Hindi (हिन्दी) is a language spoken in most states in northern and central India.

It is an Indo-
European language, of the Indo-aryan subfamily. It evolved from the Middle Indo-Aryan prakrit
languages of the middle ages, and indirectly, from Sanskrit. Hindi derives a lot of its higher
vocabulary from Sanskrit. Due to Muslim influence in Northern India, there are also a large number
of Persian, Arabic and Turkish loanwords.

Hindi became the official language[1] (http://indiaimage.nic.in/languages.htm) of India on January 26, 1965, although
English and 21 other languages are recognised as official languages

Hindi is the second most spoken language in the world, after Chinese. About 500 million people
speak Hindi, in India and abroad, and the total number of people who can understand the language
may be 800 million.

Common difficulties faced in learning Hindi

 the phonetic mechanism of some sounds peculiar to Hindi (eg. rda, dha etc)

The distinction between aspirated and unaspirated consonants will be difficult for
English speakers. In addition, the distinction between dental and alveoloar (or
retroflex) consonants will also pose problems. English speakers will find that they
need to carefully distinguish between four different d-sounds and four different t-
sounds.

 even pronunciation of vowels. In English, unstressed vowels tend to have a "schwa" quality.
The pronunciation of such vowels in English is changed to an "uh" sound. This is called
reducing a vowel sound. The second syllable of "unify" is pronounced "uh" not "ee." The
same for the unstressed second syllabe of "person" which is also pronounced "uh" rather
than "oh." In Hindi, English-speakers must constantly be careful not to reduce these vowels.
Probably the most important mistake here is for English speakers to reduce final "ah" sounds
to "uh." This can be especially important because an English pronounciation will lead to
misunderstandings about grammar and gender. In Hindi, "vo bolta hai "is "he talks" whereas
"vo bolti hai" is "she talks." A typical English pronunciation in the first sentence would be "vo
boltuh hai," which will be understood as "she talks" by most Hindi-native speakers.
 the Verbal concordance
 Post-prositions (ne)
 Relative-correlative constructions. In English interrogative and relative pronouns are the
same word. In "Who are you?" the word "who" is an interrogative, or question, pronoun. In
"My friend who lives in Chicago can speak Hindi," the word "who" is not an interrogative, or
question, pronoun. It is a relative, or linking, pronoun. We find this pattern with other
words: where, when, why, etc. are used both to ask questions and to link words. In Hindi,
there are different words for each. The interrogative pronoun tends to start with the "k"
sound:" kab = when?, kahaaM = where?, kitna = how much? The relative pronouns are
usually very similar but start with "j" sounds: jab = when, jahaaM = where, jitna = how much.
Hindi uses these j-sound pronouns where Engish uses relative pronouns and clauses. In
English we say, "I study where she studies" but in Hindi we say this differently. "jahaaM she
studies vahaaM I study." Here "jahaaM" means "where" and "vahaaM" means there.
 Honorifics. For many English speakers, the fact that Hindi uses a three-part system of
honorifics in the second person pronoun ("you") is deeply mystifying. It shouldn't be. The
 more formal pronouns are used in situations in which it's proper to express a degree of
social respect. The less formal pronouns depart from this and indicate, on the one hand,
intimacy, or on the other, an absence of social respect. The most formal is "aap" and is the
safest for foreigners to use in all situations. It is used in situations that range from deeply
respectful to the merely businesslike. When first meeting adults, whether at the bank, hotel
or a restaurant, we should use "aap." The more intimate "tum" would be acceptable in
talking with children or with adults with whom one is on more intimate terms. The safest
thing with adults is wait and see what pronoun they use with you. They will almost certainly
start off with "aap," but might, over time, start to use "tum" if your relationship becomes
more like that of close friends. If your Hindi is too weak to determine whether they are using
"aap" or "tum," then by all means, you should use "aap." Many grammars say that foreigners
will rarely have the chance to use "tum" with Indian colleagues, but that is true only if one
behaves like a "memsahib" or "sahib." The most intimate pronoun for you is "tu." This is only
used in situations where there is a total absence of human formality: it is used in addressing
animals or God, for example. With humans, it should probably be avoided, even for children.
With another adult, the use of "tu" may express the intimacy of lovers (but even here "tum"
is safer) or extraordinary anger. What's the connection? All of these situations involve the
lack of social respect. Peasants around Delhi will often simply use a two-part system of
honorifics: tu-tum. Foreigners should not imitate this.
 Direct and Oblique inflections
 Optative and Conditional moods
 Compound verbs

The Devanagari 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.

 There are 11 vowels and 35 consonants in Hindi.

 Vowels
X- English
Devanagari IPA Notes
SAMPA example

Open-mid back unrounded vowel. This vowel is inherent in

अ ʌ [V] bud
each consonant letter.

आ ɑː [A(:)] bra Open back unrounded vowel

इ ɪ [I ] bid Near-close near-front unrounded vowel

ई iː [i(:)] bead Close front unrounded vowel

उ ʊː [U] good Near-close near-back rounded vowel

ऊ uː [u(:)] booed Close back rounded vowel

 The consonant r occurring with the vowel i. Its inclusion
ऋ r r[I] ri
among vowels is inherited from Sanskrit

ए e [e(I)] bayed Close-mid front unrounded vowel

Open front unrounded vowel (sometimes as in the dipthong

ऐ a [a ] bad
(a + i))

ओ o [o(U)] bode Close-mid back rounded vowel

Open back rounded vowel (sometimes as in the dipthong (a

औ ɒ [Q] bod
+ u))
 Consonants

Hindi has a rich consonant system, with about 38 distinct consonants. (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 an almost
mathematical matrix of 25 occlusives, in which the airstream through the mouth is
completely blocked, and 8 sonorants and fricatives. The system is filled out by 6
sounds that originated in Persian and Arabic, but are now considered Hindi sounds.

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.

The voiced, unaspirated stops are mostly easy for English speakers. 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.

The 4 resonants are y, r, l, and v. These are all like English, except that r is a tap as
in Spanish, not an approximant.

ka, kha, ga, gha, rdaa cha, chha, ja, jha, nya ta, tha da, dha, nda ta, tha da, dha, na
pa, pha, ba, bha, ma ya, ra, la, va sha, sha2, sa, ha rda, rdha

Notes:

1. the consonant sha2 occurs only in words borrowed from Sanskrit.

2. the consonants rdaa, rda, rdha, nda and nya never occur in the beginning of a word.
3. 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. eg. <todo>
4. the visarga (:) placed after a vowel represents ha.
5. anuswara (.)and visarga (:) are often influded in list of vowel letters, but according to
standardized form of Hindi, they are consonants.
6. the khutma (dot placed below the consonants) indicate Urdu (from Arabic, and Persian) and
English sounds that are not present in Sanskrit. eg. qa, kh (as in Khushbu(fragrance)), gh (as
in Ghulam(slave)), z, f, etc.
7. a chandra-bindu sign placed above a vowel to indicate nasalized vowel (anunasika).
8. 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.
Hindi retroflex consonants, on the other hand, are not really found in English. They
should be pronounced with the tongue tip curled back. Practice with a native
speaker, or just pronounce as usual — you'll usually still get the message across.

Devanagari Transliteration Equivalent/Comments

क k as in skip.

ख kh as in sinkhole.

ग g as in go.

घ gh as in doghouse.
as in sing. Used only in Sanskrit loan words, does not
ङ ṅ
occur independently.
च c as in church.

छ ch as in pinchhit.

ज j as in jump.

झ jh as in dodge her.
as in canyon. Used only in Sanskrit loan words, does
ञ ñ
not occur independently.
as in tick. Retroflex, but still a "hard" t sound similar
ट ṭ
to English.
ठ ṭ as in lighthouse. Retroflex

ड ḍ as in doom. Retroflex

ढ ḍ as in mudhut. Retroflex

ण ṇ retroflex n. Used only in Sanskrit loan words.

does not exist in English. more dental t, with a bit of
त t
a th sound. Softer than an English t.
aspirated version of the previous letter, not as in
थ th
thanks or the.
द d dental d.

ध dh aspirated version of the above.

न n dental n.

प p as in spin.

फ ph as in u'ph'ill.

ब b as in be.
भ bh as in abhor.

म m as in mere.

य y as in yet.
as in Spanish pero, a tongue trip. Don't roll as in
र r
Spanish rr, German or Scottish English.
ल l as in lean.
as in Spanish vaca, between English v and w, but
व v
without the lip rounding of an English w. (IPA: ʋ).
श ś as in shoot.
almost indistinguishable retroflex of the above.
ष ṣ slightly more aspirated. Used only in Sanskrit loan
words.
स s as in see.

ह h as in him.