 The proper Sanskrit pronunciation of the word is ṛta, the ṛ being a vocalic r, like that in pert or dirt, when pronounced with a rhotic r, e.g.as in American, followed by a short a.The most common pronunciation of speakers of modern Indian languages is “rita”, with short i and short a, due to the loss of the vocalic r by the successor languages to Sanskrit, the prakrits and modern Indic languages.