Kannada vowels
13 vowel letters from the Kannada course, with sound spellings and available recordings. Learn to recognise the shapes before moving to attached vowel signs.
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13 Kannada vowel letters
Compare the independent letters, English sound spellings, and course hints. The English labels are approximate reading aids.
| Letter | English sound guide | Reading hint | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|
| ಅ | a | Short open a; keep it brief. ಅಲೆ — ale · wave | Listen |
| ಆ | aa | Long aa, roughly the vowel in father. ಆಟ — aaṭa · play | Listen |
| ಇ | i | Short i, roughly the vowel in sit. ಇದು — idu · this | Listen |
| ಈ | ee | Long ee, roughly the vowel in see. ಈಜು — eeju · swim | Listen |
| ಉ | u | Short rounded u; keep it shorter than oo. ಉಪ್ಪು — uppu · salt | Listen |
| ಊ | oo | Long rounded oo, roughly the vowel in moon. ಊರು — ooru · village | Listen |
| ಋ | r̥ | Vocalic r, commonly read ru in Kannada; mostly in Sanskrit-derived words. ಋಷಿ — r̥ṣi · sage | Listen |
| ಎ | e | Short e; keep the sound steady. ಎಣ್ಣೆ — eṇṇe · oil | Listen |
| ಏ | ae | Long e: hold e without the English ay glide. ಏಳು — aeḷu · seven | Listen |
| ಐ | ai | Glide from a toward i, roughly the vowel in eye. | Listen |
| ಒ | o | Short rounded o; keep the sound steady. ಒಂದು — oṃdu · one | Listen |
| ಓ | oh | Long o: hold o without an English ow glide. ಓಲೆ — ohle · palm leaf | Listen |
| ಔ | au | Glide from a toward u, roughly the vowel in how. | Listen |
Compare the letters and hints
Use the course’s hints for these vowel letters. Similar English spellings do not necessarily represent the same sound.
- ಅ — Short open a; keep it brief.
- ಆ — Long aa, roughly the vowel in father.
- ಇ — Short i, roughly the vowel in sit.
Move to attached vowel signs
- 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.
Compare each independent vowel with its attached form in the vowel-sign chart.
Prepared by Learn Akshara from our beginner Kannada 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.