r/malayalam • u/UnderstandingFit6317 Native Speaker • May 20 '26
Help / സഹായിക്കുക How can I differentiate ഷ and ശ ?
This has been confusing since childhood for me,Now I'm 10th btw.
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u/Theta-Chad_99 May 20 '26
for ഷ roll the tongue backward and touch the mouth roof for ശ don't have to roll
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u/UnderstandingFit6317 Native Speaker May 21 '26
I pronounces both of them touching the roof ig... btw your info was really great
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u/Woman_of_Kulture May 20 '26
Shammikku sha, shashiku ssaaaaa... randamathed
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u/Theta-Chad_99 May 20 '26
Ijjjjathi difference
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u/RevolutionaryTap2512 May 21 '26
there was something which my sanskrit professor taught me
dantasya സ, talabhya ശ , moordhanya ഷ.
Pronounce സ by pointing ur tongue towards teeth, Pronounce ശ by pointing tongue towards hard palate ie that rough structure just above connected to ur upper teeth, Pronounce ഷ by curling ur tongue even backwards towards softer area which are behind hard palate
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u/UnderstandingFit6317 Native Speaker May 21 '26
Thankyou for your info but I didn't really get it
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u/RevolutionaryTap2512 May 21 '26
സ as in words like sita is pronounced by pointing ur tongue towarts ur teeth similiarly follow location of tongue for other two letters and u wont struggle pronouncing them
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u/BeneficialHeight1042 May 21 '26
Just use calculus. Differentiate it until the right sound comes out 😃
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u/Educational-Yam-2910 May 23 '26
Me too same question in tamizh we don't have both sounds so I just always go with the english sh sound
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u/EarlyXplorerStuds209 Native Speaker May 24 '26
Same as श and ष in hindi.
Dosa-श
Suresh-ष
Desham(country)-श
Mashi(ink)-ष
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u/Zealousideal_Poet240 May 26 '26
But in hindi, both sha are pronounced as ഷ.
So hindi guys would pronounce as
ദോഷ ദേഷം etc.
That's why we also mistakenly spell names like Hindified sanskrit names like Suresh, Ramesh as സുരേഷ്, രമേഷ് with strong sha whereas the original spelling are സുരേശ്, രമേശ് (compare രമേശൻ and സുരേശൻ)
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u/veerashuuran May 25 '26
ഷ is loaned from sanskrit like aspirated sounds ഘ, ഖ, etc thats why native malayalis can't use it correctly
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u/museinprogress May 20 '26
I am bad at explaining these things but ശ sounds similar to the english way of saying "sha". As in "she". The tongue is sort of flat here. Relaxed.
Now ഷ is a bit different because the tongue is sort of arched upwards to make contact with our teeth/roof area?... It's a little bit harsher.
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u/Cozzamarra May 20 '26
ष and श?