Hindi language

Alphabet and sound system

The Devanāgarī script represents the sounds of spoken Hindi almost exactly, so that a person who knows the Devanagari letters can sound out a written Hindi text comprehensibly, even without knowing what the words mean.

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There are 11 vowels and 35 consonants in Hindi. Their pronunciation and representation is given below:

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Vowels

Consonants

Hindi has a rich consonant system, with about 38 distinct consonant phonemes. An exact number cannot be given, since the regional varieties of Hindi differ in the details of their consonant repertoire, and it is unclear to what extent certain sounds that appear only in foreign words should be considered part of Hindi. The traditional core of the consonant system, inherited from Sanskrit, consists of a matrix of 25 occlusives (stop consonants), in which the airstream through the mouth is completely blocked, and 8 sonorants and fricatives. The system is filled out by 7 sounds that originated in Persian, and Arabic, but are now considered Hindi sounds.

Related Topics:
Consonant - Phoneme - Sanskrit - Stop consonant - Sonorant - Fricative - Arabic

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* These sounds are typically only found in loanwords.

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** This sound is written in some Sanskrit words but has merged with /?/ in Hindi.

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Occlusives

The 25 occlusives occur in five groups, with each group sharing the same position of articulation. These positions in their traditional order are: dorso-velar, apico-domal (or retroflex), dorso-palatal, apico-alveolar, and bilabial. In each position, there are five varieties of consonant, with four oral stops and one nasal stop. An oral stop may be voiced, aspirated, both, or neither. This four-way opposition is the hardest aspect of Hindi pronunciation for a speaker of English.

Related Topics:
Dorso-velar - Apico-domal - Dorso-palatal - Apico-alveolar - Bilabial - Voiced - Aspirated

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The voiced, unaspirated consonants are the easiest for English-speakers to pronounce. The initial sounds of "get", "jet", "debt", and "bet" are perfect examples of the dorso-velar, dorso-palatal, apico-alveolar, and bilabial positions, respectively. The apico-domal or retroflex position is the hardest for an English speaker: the apex of the tongue must be curled backward and brought into contact with the dome of the palate, well behind the gum-line.

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The voiceless, unaspirated consonants are similar to those in French or in English words like "skin", "spin", and "stand". Aspirated voiceless consonants are similar to those in the English words "pat", "cat", "chat", and "tap" (though they are typically more heavily aspirated than in English). The voiced, aspirated consonants are the hardest to pronounce, but can be approximated by following the unaspirated version with an audible "h" sound.

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The nn sound is retroflex, and the ny sound is the same as the Spanish "ñ" - otherwise, the nasal sounds are the same as in English. Neither nd nor ny occur at the beginning of Hindi words.

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Sonorants

The 4 resonants are y, r, l, and v. These are similar to English, except that r is a tap as in Spanish, not an approximant, and v is halfway between English "v" and "w".

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Fricatives

The native fricatives of Hindi are s, sh, and h, all three of which are pronounced as in English.

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There is a fourth fricative, written ? in Devan?gar?, which is called "ssa" or "sha2". It was originally pronounced as /{{IPA|?}}/ in Sanskrit, but it has merged with the sh sound in modern Hindi.

Related Topics:
Devan?gar? - Sanskrit

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Borrowed Sounds

The khutma or Nukta (dot placed below the consonants) indicates Urdu (from Arabic, and Persian) and English sounds that are not present in Sanskrit.

Related Topics:
Urdu - Arabic - Persian - English

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The sounds f, z, rd, and rdh are found only in loanwords. The first two are as in English. The latter two are retroflex taps, and never begin a word. The additional sounds /{{IPA|q}}/, /{{IPA|?}}/, and /{{IPA|?}}/ may be found in some loanwords. Some of the borrowed sounds are difficult for Hindi speakers to pronounce and many Hindi speakers will simply ignore the dot and pronounce the word as if it wasn't there.

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Diacritics

• The anuswara (dot placed above a vowel) may represent one of these consonants: rda, nda, na, ma. These are pronounced after the vowel. This style is deprecated.
• The visarga (:) placed after a vowel represents ha.
• The anuswara (.) and visarga (:) are often included in list of vowel letters, but according to the standardized form of Hindi, they are consonants.
• A chandra-bindu sign is placed above a vowel to indicate nasalized vowel (anunasika).
• An ardha chandra-bindu placed above the vowel aa indicates 'o' sound of English (as in "office", "college"). Some people also use this sign, placed above a, to indicate 'e' (as in "bet") sound of English.