Devanagari Flashcards
Learn the Hindi writing system
अ
a
as in ‘alive’
आ
ā, aa
as in ‘palm’
इ
i
as in ‘hit’
same as ii except it doesn’t have the line hanging out. ii has the hanging part because it’s longer
ई
Ī, ii
as in ‘heat’
similar to how i has a dot on the top, ii has a line coming out the top
उ
u
as in ‘foot’
ऊ
ū, uu
as in ‘fool’
ऋ
ṛ, ri
as ‘ri’ in ‘critic’; in Sanskrit loanwords only
ए
e, ẹ
a in French é; a pure vowel sound, not a diphthong as in English
ऐ
ai
as in ‘hen’
ओ
o
as in the first part of ‘o’ in ‘hotel’; a pure vowel sound, not a diph
औ
au
as in ‘off’
क
ka
as in ‘skit’, with minimal release of breath
ख
kha
aspirated form of ka: as in ‘kit’, but more aspirated
ग
ga
as in ‘gift’
घ
gha
aspirated form of ga: as in ‘dog-house’
च
ca
as in ‘cheese’, but with less release of breath
छ
cha
aspirated form of ca: as in ‘pitch-hook’
like two c’s stacked on top of each other. looks like e, like “see” (c). the little circle is like an aspiration mark
ज
ja
as in ‘jeer’
झ
jha
aspirated form of ja: as in ‘large house’
ट
ṭa
as in ‘train’, but harder
ठ
ṭha
aspirated form of ta; as in ‘at home’
looks like a t (with a very long top) with the (retroflex) circle on the bottom
ड
ḍa
as in ‘drum’, but harder
ढ
ḍha
aspirated form of da
ण
ṇa
the retroflex nasal; a hard ‘n’ sound
त
ta
as in ‘at’ within the phrase ‘at the’
थ
tha
aspirated form of ta
द
da
as in ‘breadth’
ध
dha
aspirated form of da
न
na
the dental nasal: as in ‘anthem’
प
pa
as in ‘spin’, with minimal release of breath
फ
pha
like ‘p’ in ‘pin’, but more aspirated, as in ‘top hat’
ब
ba
as in ‘bin’
भ
bha
aspirated form of ba: as in ‘club-house’
looks similar to p
म
ma
as in ‘mother’
य
ya
as in ‘yet’, but less tense
र
ra
as in ‘roll’
ल
la
a dental ‘l’; softer than the first ‘l’ in ‘label’
it’s like a lowercase l followed by a funky uppercase L
व
va
between English ‘v’ and ‘w’ (see textbook)
श
śa
as ‘sh’ in ‘ship’
ष
ṣa
a retroflex ‘sh’; usually not distinguished from śa in pronunciation
स
sa
as in ‘sip’
ह
ha
always fully voiced, as in ‘ahead’ (see textbook)
ख़
kha
as in ‘ch’ in Scottich ‘loch’, or German ‘Bach’
ग़
ga
a ‘g’ sound produced further back than ग (ga)
ज़
za
as in ‘zip’
ड़
ṛa
flapped hard ‘r’ - tongue makes ḍa sound as it moves past the palate
ढ़
ṛha
flapped equivalent of ḍha
क़
qa
a ‘k’ sound produced further back than ka
का
kā
कि
ki
की
kī
कु
ku
कू
kū
के
ke
कै
kai
को
ko
कौ
kau
