Pronunciation Key

Syllables are separated by hyphens in pronunciations.

Syllables spoken with the most stress are shown in CAPITAL letters
Words of one syllable are shown with no stress.
Only one pronunciation is enerally i!en. When more pronunciation are e"ually
common# preferred one is i!en first
While i!in pronunciation keys we ha!e preferred to stick with the closest
$nlish letter or their combination which will produce the %&indi% sounds.
&owe!er# not all &indi alphabets can ha!e e"ui!alent $nlish alphabet or
combination of alphabets. In such cases# the only way to learn these sounds is
listen to the pronunciations by &indi speaker.
'or the $nlish words which are used in &indi# the pronunciation is not i!en. 'or
e(ample# where!er doctor is used in &indi# it is written as %doctor% and no
pronunciation is i!en.
The &indi alphabets which are red in color ha!e uni"ue pronunciation in &indi
and can not easily described usin combination of $nlish alphabets.
The only &indi word that does not use the &indimitra Pronunciation )ey
symantics is the word * %&indi%. +ou will always see this word !isible on our site
as &indi and not as &i*,*d!ee
-owels
Sound Comment
a as sound of %a% in ahead# metal .short %a% /
aa as sound of %a% in arm# cart# bar or as sound of %i% in ice#
bite# fire .lon %a%/
i as sound of %i% in it# pencil# credible .short %i% /
ee as sound of %i% in if# i!e# mirror .lon %i% / or as sound of
%ee% in feet or esteem
u as sound of %u% in put# push# pull
oo as sound of %o% in soon# spoon# fool .lon %u% / or as sound
of %u% in rule
e as sound of %e% in e# bed# merry or as sound of %a% in ae#
aim# came
ai as sound of %a% in crane
o as sound of %o% in o# low
au similar to the sound of %ow% in owl 0if it pronounced as
sinle syllable1
.n or .m or *,*
or *2*
as sound of %um% in number# sound of %um% as in 3ump or
umbrella
.ah sound of %h% with hard stop
.a sound of %a% as in cat
.o sound of %awe% as in awe
.a.n nasali4ed sound of %a% as in cat
.o.n nasali4ed sound of %awe% as in awe
(r distinct sound similar to utteral sound of %r% as in riddle
Consonants
Sound Comment
k as sound of %k% in karate or sound of %c% in cut
kh as sound of %kh% in khaki
as sound of %% in um
h as sound of %h% in host
(n similar to the sound of %n% in brin# thin. 5arely used in $nlish
ch as sound of %ch% in chuck6use of middle palate
chh similar to the %ch% in chuck # but with the release of breath# or aspiration.
3 as sound of %3% in 3u
3( !ariation of sound of %3% in 3u6 use of front palate
4 as sound of %4% in la4y
4h !ariation of sound of %4% in la4y6 use of middle palate
yn distinct sound of %y% and %n% pronounced toether
t as sound of %t% in tune# hit
tdh sound of %dh% usin back palate and mo!in toun down instantantly blowin
air out
d as sound of %d% in done
dh! sound of %dh% usin back palate as sound of %dh% in %adhere%
tn sound of %n% usin middle palate.
t! soft sound of %t% # dental sound of %t% as sound of %t% in Spanish word %tamale%
th as sound of %th% in thumb# thick
d! as sound of %th% in mother# there
dh as sound of %th% this
n as sound of %n% in nun# none
p as sound of %p% in pun
f as sound of %f% in firm
b as sound of %b% in bum
bh as sound of %b% usin lips and sayin %b% and %h% toether as in %bha3i%
m as sound of %m% in mother
y as sound of %ye% in yes
r as sound of %ru% in run
l as sound of %lo% in lo!e
w as sound of %wo% in work
sh as sound of %sh% in shun .middle palate/
hsh close to the sound of %ssion% in mission .back palate/
s as sound of %so% in some
h as sound of %hu% in hut
ksh as sound of letters %ksh% pronunced toether
dn distinct sound similar to %ya%
t!r as sound of %tr% in 5ussian word peristroika Or close to the sound of %tr% in tree
if used front palate.
-ariations of Consonants
Some borrowed words 0from Persian and 7rdu lanuae1 ha!e sounds not a!ailable in
&indi# for such words nukta 0dot under the consonant1 is used for consonants k# kh# # yn#
f etc. 2any newspapers# writers consider usin nukta optional. 'or some words like
doctor# borrowed from $nlish# .o is used to add .o sound to consonant.
Sound Comment
k.( sound of uttural %k%# similar to sound of %"%
kh.( sound of uttural %kh%# similar to sound of %kh% in khan
.( sound of uttural %%
3.( !ariation of sound 3
4.( !ariation of sound 4
(n.(

!ariation of %(n% %% # difficult to produce in $nlish

dh!.( !ariation of %dh!% %% # difficult to produce in $nlish as in see*dh!.(ee
0ladder1
f.( !ariation of %f%# similar to sound of %f% in fast