāssa

khvāssa

Alternative Reference Table¶

	1s letter
2nd	a	ā	i	ī	u	ū	e	o
a	a ā	ā	a i ī ā ya	yā	a u va vā	ū	a ā e ya yā	a ā o va vā
ā	ā	ā	yā		ā vā		ā
i	i a ā e	i ā ī	i ī	ī	u ū		e	o
ī	e	e
u	u ū o	ū	o	u	u ū			u
ū	o
e	e	ā ari	e		u ve		e	e o
o	o		o

Example of usage:

when a meets ī the result can be e, but when ī meets a result can be yā

when i meets u the result can be o, but when u meets i result can be u or ū

In many chanting books, conjunction of words is denoted with a dash ( - ), and elision is denoted with an apostrophe( ’ ). This can make reading and pronunciation easier. Also note the use of the ṁ, ṃ or ŋ.

karaṇīyam’attha-kusalena

yaṁ taṁ santaṁ padaṁ abhisamecca

sakko ujū ca suhujū ca

suvaco c’assa mudu an-atimānī

In most Roman script texts, a macron ( ¯ ) is used to denote all long vowels. In older texts, and in PTS dictionary, when two vowels are joined to form a long vowel, they are denoted with a circumflex ( \^ ) over the long vowel instead of a macron ( ¯ ). The circumflex means the long vowel is a result of sandhi.

na ahaṃ > nâhaṃ = nāhaṃ

dhamma anupassī > dhammânupassī = dhammānupassī

na aparaṃ > nâparaṃ = nāparaṃ

itara itaraṃ > itarîtaraṃ = itarītaraṃ

aggi iva > aggîva = aggīva

āhāra upahāra > āhārûpahāra = āhārūpahāra

idha upapanna > idhûpapanna = idhūpapanna

Vowel Sandhi Reference Table

Vowel Sandhi Reference Table¶

Alternative Reference Table¶

Some Common Punctuation Related to Sandhi¶