Pronunciation Guide

Vowels[edit]

Devanagari	Roman	Pronounce as	In
अ	a	‘a’	all
आ	ā	‘a’	far
इ	i	‘i’	ill
ई	ī	‘i’	feel
उ	u	‘u’	full
ऊ	ū	‘oo’	soothe
ऋ	ṛ	‘ri’	trinity
ॠ	ṝ	‘rr’	merry
ऌ	ḷ	‘lr’	cavalry
ए	e	‘e’	end
ऐ	ai	‘ai’	sail
ओ	o	‘o’	old
औ	au	‘ou’	soul
अं	ṃ	‘m’s	summum bonum
:		‘gh’	high

Devanagari	Roman	Pronounce as	In
क	k	‘k’	kill
ख	kh	‘kh’	ankh
ग	g	‘g’	God
घ	gh	‘gh’	ghost
ङ	ń	‘n’	sing
च	c	‘ch’	cheese
छ	ch	‘ch-h’	witchhunt
ज	j	‘j’	joy
झ	jh	‘dg(e)h’	hedgehog
ञ	ñ	‘n’	ranch
ट	ţ	‘t’	toy
ठ	ţh	‘th’	foothold
ड	ḍ	‘d’	dog
ढ	ḍh	‘dh’	redhead
ण	ṇ	‘kn’	knowledge
त	t	‘t’	chateau
थ	th	‘th’	thought
द	d	‘th’	they
ध	dh	‘dh’	adhesive
न	n	‘n’	number
प	p	‘p’	pink
फ	ph	‘ph’	phosphorous
ब	b	‘b’	boy
भ	bh	‘bh’	abhor
म	m	‘m’	man
य	y	‘y’	young
र	r	‘r’	red
ड़	ŕ	‘r’	corn
ढ़	dh	‘rh’	rhetoric
ल	l	‘l’	long
व	v	‘w’	war
श	ś	‘sh’	sharp
ष	ş	‘sh’	shun
स	s	‘s’	sea
ह	h	‘h’	home