Unlike English, Sanskrit is written as it is spoken; but in the Roman alphabet, diacritics have to be used. The vowels a, i and u are long (ā) or short (a), etc.; e, o, ai and au are always long. ‘Long’ lasts twice as long as ‘short’. Thus we have: a as in mantra, ā as in father, i as in Indra, ī as in police, u as in Vi**u, ū as in pūr**am, ai and au as in my cow.
Many consonants are pronounced as in English: k, g, j, p, b and m. Most of these come in two forms: unaspirate and aspirate: unaspirate c as in candra or Churchill; aspirate as in church-hill but without a pause. Dentals contrast with retroflexes where the corresponding English sounds are more or less in between. A glance at Figure 24 shows how they are produced in the mouth: the dentals t, th, d, dh and n by making the tip of the tongue touch the upper teeth; the retroflexes ṭ, ṭh, ḍh and ṇ, placed in a box, by turning the tip of the tongue or flexing it back and make it touch the palate. Thus the dental n in mantra or candra contrasts with the retroflex ṇ in Viṣṇu and pūrṇam. Dental s as in singing contrast in the same manner with retroflex ṣ in Viṣṇu. A third sibilant sounds like the ś in Śiva or Shiva or sheet.
The other consonant signs are almost obvious: ṃ as in haṃsa or humming, ñ as in jñāna or España, ṇ as in aṇga, ng or Bangla Desh. The sound h is as in English, but ḥ, which sometimes occurs only after a vowel at the end of a word, may in South India sound like an echo: Indraḥ like Indraha, Viṣṇuḥ like Viṣṇuhu.