Lesson 1 - The Alphabet

Question 1

How many letters, vowels and consonants do the Pāli alphabet consist of?

Answer 1

41 letters
8 vowels
33 consonants

Question 2

Which are the vowels?

Answer 2

a, ā, i, ī, u, ū, e, o

Question 3

Of the consonants, which are the palatals?

Answer 3

c, ch, j, jh, ñ

Question 4

Of the consonants, which are the gutturals?

Answer 4

k, kh, g, gh, ṅ

Question 5

Of the consonants, which are the cerebrals (retroflex)?

Answer 5

ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh, ṇ

Question 6

Of the consonants, which are the dentals?

Answer 6

t, th, d, dh, n

Question 7

Of the consonants, which are the labials?

Answer 7

p, ph, b, bh, m

Question 8

Of the consonants, which are the miscellaneous?

Answer 8

y, r, l, v, s, h, ḷ, ṃ

Question 9

Which vowels are short?

Answer 9

a, i, u

Question 10

Which vowels are long?

Answer 10

ā, ī, ū

Question 11

Which vowels are of middle length?

Answer 11

e, o

They are pronounced short before double consonants, e.g. mettā, khetta, koṭṭha, sotthi; and long before single consonants, e.g. deva, senā, loka, odana.