The Letter त (ta)
The letter त, ta
, is next on our list. The sound made by this letter is very similar to the English t
found in team
. Make sure you don't let out very much breath when you pronounce this letter.
The letter त (ta) has the familiar horizontal line with a vertical line descending from it. If we were to imagine the letter त (ta) as a tapdancer, we would see that the bottom part of the vertical line makes up one leg, while the line that goes out to the left and then down makes the other leg.
When we described the letters म (ma) and न (na), we said that they were nasal letters (or simply nasals), because in pronouncing them one pushes air through the nose. If we were to describe the letter त (ta) we would say that it is a dental letter (or simply dental). The word dental
relates to teeth, as in the word dentist
. In this case, dental
refers to the fact that, in order to pronounce त (ta), you tap your tongue against your teeth.
Let's experiment with that: first, say the English word the
. When you pronounce the th
sound, your tongue is touching your teeth—in fact, your tongue is almost sticking out between your teeth. Now say drum
, and notice that when you say the d
sound your tongue is no longer touching your teeth—it's touching that bony part of your mouth, right above your teeth, called the palate. Slowly say them together several times: the drum the drum the drum
. Notice how your tongue jumps back and forth between your teeth and the palate.
This illustrates two of the places your tongue can be when pronouncing consonants. It should be easy to remember that त (ta) is a dental, because your tongue touches your teeth (not your palate) during pronunciation.
Practice the letter त (ta) a few times aloud: