Transcription Rules

The spellings used in this book may look different from the way you have seen Nepali written in Roman or English letters on social media, in subtitles, or on signs. This is because public “media spelling” is often informal and inconsistent. The same sound may be written in several ways, and the same word may be spelled differently by different people.

This book uses an IAST-based transliteration system adapted for Nepali pronunciation. The goal is to help beginners read new words, pronounce them more clearly, and follow consistent spelling across lessons.

Natural Nepali Pronunciation

This book is based on IAST, but it is also adapted for natural Nepali pronunciation. This means that some words are written in a way that reflects how many Nepali speakers pronounce them in everyday speech.

In strict Sanskrit-based transliteration, some words may be written with v, such as dhanyavād or svāgat. In this book, however, w is used in words such as dhanyawād and swāgat because many Nepali speakers pronounce this sound closer to w in everyday Nepali.

The goal is not only to represent Nepali accurately, but also to help learners speak clearly, naturally, and respectfully in real-life situations.

What is IAST?

IAST stands for the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration. It is a standard way to write Nepali and other Indic languages in Roman letters. The system uses small marks, called diacritics, to show sound differences that ordinary English spelling cannot represent clearly.

In this book, you will see:

ā, ī, ū = long vowels
ṭ, ḍ, ṇ = retroflex consonants
ś, ṣ, s = three sibilant letters: श, ष, स
ṅ, ñ = nasal consonant sounds
ṛ = a special vowel sound, as in ऋ

You do not need to master every symbol immediately. Use IAST as a pronunciation guide. Your accuracy will improve gradually as you listen, read, and practise.

Sibilant Letters: श, ष, and स

Nepali has three sibilant letters:

श — śa
ष — ṣa
स — sa

IAST writes these differently because they are different Devanagari letters. In everyday spoken Nepali, श and ष may sound very similar, or even the same, for many speakers. Do not worry if you cannot hear the difference immediately.

Examples:

शिक्षक — śikṣak — teacher
भाषा — bhāṣā — language
साथी — sāthī — friend

Nasal Sounds

Nepali has nasal consonants and nasalized vowels.

Nasal consonants are full consonant sounds, such as:

म — ma
न — na
ण — ṇa
ङ — ṅa
ञ — ña

Nasalized vowels are vowel sounds pronounced with a nasal quality. In this book, nasalization is shown with a small tilde mark over or after the vowel.

Examples:

तपाईं — tapāī̃ — you
उहाँ — uhā̃ — he/she/they, respectful
कहाँ — kahā̃ — where
हुँ — hũ — am

Listen carefully to the audio when these words appear. The nasal sound is part of the word.

IAST Reference Table

Vowels

Consonants

Use these tables as references when you encounter new words. You do not need to memorize all the characters at once.