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How to Read IAST

The diacritic marks used in IAST are the above-dot ( ^· ), the below-dot ( _. ), the caron ( ^ ), the tilde ( ^~ ), the acute ( ´ ), and the macron ( ‾ ).

• A vowel with a macron above should be read as long. For example "ā" should be read as "ah" /ɑː/.
• When a consonant has an dot beneath it, this means it is retroflex. It should be pronounced with the tongue bent back agianst the alveolar ridge.
• The "ṅ" with the dot above is velar. It should be pronounced /ŋ/ like "ng" in English "sing."
• The "ñ" with a tilde above is palatal. It should be pronounced /ɲ/, roughly the "ny" in English "nyan cat."
• The "ś" with an acute above is another palatal. It should be pronounced /ʃ/, like "sh" in English "shine."
• "ê" and "ô" are pronounced /æ/ and /ɒ/, respectively.
• "th" is not pronounced as in English "thorn", but as an aspirated "t" sound /t̪ʰ/.