Gujarati · Gujarati alphabet

Letters first — then you build words yourself

Gujarati uses the same letter system as Devanagari but without the headline bar on top, which makes it quick to write by hand. Twelve vowels, thirty-four consonants and a set of vowel signs (matra) are all you need to read and build Gujarati words yourself.

Vowels (swar)

• અ▶

  a

  like the 'a' in 'about'

• આ▶

  ā

  long 'aa' as in 'father'

• ઇ▶

  i

  short 'i' as in 'sit'

• ઈ▶

  ī

  long 'ee' as in 'see'

• ઉ▶

  u

  short 'u' as in 'put'

• ઊ▶

  ū

  long 'oo' as in 'food'

• ઋ▶

  ṛu

  'ru' with a curled tongue

• એ▶

  e

  like the 'e' in 'they'

• ઐ▶

  ai

  open 'ai' as in 'air'

• ઓ▶

  o

  like the 'o' in 'go'

• ઔ▶

  au

  open 'au' as in 'aura'

• અં▶

  aṁ

  a nasal hum at the end

Consonants (vyanjan)

• ક▶

  ka

  'k' as in 'kite'

• ખ▶

  kha

  'k' with a puff of air

• ગ▶

  ga

  'g' as in 'go'

• ઘ▶

  gha

  'g' with a puff of air

• ઙ▶

  ṅa

  nasal 'ng', rare on its own

• ચ▶

  cha

  'ch' as in 'chair'

• છ▶

  chha

  'ch' with a puff of air

• જ▶

  ja

  'j' as in 'jug'

• ઝ▶

  jha

  'j' with a puff of air

• ઞ▶

  ña

  nasal 'ny' as in 'canyon'

• ટ▶

  ṭa

  hard 't', tongue on the roof

• ઠ▶

  ṭha

  hard 't' with a puff

• ડ▶

  ḍa

  hard 'd', tongue on the roof

• ઢ▶

  ḍha

  hard 'd' with a puff

• ણ▶

  ṇa

  hard 'n', tongue curled back

• ત▶

  ta

  soft 't', tongue on the teeth

• થ▶

  tha

  soft 't' with a puff

• દ▶

  da

  soft 'd' as in Spanish 'dedo'

• ધ▶

  dha

  soft 'd' with a puff

• ન▶

  na

  'n' as in 'no'

• પ▶

  pa

  'p' as in 'pen'

• ફ▶

  pha

  'p' with a puff, near 'f'

• બ▶

  ba

  'b' as in 'bat'

• ભ▶

  bha

  'b' with a puff

• મ▶

  ma

  'm' as in 'man'

• ય▶

  ya

  'y' as in 'yes'

• ર▶

  ra

  light rolled 'r'

• લ▶

  la

  'l' as in 'love'

• વ▶

  va

  between 'v' and 'w'

• શ▶

  sha

  'sh' as in 'shoe'

• ષ▶

  ṣha

  hard 'sh', tongue back

• સ▶

  sa

  's' as in 'sun'

• હ▶

  ha

  'h' as in 'hat'

• ળ▶

  ḷa

  curled 'l', tongue on the roof

Vowel signs (matra) — joining letters

A consonant carries a built-in “a”. Clip on a vowel sign and the sound changes — this is how every word is assembled.

• ક + ા = કા

  ▶

  kā

  💡 The vowel sign hangs after the letter.

• ક + િ = કિ

  ▶

  ki

  💡 Written before, but read after.

• ક + ી = કી

  ▶

  kī

• ક + ુ = કુ

  ▶

  ku

  💡 Signs for u sit under the letter.

• ક + ૂ = કૂ

  ▶

  kū

• ક + ે = કે

  ▶

  ke

  💡 Signs for e and ai sit on top.

• ક + ૈ = કૈ

  ▶

  kai

• ક + ો = કો

  ▶

  ko

• ક + ૌ = કૌ

  ▶

  kau

• ક + ં = કં

  ▶

  kaṁ

  💡 The dot adds a nasal hum.

• ક + ્ = ક્

  ▶

  k

  💡 The bottom stroke removes the 'a' sound.

Words you can already read

• માmāmother · મ + ા▶
• પાણીpāṇīwater · પા + ણી▶
• ઘરgharhouse · ઘ + ર▶
• નમસ્તેnamastehello / greetings · ન + મ + સ્ + તે▶