麻豆社

What's the Hindi alphabet like?

Here's the alphabet and how to pronounce it.

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• What is significant about the Hindi alphabet?

  Modern Hindi is written in Devanagari script, which is made of two Sanskrit words: Deva, meaning 鈥楪od鈥� and Nagari, meaning 鈥榦f urban origin鈥�. Devanagari has its origin in Brahmi script. Writings in Brahmi script from across the Indian subcontinent date back to the 5th century BC. More than ten Indian languages have evolved from Brahmi.

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• Vowels and consonants

  The standard Hindi alphabet, as agreed by the Government of India, has 11 vowels and 35 consonants. However, the traditional Hindi alphabet is considered to be made of 13 vowels and 33 consonants. The letters 啶呧 [am] and 啶呧 [ah] are counted as vowels in traditional Hindi and as consonants in standard Hindi. It also includes two letters 啶∴ぜ [rr] and 啶⑧ぜ [rh] which are counted as consonants in the standard official Hindi alphabet.
  
  In popular and traditional teachings, three extra consonants are used. They are called conjuncts and are a combination of two consonants. This happens when successive consonants with no vowel between them physically join together, for example: 啶曕啶� [ksh] is a combination of 啶� and 啶�, [k] and [sh]
  啶む啶� [tr] is a combination of 啶� and 啶�, [t] and [r]
  啶溹啶� [jna] or [gya] is a combination of 啶� and 啶�, [j] and [n]

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• Special characters

  In some words, written vowels change their form in order to join up with consonants.
  
  - With 鈥榓a鈥�: 啶� - 啶曕ぞ [kaa] is a combination of 啶� + 啶� (k + aa). The character啶� is added to the right.
  
  - With 鈥榠鈥�: 啶� 鈥� 啶曕た [ki] is a combination of 啶� + 啶� (k + i). The character 啶� is added to the left and above.
  
  - With 鈥榚e鈥�:啷赌 鈥� 啶曕ザ� [kee] is a combination of 啶�+ 啶� (k + ee). The character 啷赌 is added to the right and above.
  
  - With 鈥榰鈥�: 啷� 鈥� 啶曕 [ku] is a combination of 啶� + 啶� (k + u). The character 啷� is added below.
  
  - With 鈥榦o鈥�: 啷� - 啶曕 [koo] is a combination of 啶� + 啶� (k + oo). The character 啷� is added below.
  
  - With 鈥榓e鈥�: 啷� 鈥� 啶曕 [kae] is a combination of 啶� + 啶� (k + ae). The character 啷� is added above.
  
  - With 鈥榓ae鈥�: 啷� 鈥� 啶曕 [kaae] is a combination of 啶� + 啶� (k + aae). The character 啷� is added above.
  
  - With 鈥榦鈥�: 啷� 鈥� 啶曕 [ko] is a combination of 啶� + 啶� (k + o). The character 啷� is added to the right and above.
  
  - With 鈥榓u鈥�: 啷� 鈥� 啶曕 [kau] is a combination of 啶�+ 啶� (k + au). The character 啷� is added to the right and above.
  
  - With 鈥榬i鈥�: 啷� 鈥� 啶曕 [kri] is a combination of 啶� +啶� (k + ri). The character 啷� is added below.
  
  For example, 麻豆社 is a combination of three vowels and three consonants in Hindi:
  
  啶� [b]+ 啶� [ee] - 啶� [b]+ 啶� [ee] - 啶� [c]+ 啶� [ee]
  
  So, instead of writing it 啶啶啶膏, 麻豆社 would be written as 啶ザ泥が啷赌啶膏ザ�, using the character 啷赌.
  
  Similarly, the word radio would be a combination of three sets of vowels and consonants, for example:
  
  啶� [r] + 啶� [ae] + 啶�[d] + 啶�[i] + 啶� [o]
  
  So, instead of writing it 啶班啶∴啶�, it would be written as 啶班啶∴た啶 using the characters 啷�, 啶� and 啷嬥.

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• The horizontal line

  The horizontal line on top of letters plays an important role in Hindi. Words formed by different letters are joined by this line, as in 听啶曕げ啶�, [kalam], pen, which is made of three consonant letters,啶� [k],啶� [l] and啶� [m]. All letters have this line except for two consonants:啶� [dh] and 啶� [bh].

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• The right stroke

  24 out of the 36 consonants contain a vertical right stroke, for example 啶� [kh], 啶� [gh], 啶� [n]. Its purpose is to mark a full stop. But nowadays, a normal full stop is frequently used to end a sentence.

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• The dots

  One dot above letters is used for nasal sounds, as in 听啶啶︵ぐ[bandar], which means monkey. This dot is called 听啶た啶ㄠ啶︵[bindu], which means point in English. Two dots are used to the right of letters. The sound is [ah], as is 听啶呧い啶� [atah] meaning therefore. This double dot is called 听啶掂た啶膏ぐ啷嵿 [visarg] in Hindi.

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• Similar but different

  Although when transcribed phonetically into English, some Hindi letters look similar, they actually sound different. For instance, 啶� sounds like the [th] in 'this, that' but 啶� sounds like the [th] in 'think'.

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• Email and website conventions

  When giving an email or website address, the conventions are usually given in English apart from one: . (full stop) This is a special character and is a simple vertical right strole used at the end of a sentence. The name of this character is 听啶啶班啶� 啶掂た啶班ぞ啶�[poorna viram], which means full stop.

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