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Re: Pronunciation of Brhama, Vahni, Jahnu, etc.

From the Bhakti List Archives

MG Sriram • April 25, 1997 


To echo Sri Mani, "I am no authority on Sanskrit phonetics". However, I
have always heard "Brahma" with the 'h' sound coming first and the 'm'
stressed a little longer than usual. In the Devanagiri script, the combined
"h" and "m" letters seem to indicate that h comes first.

A name related to "Jahnu" is "Jahnavi". In fact the latter is the former's
daughter! (It is also another name for the Ganga river) I had always heard
it as with the 'h' coming after the n. However, I consulted Sri Sadagopan
and he explained that the correct spelling is with the h first.
Subsequently, a maharashtrian friend (the name seems to be more common in
maharashtra) clarified that the name is pronounced with the h sound first
and the 'n' stressed to sound almost like two 'n' sounds.

Sriram