% declaring a bunch of groups for ease of processing in rules
::vowel:: = a|aː|e|eː|i|iː|u|uː|o|oː|ru|ruː|ai|au|aṃ|aḥ
::consonant:: = k|kʰ|g|ɡʱ|ŋ|tʃ|tʃʰ|dʒ|dʒʱ|ɲ|ʈ|ʈʰ|ɖ|ɖʱ|ɳ|t̪|t̪ʰ|d̪|d̪ʱ|n|p|pʰ|b|bʱ|m|j|r|r|l|ɭ|ʋ|h|ʃ|ʂ|s|ɻ
::velarconsonant:: = k|kʰ|g|ɡʱ|ŋ
::palatalconsonant:: = tʃ|tʃʰ|dʒ|dʒʱ|ɲ
::retroflexconsonant:: = ʈ|ʈʰ|ɖ|ɖʱ|ɳ|ɭ
::dentalconsonant:: = t̪|t̪ʰ|d̪|d̪ʱ|n
::labialconsonant:: = p|pʰ|b|bʱ|m
::ardhaksharachihne:: = ್

% rule where a voiceless retroflex sibilant ʂ changes to ʃ when in a consonant cluster with a retroflex consonant
% example: "ಜ್ಯೇಷ್ಠ" meaning "June" reads as "dʒjeːʂʈʰa" but is pronounced "dʒjeːʃʈʰa"
ʂ -> ʃ / (::retroflexconsonant::)(::ardhaksharachihne::)_
ʂ -> ʃ / _(::ardhaksharachihne::)(::retroflexconsonant::)

% rule for two consonants next to each other adds an a between them
0 -> a / (::consonant::) _ (::consonant::)

% rule that adds an a if a consonant ends a word, all words in modern Kannada end with a vowel
0 -> a / (::consonant::)_\b

% dealing with anusvaras, the anusvaras pronounciation becomes nasal based on the consonant that follows
% example: "ಅಂತೆ" meaning "as," reads as "aṃt̪e" but is pronouned "ant̪e"
aṃ -> ŋ / _(::velarconsonant::)
aṃ -> ɲ / _(::palatalconsonant::)
aṃ -> ɳ / _(::retroflexconsonant::)
aṃ -> n / _(::dentalconsonant::)
aṃ -> m / _(::labialconsonant::)

% rule to deal with the ardhakshara chihne (half-letter) mark called virama or halanta, this mark gets removed
(::ardhaksharachihne::) -> 0 / _