I hate IAST and ITRANS, though I’m glad they did exist. So I’m making my own. And this is also because त is pronounced as “ta” instead of “tha” as it is in pronounced in Malayalam, and ठ is pronounced as “ṭha” instead of “ta” or “ṭa”. That also implies थ is “tha” and ट is “ṭa”, which are both fine.
This means in my system, I’ll be using double a-s to show pronounced sounds, but both त and थ would be “tha” and both ट and ठ would be “ṭa”.
This does not differentiate the two in writing, and that’s because it is not possible to do so using the English script without diacritics. The goal of my system is to help people pronounce the words correctly, while also being able to type them in the same manner easily using commonly used characters. If the goal is to be precise on the differences, either IAST or ITRANS should be used. My goal is simply to be able to convey the terms with the right pronunciation in English script, not to be precise on their nuances.
The benefit is simply that a new reader who is not familiar with diacritics may think they can be totally ignored, and end up reading “Sāṃkhya” as “Samkhya” instead of “Saankhya,” which is the right pronunciation. It would feel bad sometimes, especially in the case of terms that are adopted in the West, such as Mantra and Tantra, when I have to call them “Manthra” and “Thanthra” instead.
My Studies (to replace what’s below)
“tch” can suit “cch” (pacha, patcha), while “ja” can suit “cha” (paja, pacha). Also get ideas from my paper notes.
Vowels
| Devanagari | IAST | My System |
|---|---|---|
| अ | a | a |
| आ | ā | aa |
| इ | i | i |
| ई | ī | ee |
| उ | u | u |
| ऊ | ū | oo |
| ए | e | e |
| ऐ | ai | ai |
| ओ | o | o |
| औ | au | au |
| ऋ | ṛ | r |
| ॠ | ṝ | r |
| ऌ | ḷ | l |
| ॡ | ḹ | l |
| अं | ṁ | am |
| अः | ḥ | ha |
| अँ | m̐ | am |
| ऽ | ' | ' |
Diacritics
| Devanaagari | IAST | My System |
|---|---|---|
| ए / े | e | e |
| ओ / ो | o | o |
| ऎ / ॆ | ĕ | ai |
| ऒ / ॆ | ŏ | au |
| ऋ / ृ | ṛ | r |
| ॠ / ॄ | ṝ | r |
| ऌ / ॢ | ḷ | l |
| ॡ / ॣ | ḹ | l |
| ळ | ḻ | l |
| ं | ṁ | m |
| ः | ḥ | h |
| ँ | m̐ | m |
| ऽ | ' | ' |
Consonants
The Devanaagari standalone consonant letters are followed by an implicit schwa (/Ə/). In all of the transliteration systems, that /Ə/ must be represented explicitly using an ‘a’ or any equivalent of schwa.
| Devanaagari | IAST | My System |
|---|---|---|
| क | ka | ka |
| ख | kha | kha |
| ग | ga | ga |
| घ | gha | gha |
| ङ | ṅa | nga |
| च | ca | cha |
| छ | cha | ccha |
| ज | ja | ja |
| झ | jha | jha |
| ञ | ña | nja |
| ट | ṭa | ta |
| ठ | ṭha | ta |
| ड | ḍa | da |
| ढ | ḍha | da |
| ण | ṇa | na |
| त | ta | tha |
| थ | tha | tha |
| द | da | da |
| ध | dha | dha |
| न | na | na |
| प | pa | pa |
| फ | pha | pha |
| ब | ba | ba |
| भ | bha | bha |
| म | ma | ma |
| य | ya | ya |
| र | ra | ra |
| ल | la | la |
| व | va | va |
| श | śa | sha |
| ष | ṣa | sha |
| स | sa | sa |
| ह | ha | ha |
| ळ | ḻa | la |
Irregular consonant clusters (from Hindi)
| Devanaagari | ITRANS | ITRANS |
|---|---|---|
| क्ष | kSa/kSha/xa | ksha |
| त्र | tra | thra |
| ज्ञ | GYa/j~na | jna |
| श्र | shra | shra |
Other consonants (Accented)
| Devanaagari | ITRANS | My System |
|---|---|---|
| क़ | qa | qa |
| ख़ | Ka | kkha |
| ग़ | Ga | gga |
| ज़ | za | za |
| फ़ | fa | fa |
| ड़ | .Da/Ra | (d/r)ha |
| ढ़ | .Dha/Rha | (d/r)ha |