Pronunciation Guide of Oriya Alphabet
Oriya is one of the official languages of India and is quite popular language. It is spoken mainly in Orissa state of India and in some parts of the neighboring state of West Bengal. Bengali and Oriya languages have many things in common. The pronunciation is quite similar to Bengali Alphabet.
Microsoft Windows allow the usage of this language and support the font for Oriya. Below is the list of alphabets used in Oriya with the guide to pronounce it as the sounds are present in the English language.
Vowels of Oriya Alphabet
ଅ As ‘a’ in mal
ଆ Stressed ଅ
ଇ As ‘I’ in ill
ଈ As ‘e’ in eke
ଉ As ‘u’ in Ubuntu
ଊ As ‘ou’ in you
ଋ As ‘rough’ in through
ୠ Conjugated sound of ‘r’ and ‘rough’ as above
ଏ As ‘e’ in par se
ଐ As ‘a’ in as
ଓ As ‘o’ in go
ଔ Stressed and long sound of ‘o’
Consonants of Oriya Alphabet
କ As ‘k’ in kite
ଖ Coupled sound of ‘k’, ‘h’= ‘kh’
ଗ As ‘g’ in gun
ଘ Coupled sound of ‘g’, ‘h’= ‘gh’
ଙ As ‘gn’ in gnome. Does not produce a particular sound: Just used for articulation of tongue while pronouncing the next word
ଚ As ‘ch’ in chair
ଛ This sound is not available in English. The tongue touches a bit away (to the inner side) from the teeth while pronouncing ‘ch’ as in chair.
ଜ As ‘j’ in jug
ଝ This sound is not available in English. The is produced using the naval sounds while the tongue touches the upper part of mouth cavity.
ଞ Just like ‘gn’ of gnome with a slight up movement of tongue. No particular sound just articulation while speaking.
ଟ As ‘t’ in top
ଠ Hard sound of ‘t’. Not available in English.
ଡ As ‘d’ in dark
ଢ Coupled sound of ‘d’ and ‘h’= ‘dh’. Not available in English but as ‘dh’ in Indian musical instrument ‘dhol’.
ଣ Nasal sound when the tongue touches a bit away from teeth. In ନ, the tongue touches the roots of the teeth.
ତ Soft sound of ‘t’ as used in the name of country Bharat
ଥ As ‘th’ in thermo
ଦ As ‘th’ in the
ଧ Not available in English. Again, naval sound produced by coupling soft ‘d’ and ‘h’= ‘dh’.
ନ As ‘n’ in man
ପ As ‘p’ in push
ଫ Sound of ‘f’ if pronounced with closed lips. ‘f’ of German language.
ବ As ‘b’ in ban
ଭ Not available in English. Coupled sound of ‘b’ and ‘h’= ‘bh’.
ମ As ‘m’ in mass
ଯ As ‘y’ in yacht
ର As ‘r’ in run
ଲ As ‘l’ in love
ଶ As ‘sh’ in shot
ଷ Sound of ‘sh’ when the tongue touches the roots of the teeth. In ଶ, the tongue touches the upper part of mouth cavity.
ସ As ‘s’ in sound
ହ As ‘h’ in has
ଜ୍ଞ Coupled sound of ‘j’ and ‘n’= ‘jn’
ତ୍ର Coupled sound of soft ‘t’ and ‘r’—‘tr’.
କ୍ଷ Coupled sound of ‘k’, ‘s’, ‘h’= ‘ksh’. A bit similar to ‘x’
ଶ୍ର coupled sound of ‘s’, ‘h’, ‘r’=’shr’. As ‘shr’ in shroud
Variations of consonants in Oriya
କ଼ Sound of ‘k’ produced from the throat: equal to ‘q’ of English.
ଖ଼ Sound of ‘kh’ produced from the throat. As ‘kh’ used in the name of ‘khan’.
ଗ଼ Sound of ‘g’ produced from the throat.
ଜ଼ As ‘z’ in zebra
ଡ଼ Next variation of ‘d’. Not available in English and very difficult to produce for foreigners. As ‘re’ in Crore.
ଢ଼ Not available in English. Next variation of coupled sound of ‘dh’.
ଫ଼ As ‘f’ in fast. As ‘v’ in German language
ଳ Sound of ‘l’ when the tongue almost touches the throat.
Symbols used in Oriya
ଁ Sound of ‘n’ with the previous consonant along with some other symbols used for that consonant
ଂ Sound of ‘m’ with the previous consonant
ଃ Sound of ‘h’ with the previous consonant
ା Sound of stressed ‘a’ with the previous consonant
ି Sound of ‘i’ as in ill with the previous consonant
ୀ Sound of ‘e’ as in eke with the previous consonant
ୁ Sound of ‘u’ as in Ubuntu with the previous consonant
ୂ Sound of ‘ou’ as in you with the previous consonant
ୃ Sound of ‘rhy’ as in rhythm with the previous consonant
ૄ Double sound of ‘rhy’ as in rhythm with the previous consonant
ૅ Used for transliteration. Giving the up sound to the symbol used.
େ Sound of ‘ai’ as in aim with the previous consonant
ୈ Sound of ‘a’ as in as with the previous consonant
ૉ Sound of ‘a’ as in ball with the previous consonant
ୋ Sound of ‘o’ as in go with the previous consonant
ୌ Stressed sound of ‘o’
୍ Halant. This is used to make the consonant half making it disjointed from the sound of ଅ.
Numeric symbols of Oriya (0-9)
୦
୧
୨
୩
୪
୫
୬
୭
୮
୯
Apart from these symbols, there are two types of half-sound of ‘r’ that is used in Oriya. One after the bearing consonant and one before the bearing consonant. The symbol is not present as such in the Kalinga Font but can be made by pressing the Shift+3 keys. This symbol will put the half-sound of ‘r’ in the foot of the consonant and its sound would come after the consonant. Typing ର and then
