Reading Gujarati road signs

Gujarati is close to Devanagari, but without the line along the top, which makes it easy to tell apart. Each consonant carries a short ‘a’, and other vowels are small signs added to it.

In GeoGuessr, Gujarati on a sign already means Gujarat; reading the name narrows it down to the town. Learn the common letters and સુરત (Surat) or રાજકોટ (Rajkot) read themselves.

Gujarati at a glance

Gujarati is the script of Gujarat, in western India. It is a close cousin of Devanagari, but without the line along the top.

Each letter is a consonant with an ‘a’ built in; other vowels are added as small signs around it.

Every consonant comes with an ‘a’

On its own, every consonant is read with a short ‘a’ built in, like the ‘u’ in “but”: ક is ka.

The built-in ‘a’ is not written, so below it is shown in a lighter colour.

• કka
• ગga
• ચcha
• જja
• તta
• દda
• નna
• પpa
• બba
• મma
• રra
• લla
• વva
• સsa

Vowel signs

Every other vowel is a sign added to the consonant, replacing the built-in one. Even a long ‘a’ has its own sign: કા is kā (as in “father”), while ક alone is the short ka.

િ is written before the letter but read after it: કિ is ki. The line over ‘ā’, ‘ī’, ‘ū’ just marks a long vowel; English names drop it, so ક and કા both become ka.

• કાkā
• કિki
• કીkī
• કુku
• કૂkū
• કેke
• કૈkai
• કોko
• કૌkau

When the ‘a’ goes quiet

The built-in ‘a’ is dropped at the end of a word, and often in the middle too: જામનગર is Jam-na-gar.

An h means a breath

An h after a letter in the Latin spelling means a puff of breath: ખ is kh, ભ is bh. ફ is mostly read f.

• ખkha
• ઘgha
• છchha
• ઝjha
• ઠtha
• થtha
• ધdha
• ભbha
• ફfa
• હha

Same sound, different letter

Some sounds have two letters; you can read them alike. ટ and ડ are said with the tongue curled back, and ળ is a heavier l.

• શsha
• ષsha
• નna
• ણna
• ટta
• ડda
• લla
• ળla

Joined letters and the dot

When two consonants meet, the first is cut short and joined to the second. The dot on top (અં) adds n, or m before p, b or m.

• પ્રpra
• ત્રtra
• ન્દ્રndra
• શ્વshwa
• ક્ષksha
• અંan
• ગાંgan

Name parts worth knowing

Some pieces come back again and again. Spot them and half the name is read.

અમદાવાદ, read Amdavad, is Ahmedabad in English, and વડોદરા was Baroda. When you type, either one counts.

Try it

Which city is on the sign?

All the letters

Consonants

• કk
• ખkh
• ગg
• ઘgh
• ઙng
• ચch
• છchh
• જj
• ઝjh
• ઞny
• ટt
• ઠth
• ડd
• ઢdh
• ણn
• તt
• થth
• દd
• ધdh
• નn
• પp
• ફf
• બb
• ભbh
• મm
• યy
• રr
• લl
• વv
• શsh
• ષsh
• સs
• હh
• ળl

Vowels

• અa
• આa
• ઇi
• ઈi
• ઉu
• ઊu
• ઋru
• એe
• ઐai
• ઓo
• ઔau
• ઍe
• ઑo

Vowel signs, shown on ક

• કka
• કાka
• કિki
• કીki
• કુku
• કૂku
• કૃkru
• કેke
• કૈkai
• કોko
• કૌkau
• કૅke
• કૉko

Other signs

• ક્k
• કઁkan
• કંkan
• કઃkah

Clusters in these place names

• ધ્રdhra
• ત્રtra
• લ્લlla
• ન્દ્રndra
• શ્વshwa
• દ્ધddha
• વ્યvya
• દ્વdwa
• દ્યdya
• બ્રbra
• હ્મhma
• ક્કkka
• પ્રpra
• દ્રdra
• સ્મsma

Digits

• ૦0
• ૧1
• ૨2
• ૩3
• ૪4
• ૫5
• ૬6
• ૭7
• ૮8
• ૯9

A consonant with no vowel sign carries an unwritten a, which falls silent at the end of a word and often inside it. The dot on top ( ં ) is n, or m before p, b or m.

The 200 places in the quiz

The quiz has 200 towns of Gujarat: the cities and municipal towns, then smaller towns and well-known places such as Somnath and Dholavira.