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Gujarati alphabet
Meet the Gujarati letters, hear their sounds, and see how vowels and consonants fit together. Choose a starting point and keep the charts beside your practice.
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How Gujarati letters work
Independent vowels have their own letters. Attached vowel signs combine with consonants: compare ક with કા (kaa). Read the whole form, including marks above, below, or beside it.
This beginner set covers 13 vowels and 34 consonants from the course. It is not a complete inventory of every written form.
Gujarati vowel chart
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| અ | a | The relaxed vowel a, roughly the first vowel of about. An unmarked consonant has this inherent vowel in a letter drill; words can drop it. | Listen |
| આ | aa | An open aa, roughly the vowel of father; different in quality from the relaxed a. | Listen |
| ઇ | i (ઇ) | i is a high front vowel, roughly ee. ઇ and ઈ share a vowel sound in modern Gujarati; their different spellings do not require a length contrast. | Listen |
| ઈ | i (ઈ) | The same i vowel as ઇ. Remember the ઈ spelling; vowel duration and quality vary with the word and stress. | Listen |
| ઉ | u (ઉ) | u is a rounded high back vowel, roughly oo. ઉ and ઊ share a vowel sound; learn both written forms. | Listen |
| ઊ | u (ઊ) | The same u vowel as ઉ. The traditional spelling distinction does not require saying a different vowel or holding it longer. | Listen |
| ઋ | ru (ઋ) | The traditional vocalic-r letter, usually read ru in Gujarati Sanskrit-derived words. Its mark is ૃ, as in કૃ; it is not the letter ર with ઉ. | Listen |
| એ | e | A steady e with the tongue high in the front of the mouth; avoid adding the English ay glide. | Listen |
| ઐ | ai | A glide from relaxed a toward i. Read this as a Gujarati vowel sequence; the English spelling ai is only an aid. | Listen |
| ઓ | o | A steady rounded o; avoid adding the English ow glide. | Listen |
| ઔ | au | A glide from relaxed a toward u. The sign is ૌ, distinct from the open-o mark ૉ. | Listen |
| ઍ | ae | An open e, approximately the vowel of bet. This extra spelling is useful in borrowed words; it is not a longer એ. | Listen |
| ઑ | aw | An open rounded o, approximately aw in accents that distinguish it from aa. This extra spelling is useful in borrowed words; it is not a longer ઓ. | Listen |
Gujarati consonant chart
The k family
The traditional five-column group: plain, aspirated, voiced, voiced aspirated, then nasal. These sounds use the back of the mouth.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ક | ka | k as in skip, with little puff of air. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ખ | kha | k with a clear puff of air after release. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ગ | ga | g as in go, with vocal-fold vibration. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ઘ | gha | Voiced g with a breathy release; gh is a single consonant here. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ઙ | nga | The nasal at the end of sing. A traditional alphabet letter, rarely written by itself in everyday Gujarati. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
The ch family
Five traditional letters near the hard palate. Compare the release and the voicing before the nasal.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ચ | cha | ch as in chair, with little added breath. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| છ | chha | ch with a puff of air; pronunciation can vary by dialect. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| જ | ja | j as in jam. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ઝ | jha | Voiced j with a breathy release; some speakers use a more z-like realization. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ઞ | nya | A palatal nasal, roughly ny in canyon. Mainly a traditional or joined-letter spelling, as in જ્ઞ. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
The curled-tongue family
Five letters with the tongue tip curled back. A dot under the Latin letter marks this position.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ટ | ṭa | Curled-tongue ṭ with little puff. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ઠ | ṭha | Curled-tongue ṭ with a puff of air. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ડ | ḍa | Voiced curled-tongue ḍ; it can be a flap between vowels. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ઢ | ḍha | Voiced curled-tongue ḍ with a breathy release. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ણ | ṇa | A curled-tongue nasal, distinct from ordinary ન in the beginner model. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
The dental family
Touch the upper teeth with the tongue for this traditional five-column group.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ત | ta | Dental t with little puff; keep the tongue at the teeth. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| થ | tha | Dental t with a puff, not English th in thin. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| દ | da | Voiced dental d, with the tongue at the upper teeth. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ધ | dha | Voiced dental d with a breathy release. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ન | na | Ordinary n, made toward the teeth rather than with the tongue curled back. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
The lip family
The traditional p group has five columns. ફ can be ph or f in Gujarati, depending on speaker and word.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| પ | pa | p as in spin, with little puff. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ફ | pha | Traditionally p with a puff. Many speakers use f; ph here is an alphabet aid, not an instruction to reject f. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| બ | ba | b as in boy. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ભ | bha | Voiced b with a breathy release. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| મ | ma | m with both lips closed and air passing through the nose. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
Gliding and flowing sounds
Read y, r, l and v. Their positions and movement differ from the stop families.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ય | ya | y as in yes. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ર | ra | A quick tongue-tip tap or trill, rather than a sustained English r. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| લ | la | Ordinary l, with the tongue toward the teeth; compare curled-tongue ળ. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| વ | va | A sound often between English v and w, with variation by context. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
Sh spellings, s, h and ળ
શ and ષ commonly share sh in Gujarati. Parentheses distinguish their spellings. Keep ordinary લ and curled-tongue ળ separate.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| શ | sha (શ) | sh as in ship. Commonly the same sound as ષ; the qualifier identifies this written letter. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ષ | sha (ષ) | Usually the same sh as શ in modern Gujarati. A traditional Sanskrit retroflex reading may occur in recitation. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| સ | sa | s as in sun. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| હ | ha | A breathy h; in words it can affect the neighboring vowel. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
| ળ | ḷa | Curl the tongue tip back and let air pass around its sides for ḷ. It is not ordinary લ; dialects can vary. The unmarked letter is read with relaxed a in this drill; that vowel can drop in words. | Listen |
A small daily reading routine
- Choose a few written forms and compare their English hints.
- Cover the hints and identify the letters in a different order.
- Practise with matching, mixing, flashcards, or a visual quiz.
Next try vowel combinations and beginner words.
Prepared by Learn Akshara from our beginner Gujarati curriculum. English spellings are approximate learning aids. Writing-system reference: The Unicode Standard, South Asian Scripts. AI-generated pronunciation is a learning aid, not a guarantee of accuracy. See our audio sources and credits.