Hindi employs the Devanagari script with several additional letters, which are used to represent the sounds borrowed from Urdu, Arabic, and Persian. The script is phonetic, so that Hindi is pronounced as it is written. All the letters should be written from left to right.
|
Hindi |
Letter Names |
|
क, क़ |
ka, qa |
|
ख, ख़ |
kha, khha |
|
ग, ग़ |
ga, ghha |
|
घ |
gha |
|
ङ |
nga |
|
च |
ca |
|
छ |
cha |
|
ज, ज़ |
ja, za |
|
झ |
jha |
|
ञ |
nya |
|
ट |
Ta |
|
ठ |
Tha |
|
ड, ड़ |
Da, Rha |
|
ढ, ढ़ |
Dha, rha |
|
ण |
Na |
|
त |
ta |
|
थ |
tha |
|
द |
da |
|
ध |
dha |
|
न |
na |
|
प |
pa |
|
फ, फ़ |
pha, fa |
|
ब |
ba |
|
भ |
bha |
|
म |
ma |
|
य |
ya |
|
र |
ra |
|
ल |
la |
|
व |
va |
|
श |
sha |
|
ष |
Sha |
|
स |
sa |
|
ह |
ha |
|
अ |
a |
|
आ |
aa |
|
इ |
i |
|
ई |
ii |
|
उ |
u |
|
ऊ |
uu |
|
ऋ |
ri |
|
ए |
e |
|
ऐ |
ai |
|
ओ |
o |
|
औ |
au |
The reason that the letter names show each consonant ending in an 'a' is because, in the absence of any other vowel sign, a Devanagari consonant is followed by an inherent 'a' sound. Exceptions to this rule are when the consonant occurs at the end of a word, in which case it is not pronounced, and when consonants are joined together with one or two other consonants so that this inherent vowel disappears. The resulting conjunct form is called a ligature.
There are eleven vowels in the Devanagari alphabet. The short vowels 'a', 'i', and 'u' have their long counterparts: 'aa', 'ii', and 'uu'. The vowels 'e', 'ai', 'o', and 'au' are long and have no short counterparts. The vowel 'ri' occurs only in Sanskrit loan words.
|
अ a |
इ i |
उ u |
ऋ ri |
ए e |
ओ o |
|
आ aa |
ई ii |
ऊ uu |
ऐ ai |
औ au |
The first 25 consonants are divided into groups, which are called 'vargas': velar, palatal, retroflex, dental, and labial. For each group, the columns logically progress from an unvoiced consonant paired with its aspirated form to a voiced consonant, also paired with its aspirated form, and end in a nasal form for that group.
|
'ka'-varga |
क ka |
ख kha |
ग ga |
घ gha |
ङ nga |
|
'ca'-varga |
च ca |
छ cha |
ज ja |
झ jha |
ञ nya |
|
'Ta'-varga |
ट Ta |
ठ Tha |
ड Da |
ढ Dha |
ण Na |
|
'ta'-varga |
त ta |
थ tha |
द da |
ध dha |
न na |
|
'pa'-varga |
प pa |
फ pha |
ब ba |
भ bha |
म ma |
These five vargas are followed by additional consonants: sonorous consonants (the so-called 'semi-vowels') and fricatives, which don't belong to any varga.
|
य ya |
र ra |
ल la |
व va |
|
श sha |
ष Sha |
स sa |
ह ha |
The letters given below are borrowed from Urdu, Persian, or Arabic and are written with a dot.
|
क़ qa |
ख़ khha |
ग़ ghha |
फ़ fa |
ज़ za |
Dictionary Order
Syllables with orinasal vowels precede those without nasalization.
Ex: माँस maaNs 'meat' precedes माता maataa 'mother'
Conjunct forms (the ligatures) come after non-conjunct forms.
Ex: पूछना puuchnaa 'to ask' precedes प्यास pyaas 'thirst'
The borrowed characters क़ qa, ख़ khha, ग़ ghha, फ़ fa, and ज़ za are listed along with क ka, ख kha, ग ga, फ pha, and ज ja respectively, because they behave in the same way.
See Also: