Lesson 13


..............................................................Lesson 14 .....Home
Its time now to have a look at the whole Hindi alphabet . For how to write these letters look at Lesson 18

First the English nearest equivalent is given , then an English and a Hindi word where it would fit.

This lesson may seem a little difficult but is really just a recap of what you have learnt so far.


Consonants

First Line

These are gutturals produced from the back of the throat.

1.K as in hooK , Kamra (Room) ; ......2. Kh as in Khaki , Khargosh (rabbit) ;......3. G as in Gate , Gum (sadness) ;.....4. Gh as in Ghandi , Ghar (house ) ; and 5. N

Once again the five letters above are K ; Kh ; G ; Gh ; N


Second Line

These are palatals where the tongue touches the back of the throat.

1.Ch as in Chunkey ( tongue touches top of mouth) , Chamcha (spoon) ;.....2. Chh as in no equiv in English ( tongue touches bottom teeth saying Ch).... , Chatri (Umbrella) .....; 3.J as in Jungle , Jab ( when) ; ...4.Jh as in no equiv in English-tongue touches bottom teeth , in Hindi as in Jhansi , Jhanda( flag) ;..5.. N

The letters are Ch ; Chh ; J ; Jh ; N. There is another way of writing JH which is quite popular and we will see that in Lesson 18


Third Line

These are cereberals where the tongue is rolled back a bit.

1.T as in Turkey , tmatur( tomato) ; ....2. Th as in no equiv -tongue curls in more when saying t .... , .Thandi (cold) ;....3.D as in Dog, darr ( fear) ;.... 4.Dh -tongue curls more saying D- no equiv in English , dhakan (lid) ; and N 5.The letter Dh with a dot under it sounds like a combined sound with the tongue curled right back touching the roof and then uncurling hitting the palate and then the back teeth - no equiv in English , in Hindi ladki (girl) ;... 6 ughDH as in paDH (study ) .

The letters are T , THH , D , DH , N , ughDh and ughDHh


Fourth Line

These are dentals where the tongue touches the teeth

1.Soft T ( tongue touches top teeth) no equiv , Tabla ( drum) ;.. 2.Th as in Thanks , haTHi (elephant) ;...3.Dh as in The , Davat (Invitation) ;.. 4.Dhh (from chest -no equiv) , Dhanush ( Bow) ;..5.N

The letters are soft T , Th , The , Thh , N


Fifth Line

These are labials where the lips come together.

1.P as in Purse , Patang (Kite) ;... 2.F as in First , Fal ( Fruit) ;...3.B as in Bird , Batakh (Duck);...4.Bh as in no equiv(from chest ) , Bhalu ( Bear) ;...5.M as in Mum , Matr(Bean) ;

The above letters are P,F,B,Bh,M.


Sixth Line

These are semivowels

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1.Y as in Yo , Yug ( fire ritual);..2.R as in Run, Rath (Chariot)...3.L as in Lull, Ladhak;..4.V as in Vole , Var(Groom)

The above letters are Y , R, L , V

These are sibliants and the aspirant H

Sh as in Shirt , Shalgam (radish) Sh(chesty Sh-no equiv), shatkon (icon) .S as in Sup , Sapera ( snake charmer) 8.H as in hurt , Hum ( us)

The above letters are SH , SHH , S and H


Seventh Line

Next are compound letters .

1.Ksh as in no equiv, Kshma (forgive) ;...2.SoftTr -no equiv -tongue touces top teeth trying to say Tr , Trishul (religious symbol) ;... 3.Ghya no euiv -Ghyan (Knowledge) ,.4. SHR as in shrug or shrap (curse) 5 Ri as in Wrist or Rishi

The above letters are KSH , TR , GY , SHR and Ri


Next are more compound letters

The letters are 1. Dy as in viDYa -knowledge 2. Ru as in Ruth 3 Roo as in Room 4 HY as in HYundi or HYa (shame) 5. Lri as in Lrissa 6 DDh as in Yuddh (war ) 7 DV as in Dwarka ( place in India) 8 N'k as in aN'k - letter 9 N'g as in aN'g (limb)


Doubled lettters

The letters are tt as in kutta (dog) , dd as in saddi -century , tt as in lattu (top toy ), dd -not shown here as in haddi -bone , tthtth -hatti ( stubborn) , shht as in nashht (destroy) shhtth and N' . Also not written here is Z which is J with a dot underneath it.


Half Letters

Only some are listed below . They are just truncated full letters . As a test can you guess what they sound like?

..fig1 ;...fig2.....fig3;....fig4;....fig5;

Answers

The first one is K . Fig 2 has n, th,soft t , y and the next figure 3 has f , m , bh ,y,l, v, ksh , gya, n

Fig 4 has kh , g, b,s , ch, l , the, j , m ... fig 5 has b, bh , t(double t ) , f , gya, ksh , bh , p , gh , m


Detached Vowels

First Line

1.A as in Umm , Anar (Pomergranate);..2.AA as in Aunt , Aag ( Fire) ;..3.I as in India, Emli ( spice) ;...4.Ee as in East , Eent (brick) ;...5.U as in oops , ooloo (owl) 6.oo as in moon , oon (yarn)

..........

The vowels are ugh, Aa, i, ee , u and oo


Second Line

1. Ae as in Ami , Aedi (heel);..2..Aae as in Estimate, Aenak(Spectacle) ;...3.O as in only , Om (prayer);...4.Au as in Autumn , Aurat (woman);...5.Nasal N -as in Uncle , Angoor (grape) ; ..6..Aangh as in Aunt . Aankh(eye) ;...7.aei-rarely used

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The vowels are ae , aae, o , au , ungh , angh and aei (sanskrit) eg prataei -sanskrti for morning.

This completes the detached vowels


Vowel marks when used with consonants

First Line

1.Aa as in Master, Mama;..2..little e as Miss, Mill (to meet);..3..Long ee as in Meat , Teer (Arrow);..4. oo as in Pull, Pashu (animal)..5..Long oo as in pool , Fool (flower);

......

The marks are Aa , i, ee, u , oo


Second Line

1.Ae as in made , Mez(table);..2.Aae as in Stack , Gas;..3..O as in Roe, Moti (pearl);...4.Au as in Crawley, Hathoda ( hammer);..5..Ungh as in stung, Kanga (comb); ...6.Angh as in Cant , Sanp (snake);...7. uggh (doubling) -no equivealent - as in Chh (six) rarely used.

............

If you have stuck it out this far , well done !

As a test see if you can write down the English words January , February ...December in Hindi script and check it with the next lesson. Also write the numbers one , two .. till twenty as best as you can.


Letter R

The letter R often has the short and long U placed in the middle rather than at the bottom.

What are these words ?

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A short diagonal stroke also gives an R sound after a letter , usually placed below P or F . Note the R here modifiying the first word FAS to what ?

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The answer is France ! Note the nasal N dot over the F.


A short sign like the one above the letter six on your keyboard is often put under the T give a Tr sound. Whats this word?

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Yes the R modifies the TK to give Truck .


Another is the Ri sound put under M and N but also other letters . whats this word - (Hindi for dance ) ?

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Answer is Nritya.


An R sound can also be placed ABOVE a letter where it is sounded BEFORE the letter it is placed . As a test see if you can read the last word in the image below .

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Many brownie points if you got the answer right . It is Mark !!