Shiksha

For the Indian non-governmental organization, see discovery recorded in the Pratishakhya texts (particuShiksha (NGO). For the Yiddish slang word, see Shiksa. larly the Samaveda Pratishakhya, which is claimed to be
the earliest[1] ), is an organization of the stop consonant
Shiksha (Devanagari: IAST: ik) is one of the sounds into a 5x5 varga or square:
six Vedangas, treating the traditional Hindu science of
phonetics and phonology of Sanskrit.

ka kha ga gha a

ca cha ja jha a
Its aim is the teaching of the correct pronunciation of
a ha a ha a
the Vedic hymns and mantras. The oldest phonetic textbooks are the Pratishakyas (prtikhya, a vrddhi abta tha da dha na
stract from Sanskrit prati-kh), describing pronunciapa pha ba bha ma
tion and intonation of Sanskrit, as well as the Sanskrit
rules of sandhi (word combination) specic to individual
in which dierence between sounds is preserved whether
schools or Shakhas of the Vedas.
you recite it horizontally or vertically. It was extended
and completed with fricatives and sibilants, semi-vowels,
and vowels, and was eventually codied into the Brahmi
1 Pratishakhyas
alphabet, which is one of the most systematic sound-towriting mappings. Scholar Frits Staal has commented,
The Pratishakhyas, which evolved from the more ancient Mendelejevs Periodic system of elements, the varga sysVedic Texts padapathas (padapha) around 800 BCE, tem was the result of centuries of analysis. In the course
deal with the manner in which the Vedas are to be enun- of that development, the basic concepts of phonology
[2]
ciated. There are separate Pratishakhyas for each Veda. were discovered and dened. "
They complement the books called Shiksha written by The Varga system and the Pratishakshyas, contributions
various authorities.
of the Shiksha texts, are elaborate systems which deal
with the generation and classication of sound. According to the old tradition, sound is generated when four conditions are satised: a ground or base; an electromagnetic
Rigveda-Pratishakya (Shakala shakha), attributed to
force; a gravitational force implying the existence of other
Shaunaka
nearby bodies or particles; and space for the bodies to
expand. The middle two parameters generate vibration
Shukla Yajurveda-Pratishakhya
in the bodies. Depending upon the magnitude of these
Taittiriya (Krishna Yajurveda) Pratishakhya, ed. parameters, there are 304 types of sounds, out of which
Whitney 1871
12 types are within human audible range. The lowest of
these is called sphota, and the highest is called mahaghaAtharvaveda-Pratishakhya (Shaunakiya shakha)
narava.

Five Pratishakhyas are preserved:

Shaunakiya
shakha)

Chaturaadhyaayika

(Shaunakiya Vajasaneyi Praatishaakshya (8-25) calls these letters of

the alphabet Brahma Rashi [meaning Universal letter
unit]. Thus, the script is called Brahmi script. [3]

The Shiksha Texts and the Pratishakhyas led to great

clarity in understanding the surface structure of language. For clarity of pronunciation, they propose breaking up the large Vedic compounds into stems, prexes,
and suxes. Certain styles of recitation (pha), such
as the japha, involved switching syllables, repeating the last word of a line at the beginning of the next,
and other permutations. In the process, a considerable
amount of morphology is discussed, particularly regarding the combination of sequential sounds, which leads
to the modalities of sandhi. An even more important

1.1 Other Shiksha texts

In addition, several Shiksha texts exist, most of them in
metrical verse form but a few in sutra form. The following list contains some of these surviving texts (English
translation of Paniniya Siksa.pdf):
Amoghanandini Shiksha
Apisali Shiksha (in sutra form)
1

2
Aranya Shiksha

Siddhanta Shiksha

Atreya Shiksha

Svaraankusha Shiksha

Avasananirnyaya Shiksha
Bharadvaja Shiksha
Chandra Shiksha of Chandragomin (sutra form)
Charayaniya Shiksha
Galadrka Shiksha

Svarashtaka Shiksha
Svaravyanjana Shiksha
Vasishtha Shiksha
Varnaratnapradipa Shiksha

Kalanirnya Shiksha

Vyaali Shiksha

Katyayani Shiksha

Vyasa Shiksha

Shiksha

Yajnavalkya Shiksha

Kaundinya Shiksha
Keshavi Shiksha

SYLLABICITY

Although many of these Shiksha texts are attached to specic Vedic schools, others are late texts.

Kramakarika Shiksha
Kramasandhaana Shiksha

2 Syllabicity

Laghumoghanandini Shiksha
Lakshmikanta Shiksha
Lomashi Shiksha
Madhyandina Shiksha

Traditionally syllables (not letters) in Sanskrit are called

Akshara, meaning imperishable (entity)": atoms of
speech, as it were. These aksharas are classied mainly
into two types:[4]

Mandavya Shiksha

Svara (pratyahara aC) : Vowel

Mallasharmakrta Shiksha

Vyanjana (pratyahara haL) : Consonant

Manasvaara Shiksha
Manduki Shiksha
Naradiya Shiksha
Paniniya Shiksha (versied)

Svara aksharas are also known as prana akshara; i.e.,

they are main sounds in speech, without which speech is
not possible. Pini referred to svara as ac pratyahara.
Later they became known as ac Akshara.

Parashari Shiksha

Vyanjana means embellishment, i.e., consonants are used

as embellishment in order to yield sonorant vowels. They
are also known as Prani akshara; that is, they are like a
body to which life (svara) is added. Pinis name for
vyanjana was Hal Pratyahara, which were later referred
to as Hal akshara.

Padyaatmika Keshavi Shiksha

Vyanjana aksharas are divided into three types:

Paniniya Shiksha (in sutra form)

Paniniya Shiksha (with accents)

Pari Shiksha
Pratishakhyapradipa Shiksha
Sarvasammata Shiksha

Sparsa : Stop
Antastha : Approximant
Usman: Sibilant

Shaishiriya Shiksha
Shamaana Shiksha
Shambhu Shiksha
Shodashashloki Shiksha
Shikshasamgraha

Sparsa aksharas include syllables from Ka to Ma; they are

25 in number. Antastha aksharas include syllables ya, ra,
la and va. Ushman aksharas include a, sha, sa and ha.
It was said that in Sanskrit a vowel can be pronounced in
18 ways (3x2x3), based on timing, manner, and accent of
pronunciation.

6.1

Eorts of articulation

Morae

Each vowel can be classied into three types based on the

duration of pronunciation (morae):
Hrasva : Short vowel, Eka-mtra

3
Dantya : Dental
shtya : Labial
Apart from that, other articulations are combinations of
the above ve places:

Drgha : Long vowel, Dvi-mtra

Dantsthya : Labio-dental (E.g.: v)

Pluta : Prolonged vowel, Tri-mtra (pluti)

Kantatlavya : e.g.: Diphthong e

Kantsthya : labial-velar (E.g.: Diphthong o)

We see that each vowel can be pronounced in three ways
according to the duration of articulation. . The unit of
time is a mtra (approx. 0.4 second).
There are three active places of articulation:

Nasality

Each vowel can be further classied into two types based

on the manner of pronunciation:
Mukha : Oral (open)

Jihvmla : tongue root, for velar

Jihvmadhya : tongue body, for palatal
Jihvgra : tip of tongue, for cerebral and
dental
Adha : lower lip, for labial

Nsika : Nasal (all vowels are considered

phonemically oral)

6.1 Eorts of articulation

Pitch accent

Eort of articulation (Uccraa Prayatna) is of two

types for consonants,

Main article: Vedic accent

Each vowel can also be classied into three types, that is,
pronounced in three ways, based on accent of articulation.
This feature was lost in Classical Sanskrit, but used in
reciting Vedic & Upanishadic hymns and mantras.
Udtta : high pitch

Bhya Prayatna : External eort

Spa : Plosive
shat Spa : Approximant
shat Savta : Fricative
Abhyantara Prayatna : Internal eort

Anudtta : low pitch

Alpaprna : Unaspirated

Svarita : falling pitch

Mahprna : Aspirated
vsa : Unvoiced

Places of articulation

Generally, in articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation (or point of articulation) of a consonant is the point of
contact, where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract between an active (moving) articulator (typically some part
of the tongue) and a passive (stationary) articulator (typically some part of the roof of the mouth).
But according to Indian linguistic tradition,[5] there are
ve passive places of articulation:
Kahya : Velar
Tlavya : Palatal
Mrdhanya : Retroex

Nda : Voiced

6.2 Articulation of consonants

Articulation of consonants will be a logical combination
of components in the two prayatnas. The below table
gives a view upon articulation of consonants.

7 See also
Shiva Sutra
Indias premier school search engine shiksha24.com

References

[1] Staal, J. F., The Fidelity of Oral Tradition and the Origins
of Science. North-Holland Publishing Company, 1986.
[2] Frits Staal, The science of language, Chapter 16 in Gavin
Flood, The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism Blackwell
Publishing, 2003, 599 pages ISBN 0-631-21535-2, p.
352.
[3] http://basudeba.blogspot.ca/2012/01/
ashta-siddhis-other-querries.html
[4] Siddhanta Kaumudi by Bhattoji Diksita and Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi, by Varadaraja.
[5] Siddhanta Kaumudi by Bhattoji Diksita and Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi, by Varadaraja.
[6] Telugulo Chandovisheshaalu, Page 127 (In Telugu).

REFERENCES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

Text

Shiksha Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiksha?oldid=665666070 Contributors: Mrwojo, Carlossuarez46, Utcursch, Mukerjee, Florian Blaschke, Dbachmann, Kwamikagami, EurekaLott, Rramphal, Anthony Appleyard, Stemonitis, Dangerous-Boy, Koavf, Bgwhite,
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9.3

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