Language/Hindi/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

When you've conquered this material, you may be interested in these supplementary lessons: hindi Pronunciation, Confusing Consonants स श ष क्ष & Confusing Consonants स श ष क्ष.

Hindi Alphabet

Vowels

Most vowels in Hindi have a clear equivalent in English, so that pronouncing should not pose any major problem. The Hindi vowels differ in length—as in shabd (word) and āj (today). But there is a degree of variation in the pronunciation of certain vowels, often due to regional differences.

Letter	अ	आ	इ	ई	उ	ऊ	ऋ	ए	ऐ	ओ	औ	अं	अः
Diacritic	◌	ा	ि	ी	ु	ू	ृ	ॅ	ै	ो	ौ	ं	ः
ISO	a	ā	i	ī	u	ū	ṛ	e	ai	o	au	aṃ	aḥ
IPA	ʌə	aə	iə	iːə	uə	uːə	ṛə	eə	æːə	oə	ɔːə	aŋə	əhə

Consonants

Letter	क	ख	ग	घ	ङ	च	छ	ज	झ	ञ	ट	ठ	ड	ढ	ण	त	थ	द	ध	न	प	फ	ब	भ	म	य	र	ल	व	श	ष	स	ह
ISO	ka	kha	ga	gha	ṅa	ca	cha	ja	jha	ña	ṭa	ṭha	ḍa	ḍha	ṇa	ta	tha	da	dha	na	pa	pha	ba	bha	ma	ya	ra	la	va	śa	ṣa	sa	ha
IPA	kə	kʰə	ɡə	ɡʱə	ŋə	cə, t͡ʃə	cʰə, t͡ʃʰə	ɟə, d͡ʒə	ɟʱə, d͡ʒʱə	ɲə	ʈə	ʈʰə	ɖə	ɖʱə	ɳə	t̪ə	t̪ʰə	d̪ə	d̪ʱə	nə	pə	pʰə, ɸə	bə	bʱə, βə	mə	jə	rə	lə	wə, ʋə	ɕə, ʃə	ʂə	sə	ɦə

Letter	क़	ख़	ग़	ज़	झ़	फ़	ड़	ढ़
ISO	qa	xa	ġa	za	zha	fa	ṛa	ṛha
IPA	qə	xə	ɣə	zə	ʒə	fə	ɽə	ɽʱə

Unlike the Hindi vowel system, the consonants are more complex and to master them some more information is necessary:

Retroflex consonants

There is a crucial difference between dental and retroflex consonants in Hindi. In dental consonants, the tongue touches the upper front teeth, whereas retroflex consonants are pronounced with the tongue turned back to the roof of your mouth. For example, set your mouth up to pronounce a “regular” d, but then curl your tongue right up so that the bottom part of it touches the top part of your mouth. As you try to pronounce the original d, you will feel your tongue “flapping” forward. Strictly speaking ṣ is also a retroflex, but in practice it is rarely distinguished from an English “sh”.

Aspirated consonants

Hindi also distinguishes breathed or aspirated consonants from light or non-aspirated ones. Aspirated consonants are those pronounced with an audible expulsion of breath, i.e. a discernable, heavy puff of air. The aspirated consonants are marked by an h following them (except for sh which is always pronounced as the English “sh”) and they are: bh, ch, dh, ḍh, gh, jh, kh, ph, th and ṭh. On the other hand, non-aspirated consonants are pronounced far lighter—i.e. with minimal breath—than their English equivalents. For the matter of making yourself understand it is vital to emphasize the difference between aspirated and unaspirated consonants.

Nasalization

Hindi has several nasal consonants which affect the vowel placed before them in a similar way to the “n” in French (e.g. “bon”) or the Portuguese “m” (e.g. “bem”). These nasal sounds are: ṃ, ñ and ṅ but even the consonants m, n and ṇ can cause light nasalization when positioned in front of another consonant, e.g. Mumbaī (Mumbai)

Hindi Pronunciation

Pronunciation in English

Hindi Alphabet	English Sound	Pronunciation Example
अ	a	as in apple
आ	aa	as in hat
ए	e	as in energy
ई	ii	as in Wii
ऍ	ei	as in mean
ऎ	ei	as in mean
ऐ	ai	as in mate
इ	i	as in history
ओ	o	as in home
ऑ	oi	as in moisture
ऒ	oii	as in oyster
ऊ	uu	as in noon
औ	ou	as in mouse
उ	u	as in ultimate
ब	B	as in basket
भ	Bha	as in Bob Hansen
च	Ca	as in California
छ	Chha	as in Rich Hansen
ड	Da	as in Dalila
ढ	Dha	as in Edward Hansen
फ	Fa	as in fast
फ़	Fi	as in Finland
ग	Ga	as in galaxy
घ	Gha	as in Ghana
ग़	Ghi	as in Ghistapo
ह	Ha	as in hand
ज	Ja	as in Jakarta
झ	Jha	as in Jhahan
क	Ka	as in Kashmir
ख	Kha	as in Khan
ख़	Khi	as in blac
ल	L	as in love
ळ	Li	as in link
ऌ	Li	as in military
ऴ	Lii	as in Lima
ॡ	Lii	as in Bradley
म	Ma	as in man
न	Na	as in Namibia
ङ	N'a	as in Stan Alan
ञ	Nia	as in Niagara
ण	Nae	as in Nigeria
ऩ	Ni	as in Nicaragua
ॐ	oms	as in Tom's book
प	Pa	as in Panama
क़	Qi	as in King
र	Ra	as in rank
ऋ	Ri	as in ring
ॠ	Ri	as in risk
ऱ	Ri	as in Brie
स	Sa	as in Sam
श	Sha	as in Shanghai
ष	Shha	as in wash hand
ट	Ta	as in Tamara
त	T'a	as in Matt Alan
ठ	Tha	as in Thailand
द	Tha	as in Thailand
थ	T'ha	as in Thailand
ध	Thha	as in Keith Hansen
ड़	ugDha	as in drug down
ढ़	ugDhha	as in hugged hand
व	Va	as in vast
य	Ya	as in yard
य़	Yi	as in year
ज़	Za	as in Zambia

Pronunciation, the pitfalls

As we have seen, there are different kinds of consonants in Hindi (“regular” and retroflex, aspirated and unaspirated), as well as different kinds of vowels (long and short). To the untrained ear, the difference may appear minor, but employing the wrong type of consonant or wrong length of vowel can fatally alter the meaning of a word. For example:

• ḍāl = a lentil dish; dal = group, team, (political) party.
• nāṭā = small in stature; nātā = relationship.

Pronunciation, some encouragement

Initially, pronouncing a new language might get your tongue in a proverbial twist, but practice makes perfect—so don’t be shy at speaking, even at the risk of making mistakes or gaffes. There are only a few non-Indian Hindi speakers, and the locals will be absolutely delighted to find a foreigner making the effort to learn their mother tongue. They will gladly help you improve your skills. Simply go for it!

Devanāgarī Online Virtual Keyboard

Other Lessons

• Accents
• Confusing Consonants स श ष क्ष