Help:IPA for Hindi and Urdu

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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Hindi and Urdu pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.

See Hindustani phonology for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Hindi-Urdu. See Devanagari and Urdu alphabet for help converting Hindi and Urdu spelling to pronunciation.

Consonants
IPA Hindi Urdu Approximate English equivalent
b ب abash
bʱ بھ abhor
[1] د the
ʱ[1] دھ without
ɖ[1] ڈ guard
ɖʱ[1] ڈھ guardhouse
ج hedge
ʱ جھ hedgehog
f फ़ ف Phantom
ɡ گ agate
ɡʱ گھ pigheaded
h ح، ه head
ɦ ahead
j ی yak
k ک scan
kʰ کھ can
l ل leaf
m م much
n ن not
ɳ ن burner
ŋ ن bank
p پ span
pʰ پھ naphtha
(in this case, ph is not pronounced as 'f')
q क़ ق a k in the throat
(Urdu; often [k] in Hindi)
r ر trilled r
ɽ ड़ ڑ US: larder
ɽʱ ढ़ ڑھ as [ɽ] plus h; approximated by the US: warhead
s ث، س، ص sue
ʂ ش/س worship
ʃ ش shoe
[1] ت، ط think
ʰ[1] تھ thought
ʈ[1] ٹ art
ʈʰ[1] ٹھ artist
چ catch
ʰ چھ choose
ʋ[2] و varies between w and v
x ख़ خ Bach
(Urdu; often [kʰ] in Hindi)
ɣ ग़ غ similar to a French r
(Urdu; often [ɡ] in Hindi).
z ज़ ذ، ز، ض، ظ zen
ʒ झ़ ژ pleasure, azure
Vowels
IPA Hindi Urdu Approximate English equivalent
आ, पा آ, بَا la
ɛː ऐ, पै اَے، بَے bed
ए, पे اے، بے Yale
ə[3] अ, प اَ، بَ strut
ɪ[4] इ, पि اِ، بِ dill
[4] ई, पी اِی، بِی feed
ɔː औ, पौ اَو، بَو pod
ओ, पो او، بو old
ʊ[4] उ, पु اُ، بُ look
[4] ऊ, पू اُو، بُو mood
 ̃ ـں nasal vowel
([ãː, õː], etc.)
n, ɳ, ŋ, m,  ̃
Suprasegmentals
IPA
ˈ stress
(placed before stressed syllable)
ː doubled consonant

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 To an English ear, [t̪ t̪ʰ ʈ ʈʰ] all sound like /t/, and [d̪ d̪ʱ ɖ ɖʱ] all sound like /d/. However, to a Hindi-Urdu speaker's ear these are very different sounds. [t̪ d̪] are like Spanish or French [t d], with the tongue touching the teeth, and [t̪ʰ d̪] are how a Hindi-Urdu speaker hears English [θ ð] (the th sounds). Hindi-Urdu [ʈ ɖ] are pronounced with the tongue further back, touching behind the teeth, and [ʈʰ ɖ] are how a Hindi-Urdu speaker hears English t d; [ʈ] is how they hear English t after s.
  2. [v], [w] and intermediate [ʋ] are allophonic in Hindi-Urdu. Some words, such as vrat ('व्रत', fast), are pronounced with [v] and others, such as pakwan ('पकवान', food dish), are pronounced with [w].
  3. /ɛ/ occurs as a conditioned allophone of /ə/ in proximity of an /h/, if /h/ is surrounded on both sides by schwas. Mostly, the second schwa undergoes syncopation and the resultant is just an /ɛ/ preceding an /h/.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 /iː, ɪ/ and /uː, ʊ/ are neutralized to [i, u] at the end of a word.