Kannada letters look round to a new reader, and they are. Most of them are built from curves, often with a small hook on top. Once you can tell a few of those shapes apart, the rest come quickly.
Vowels come first
In Kannada, as in most Indian scripts, the alphabet begins with the vowels: ಅ (a), ಆ (aa), ಇ (i), ಈ (ii), ಉ (u), ಊ (uu), and on through the rest. They come in pairs, short then long, and the long one is usually the short one with something added. Look at ಉ and ಊ side by side.
Every consonant carries a vowel
The consonants come next: ಕ (ka), ಖ (kha), ಗ (ga), ಘ (gha), ಙ (nga). Each consonant, written on its own, already includes the sound "a". So ಕ is not just "k"; it is "ka". To make it say anything else, you add one of the small vowel signs, which is the whole of part 2.
The order of the letters is a map of the mouth
The consonants are arranged by where the sound is made. The throat comes first (ಕ ಖ ಗ ಘ ಙ), then the palate (ಚ ಛ ಜ ಝ ಞ), then the roof of the mouth with the tongue curled back (ಟ ಠ ಡ ಢ ಣ), then the teeth (ತ ಥ ದ ಧ ನ), and last the lips (ಪ ಫ ಬ ಭ ಮ). Learn the rows as five families and the order stops being something to memorise.
The one thing to keep
A consonant says "a" until a sign tells it to say something else.
Try this today
- Write ಅ, ಆ, ಇ and ಈ five times each.
- Find ಕ, ತ and ಮ on any Kannada sign you pass.
- Say the five rows of consonants aloud, and feel where each row sits in your mouth.