🇮🇳
Hindi Alphabet
Devanagari
Devanagari is an abugida — each character represents a consonant with an inherent 'a' vowel. It is used for Hindi, Sanskrit, Marathi, Nepali, and many other languages.
Vowels (स्वर)
| Character | Name | Romanization | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| अ | A | a | like 'a' in 'about' |
| आ | Aa | ā | like 'a' in 'father' |
| इ | I | i | like 'i' in 'bit' |
| ई | Ii | ī | like 'ee' in 'meet' |
| उ | U | u | like 'u' in 'put' |
| ऊ | Uu | ū | like 'oo' in 'moon' |
| ए | E | e | like 'a' in 'made' |
| ऐ | Ai | ai | like 'ai' in 'aisle' |
| ओ | O | o | like 'o' in 'go' |
| औ | Au | au | like 'ow' in 'now' |
Consonants (व्यंजन)
| Character | Name | Romanization | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| क | Ka | ka | like 'k' in 'key' |
| ख | Kha | kha | aspirated 'k' |
| ग | Ga | ga | like 'g' in 'go' |
| घ | Gha | gha | aspirated 'g' |
| च | Cha | ca | like 'ch' in 'cheese' |
| छ | Chha | cha | aspirated 'ch' |
| ज | Ja | ja | like 'j' in 'jam' |
| झ | Jha | jha | aspirated 'j' |
| ट | Ta | ṭa | retroflex 't' |
| ठ | Tha | ṭha | aspirated retroflex 't' |
| ड | Da | ḍa | retroflex 'd' |
| ढ | Dha | ḍha | aspirated retroflex 'd' |
| त | Ta | ta | dental 't' (softer than English) |
| थ | Tha | tha | aspirated dental 't' |
| द | Da | da | dental 'd' |
| ध | Dha | dha | aspirated dental 'd' |
| न | Na | na | like 'n' in 'night' |
| प | Pa | pa | like 'p' in 'pen' |
| फ | Pha | pha | aspirated 'p' |
| ब | Ba | ba | like 'b' in 'book' |
| भ | Bha | bha | aspirated 'b' |
| म | Ma | ma | like 'm' in 'moon' |
| य | Ya | ya | like 'y' in 'yes' |
| र | Ra | ra | a flapped 'r' |
| ल | La | la | like 'l' in 'lamp' |
| व | Va | va | between 'v' and 'w' |
| श | Sha | śa | like 'sh' in 'shoe' |
| ष | Sha | ṣa | retroflex 'sh' |
| स | Sa | sa | like 's' in 'sun' |
| ह | Ha | ha | like 'h' in 'house' |