Hindi Pronunciation

Below are several charts providing some close English approximations to sounds found in Hindi. Keep in mind that these examples are not a perfect match for correctly pronouncing Hindi. For example, most American English pronunciations of the consonants t and d are actually somewhere between the Hindi त / ट and द / ड.  Similarly, the Hindi व is somewhere between the English w and v⏤the lips are not quite as rounded as in the English w and the teeth do not contact the lips as much as in the English v. Also, aspirated sounds require more projected air than the examples below would typically require in English. Click on the individual Devanagari letters to hear the correct pronunciation of that letter. Some aspects of the pronunciation guides below are adapted from Rupert Snell’s Teach Yourself Hindi (2003) and Teach Yourself Beginner’s Hindi (2003).

अआइईउऊऋ
a
“a” in abrupt		ā
the second “a” in avocado		i
“i” in stick		ī
“ee” in tree		u
“oo” in foot		ū
“oe” in shoe		r̥ / ṛ
“ri” in trick
एऐओऔअंअः
e
like the French é
e.g., étude		ai
“e” in hey, but without
leaning into the “y” sound 		o
“o” in note		au
“o” in off		ã
a nasalized vowel
exact pronunciation is context-dependent*		aḥ
an extra puff of air following a vowel
*see the “Nasalization” section of The Hindi Script
कखगघङ
ka 
“k” in kit;
use minimal breath		kha
aspirated form of क ka		ga
“g” in gold		gha
aspirated form of ग ga;
like “g-h” in big-house		ṅa
“n” in king*
चछजझञ
ca
“ch” in cheese;
use minimal breath		cha
aspirated form of च ca;
“ch” in watch out		ja
“j” in jingle		jha
aspirated form of ज ja;
like “ge h” in large house		ña
“n” in change*
टठडढण
ṭa
like “t” in tarp but harder		ṭha
aspirated form of ठ ṭa;
like “t-h” in shirt-hanger		ḍa
“d” in disk but harder		ḍha
aspirated form of ड ḍa;
like “dh” in roundhouse		ṇa
a hard “n”, retroflex nasal sound
तथदधन
ta
like “t” in the phrase “at the”		tha
aspirated form of त ta		da
like “d” in breadth		dha
aspirated form of द da		na
“n” in anthem
पफबभम
pa
“p” in space; use minimal breath		pha
aspirated form of प pa;
like “p-h” in hip-hop		ba
“b” in bat		bha
aspirated form of ब ba;
like “bh” in subheading		ma
“m” in make

*The characters ङ ṅa and ञ ña are rarely seen in Hindi. The sounds the represent are more typically represented by the dot (bindu) when they appear as the first part of a conjunct. For example:

  • The word for “color” can be written as either रंग or रङ्ग (both transliterated as raṅg) with the former being far more common.
  • “Punjab” can be written as either पंजाब or पञ्जाब (both transliterated as pañjāb) with the former being far more common.
यरलव
ya
“y” in young		ra
“r” in sheetrock		la
“l” in love		va
between the English “v” and “w”
शषसह
śa
“sh” in ship		ṣa
a retroflex sibilant pronounced similarly to श śa;
appears only in Sanskrit loanwords		sa
“s” in self		ha
“h” in how
क्षज्ञ
kṣa
“ksh” in worksheet		jña
Often pronounced as “gya”, especially in North India
क़ख़
qa
like undotted क ka but pronounced further back in the throat		kha
like “ch” in the Scottish loch
ग़ज़
ga
like undotted ग ga but pronounced further back in the throat		za
“z” in wizard
ड़ढ़
ṛa
pronounced with the tongue positioned like ड ḍa, but the tongue is “flapped” as with the letter र ra		ṛha
aspirated form of ड़ ṛa
फ़
fa
“f” in fire