ઘ
+
ર
Alphabets
The Gujarati alphabet મૂળાક્ષર
Meet every letter of Gujarati, hear how it sounds, and learn how letters join to make words.
About Gujarati
Gujarati is the language of the state of Gujarat in western India, spoken by about 55 million people in India and by large communities around the world. It is written in the Gujarati script (ગુજરાતી લિપિ), which grew out of Devanagari – the script of Hindi – and works the same way. The big difference is easy to see: Gujarati letters have no headline, the line that joins the letters of a Hindi word along the top. The script is written from left to right and is phonetic – each letter stands for one sound. Every consonant carries a built-in "a" sound, and small vowel signs called matras (માત્રા) change that sound, so learning the vowels, the consonants and the matras is all you need to start reading Gujarati.
- 11
- vowels સ્વર
- 34
- consonants વ્યંજન
- 4
- conjunct letters
- L → R
- writing direction
Vowels સ્વર
A vowel can stand on its own at the start of a word. After a consonant it is written as a vowel sign (matra) instead – shown here on ક. Tap a letter to hear it.
Two extra signs
Anusvāra – a nasal sound (n / m) after the vowel.
Visarga – a short breathy "h" after the vowel.
Consonants વ્યંજન
The consonants are arranged by where in the mouth the sound is made. In each of the first five groups the letters go: plain, breathy, voiced, voiced + breathy, nasal.
Velar ક-વર્ગ
from the back of the throat
Palatal ચ-વર્ગ
tongue against the hard palate
Retroflex ટ-વર્ગ
tongue curled back to the roof of the mouth
Dental ત-વર્ગ
tongue touching the upper teeth
Labial પ-વર્ગ
with the lips
Semivowels અંતઃસ્થ
between a vowel and a consonant
Sibilants & h ઊષ્માક્ષર
hissing sounds made with breath
Retroflex l ળ
tongue curled back – a sound Hindi does not have
Conjunct letters સંયુક્ત વ્યંજન
two consonants joined – taught as letters of their own
Gujarati and Hindi use almost the same letters, but Gujarati has the extra letter ળ (ḷa) and writes without the top line: compare Hindi क and Gujarati ક.
How letters join to make words
Gujarati words are built syllable by syllable. Three simple rules cover almost everything.
-
1
Every consonant has a built-in "a"
On its own, ક is read ka, not just k.
ક્ +અ =ક -
2
A matra replaces the "a"
Add a vowel sign to change the vowel: ka becomes kā, ki, ku…
ક +◌ા =કા -
3
A halant removes the "a"
The small stroke ્ (halant) makes a half letter that joins the next one.
સ્ +ત =સ્ત
Where does the matra go?
After
કા કી કો કૌ
Written to the right, after the consonant.
Before
કિ
Written first, but said after the consonant.
Below
કુ કૂ કૃ
Hangs under the consonant.
Above
કે કૈ કં
Sits on top of the consonant.
Build real words
ક
+
મ
+
ળ
પ + ◌ા
પા
+
ણ + ◌ી
ણી
ચ + ◌ો
ચો
+
પ
+
ડ + ◌ી
ડી
ફ + ◌ૂ
ફૂ
+
લ
મ + ◌ે
મે
+
ળ + ◌ો
ળો
શ + ◌ા
શા
+
ળ + ◌ા
ળા
પ્ + ર + ◌ે
પ્રે
+
મ
Good to know
The last "a" is usually silent
કમળ is said kamaḷ, not kamaḷa. In most words the built-in "a" of the final consonant is dropped.
No line on top
Gujarati letters stand on their own: ગુજરાત has no headline, while the same word in Hindi – गुजरात – hangs from one.
ર changes shape
After a consonant it becomes a small stroke – પ્ર (pra). Before a consonant it becomes a hook on top – ધર્મ (dharm).
Ready to type in Gujarati?
Use the on-screen keyboard to write these letters, or translate your first sentence.