Devanagari Flashcards
Learn the Hindi writing system
अ
a
as in ‘alive’
आ
ā, aa
as in ‘palm’
इ
i
as in ‘hit’
same as ii except it doesn’t have the line hanging out. ii has the hanging part because it’s longer
ई
Ī, ii
as in ‘heat’
similar to how i has a dot on the top, ii has a line coming out the top
उ
u
as in ‘foot’
ऊ
ū, uu
as in ‘fool’
ऋ
ṛ, ri
as ‘ri’ in ‘critic’; in Sanskrit loanwords only
ए
e, ẹ
a in French é; a pure vowel sound, not a diphthong as in English
ऐ
ai
as in ‘hen’
ओ
o
as in the first part of ‘o’ in ‘hotel’; a pure vowel sound, not a diph
औ
au
as in ‘off’
क
ka
as in ‘skit’, with minimal release of breath
ख
kha
aspirated form of ka: as in ‘kit’, but more aspirated
ग
ga
as in ‘gift’
घ
gha
aspirated form of ga: as in ‘dog-house’
च
ca
as in ‘cheese’, but with less release of breath
छ
cha
aspirated form of ca: as in ‘pitch-hook’
like two c’s stacked on top of each other. looks like e, like “see” (c). the little circle is like an aspiration mark
ज
ja
as in ‘jeer’
झ
jha
aspirated form of ja: as in ‘large house’
ट
ṭa
as in ‘train’, but harder
ठ
ṭha
aspirated form of ta; as in ‘at home’
looks like a t (with a very long top) with the (retroflex) circle on the bottom
ड
ḍa
as in ‘drum’, but harder
ढ
ḍha
aspirated form of da
ण
ṇa
the retroflex nasal; a hard ‘n’ sound
