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L'interface est traduite, mais les explications de cette page sont encore rédigées en anglais — le texte pédagogique n'a pas encore été traduit.

Accueil / Langues / Hindi / Sons

Hindi : orthographe → son

Hindi asks the ear for a distinction English does not make, and makes it twice. Every stop comes in four versions: plain, aspirated, voiced, and BREATHY-voiced — क ख ग घ, ka kha ga gha. And it runs that four-way set across two places English merges into one: dental त (tongue on the teeth) and retroflex ट (tongue curled back to the roof). Sixteen consonants where English has four. Breathy voice is not aspiration: the folds stay slack and keep vibrating through the puff, which is why भ is not just a loud ब. The tracer here reads the ROMANISATION, not the Devanagari — but Devanagari is worth learning early, because unlike English it spells exactly what it means.

Suivre un mot

Chaque case est une règle qui se déclenche. Survolez une case (ou ouvrez le tableau) pour voir pourquoi. Les règles s'appliquent dans l'ordre, la première qui correspond gagne — et cet ordre est le système orthographique. Type the romanisation (namaste, paani) — the tracer reads that, not the Devanagari.

→
p
p
aa
aː
n
n
ii
iː
Why each segment sounds like that
LettresSonRule
pp ↗default mapping
aaaː ↗default mapping
nn ↗default mapping
iiiː ↗default mapping

Consonnes et semi-voyelles

IPASpelledExample
kk, क kaam kaːm
work
kʰkh, ख khaanaa kʰaːnaː
food — A puff of air. kaam 'work' vs khaam 'raw'.
ɡg, ग garam ɡəɾəm
hot
ɡʱgh, घ ghar ɡʱəɾ
house — Breathy, not aspirated — voicing carries on through the breath.
tt, त tum tum
you — DENTAL: tongue flat against the back of the teeth, softer than English t.
tʰth, थ thoṛaa tʰoːɽaː
a little — Never the English th sound. Dental t plus a puff.
dd, द din din
day
dʱdh, ध dhuup dʱuːp
sunshine
ʈṭ, ट ṭamaaṭar ʈəmaːʈəɾ
tomato — RETROFLEX: tongue curled back. This is the one English speakers substitute for both — English t sits between the two and sounds foreign either way.
ʈʰṭh, ठ ṭhanḍaa ʈʰəɳɖaː
cold
ɖḍ, ड ḍar ɖəɾ
fear
ɖʱḍh, ढ ḍhol ɖʱoːl
drum
ɽṛ, ड़ peṛ peːɽ
tree — The tongue flicks forward off the roof of the mouth. A single quick beat.
pp, प paanii paːniː
water
pʰph, फ phal pʰəl
fruit — Often said as /f/ nowadays, especially in loanwords.
bb, ब bacchaa bət͡ʃːaː
child
bʱbh, भ bhaaii bʱaːiː
brother
t͡ʃc, ch, च caay t͡ʃaːj
tea — The word the whole world borrowed — chai, çay, chá.
t͡ʃʰchh, छ chhoṭaa t͡ʃʰoːʈaː
small
d͡ʒj, ज jaanaa d͡ʒaːnaː
to go
d͡ʒʱjh, झ jhuuṭh d͡ʒʱuːʈʰ
a lie
mm, म maa maː
mother
nn, न naam naːm
name
ɳṇ, ण gaṇesh ɡəɳeːʃ
Ganesh — Retroflex n.
ss, स saal saːl
year
ʃsh, श shaam ʃaːm
evening
ɦh, ह haath ɦaːtʰ
hand — VOICED, unlike English h — the folds vibrate.
ll, ल laal laːl
red
ɾr, र raat ɾaːt
night — A tap, as in Spanish pero.
ʋv, w, व vah ʋəɦ
he, she, that — Between English v and w and genuinely neither — which is why Hindi speakers of English swap the two.
jy, य yah jəɦ
this

Voyelles

IPASpelledExample
əa, अ kal kəl
yesterday/tomorrow — The default vowel, built into every consonant letter unless something removes it.
aːaa, आ, ा aam aːm
mango
ɪi, इ din dɪn
day
iːii, ई diip diːp
lamp
ʊu, उ kuchh kʊt͡ʃʰ
something
uːuu, ऊ duudh duːdʱ
milk
eːe, ए ek eːk
one
ɛːai, ऐ hai ɦɛː
is — Not a diphthong in standard Hindi — one open vowel.
oːo, ओ do doː
two
ɔːau, औ aur ɔːɾ
and

Les règles, dans l'ordre

38 règles. La colonne de gauche est un motif (expression régulière) testé à la position courante dans le mot ; (?=…) regarde devant, (?<=…) regarde derrière, $ est la fin du mot.

#PatternSoundWhy
1ṭhʈʰretroflex t plus aspiration
2ḍhɖʱretroflex d, breathy
3ṭʈthe dot means retroflex: tongue curled back
4ḍɖ
5ṇɳ
6ṛɽretroflex flap
7chht͡ʃʰ
8khkʰ
9ghɡʱbreathy voice — not a separate h
10thtʰdental t plus a puff. Never the English th.
11dhdʱ
12phpʰ
13bhbʱ
14jhd͡ʒʱ
15shʃ
16cht͡ʃ
17ct͡ʃc alone is the ch sound
18jd͡ʒ
19aaaː
20iiiː
21uuuː
22aiɛːone open vowel, not a glide
23auɔː
24āaː
25īiː
26ūuː
27eeː
28ooː
29aəshort a is the neutral vowel
30iɪ
31uʊ
32hɦvoiced h — the folds keep vibrating
33vʋ
34wʋ
35rɾ
36yj
37ñɲ
38[ptkbdɡmnsl]same letter