Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Hindi and Urdu on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Hindi and Urdu in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or its value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.

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This page contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Hindi and Urdu pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-hns}}, {{IPA-hi}}, {{IPA-ur}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Hindustani phonology, Devanagari, and Urdu alphabet for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Hindi-Urdu.

Consonants
IPA	Examples			English Approximation
IPA	Hindi	Urdu	ISO 15919	English Approximation
b	बीस	بیس	bīs	butter
bʱ	भालू	بھالو	bhālū	abhor
d	दाल	دال	dāl	duck^[1]
dʱ	धूप	دھوپ	dhūp	wide hearted
dʒ	जान	جان	jān	jug
dʒʱ	झड़ना	جھڑنا	jhaṛnā	hedgehog
ɖ	डालना	ڈالنا	ḍālnā	garden^[1] (Rhotic dialects)
ɖʱ	ढक्कन	ڈھکّن	ḍhakkan	hard headed (Rhotic dialects)
f	ख़िलाफ़	خلاف	k͟hilāf	fuss
ɡ	गोल	گول	gōl	gut
ɡʱ	घर	گھر	ghar	big headed
ɣ^[2]	बाग़	باغ	bāġ	similar to a French r
ɦ	हम	ہم	ham	ahead
j	याद	یاد	yād	yuck
k	कमज़ोर	کمزور	kamzōr	scab
kʰ	खाल	کھال	khāl	cab
l	लब	لب	lab	leaf
m	मगर	مگر	magar	much
n	नहीं	نہیں	nahī̃	not
ɳ^[3]	चरण	چرݨ	caraṇ	burn
ŋ	रङ्ग	رن٘گ	raṅg	bang
p	पल	پل	pal	spot
pʰ	फल	پھل	phal	pot
q^[2]	क़रीब	قریب	qarīb	somewhat like caught
r	रस	رس	ras	Trilled R^[4]
r	ज़र्रा	ذرّہ	zarra	Trilled R^[4]
ɾ	ज़रा	ذرا	zarā	American butter^[4]
ɽ	लड़ना	لڑنا	laṛnā	garter (Rhotic dialects)
ɽʱ	पढ़ाई	پڑھائی	paṛhāī	no English equivalent
s	सब	سب	sab	sun
ʂ^[3]	नष्ट	نشؕٹ	naṣṭ	shrew
ʃ	काश	کاش	kāś	shoe
t	तालाब	تالاب	tālāb	stub^[1]
tʰ	थैला	تھیلا	thailā	tub^[1]
tʃ	चोर	چور	cōr	catch
tʃʰ	छोड़ना	چھوڑنا	chōṛnā	choose
ʈ	टमाटर	ٹماٹر	ṭamāṭar	carts^[1]
ʈʰ	ठंड	ٹھنڈ	ṭhanḍ	trip^[1]
ʋ	वर्ज़िश	ورزش	varziś	vat^[5]
w	पकवान	پكوان	pakvān	well^[5]
x^[2]	ख़राब	خراب	k͟harāb	Scottish Loch
z	काग़ज़	کاغذ	kāġaz	zoo
ʒ	अझ़दहा	اژدہا	aždahā	pleasure

Vowels
IPA	Examples			English Approximation
IPA	Hindi	Urdu	ISO 15919	English Approximation
aː	काम	کام	kām	father
eː	जेब	جیب	jēb	say
ɛ	रहना	رہنا	rêhnā	pen^[6]
ɛː	कैसा	کیسا	kaisā	fairy
ə	कल	کَل	kal	about
ɪ	जितना	جِتنا	jitnā	sit
iː	जीतना	جیتنا	jītnā	seat
oː	बोलो	بولو	bōlō	border
ɔː	कौन	کَون	kaun	horse
ʊ	उन	اُن	un	book
uː	ऊन	اُون	ūn	moon
◌̃	हँस	ہن٘س	ham̐s	nasal vowel faun ([ãː, õː], etc.)
◌̃	मैं	مَیں	maiṁ	nasal vowel faun ([ãː, õː], etc.)

Suprasegmentals
IPA	Example	Notes
ˈ◌	[ˈbaːɦər]	stress (placed before stressed syllable)
◌ː	[ˈʊtːəɾ pɾəˈdeːʃ]	doubled consonant (placed after doubled consonant)

NotesEdit

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hindi and Urdu contrast dental [t] and [d] with apical postalveolar [ʈ] and [ɖ] (as well as aspirated variants). Both sets sound like /t/ and /d/ to most English speakers.
^ ^a ^b ^c Mainly phonemes of Urdu. Some Hindi speakers may replace [ɣ], [q] and [x] with [gʱ], [k] and [kʰ] respectively.
^ ^a ^b Mainly phonemes of Hindi. Urdu speakers usually replace [ɳ] and [ʂ] with [n] and [ʃ] respectively.
^ ^a ^b /ɾ/ can surface as a trill [r] in word-initial and syllable-final positions. Geminate /ɾː/ is always a trill.
^ ^a ^b Janet Pierrehumbert, Rami Nair (1996), Implications of Hindi Prosodic Structure (Current Trends in Phonology: Models and Methods), European Studies Research Institute, University of Salford Press, 1996, ISBN 978-1-901471-02-1, ... showed extremely regular patterns. As is not uncommon in a study of subphonemic detail, the objective data patterned much more cleanly than intuitive judgments ... [w] occurs when /व و/ is in onglide position ... [v] occurs otherwise ...
^ [ɛ] also occurs as an allophone of /ə/ near an /ɦ/ that is surrounded on both sides by schwas. Usually, the second schwa becomes silent, which results in an [ɛ] preceding an /ɦ/.

[coronal-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hindi and Urdu contrast dental [t] and [d] with apical postalveolar [ʈ] and [ɖ] (as well as aspirated variants). Both sets sound like /t/ and /d/ to most English speakers.

[Urdu-2] Mainly phonemes of Urdu. Some Hindi speakers may replace [ɣ], [q] and [x] with [gʱ], [k] and [kʰ] respectively.

[Hindi-3] Mainly phonemes of Hindi. Urdu speakers usually replace [ɳ] and [ʂ] with [n] and [ʃ] respectively.

[rhotic-4] /ɾ/ can surface as a trill [r] in word-initial and syllable-final positions. Geminate /ɾː/ is always a trill.

[V-5] Janet Pierrehumbert, Rami Nair (1996), Implications of Hindi Prosodic Structure (Current Trends in Phonology: Models and Methods), European Studies Research Institute, University of Salford Press, 1996, ISBN 978-1-901471-02-1, ... showed extremely regular patterns. As is not uncommon in a study of subphonemic detail, the objective data patterned much more cleanly than intuitive judgments ... [w] occurs when /व و/ is in onglide position ... [v] occurs otherwise ...

[6] [ɛ] also occurs as an allophone of /ə/ near an /ɦ/ that is surrounded on both sides by schwas. Usually, the second schwa becomes silent, which results in an [ɛ] preceding an /ɦ/.

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