Devanagari/Alphabet

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In Devanagari, there are 12 vowels and 44 consonants (conjunction consonants are also included).

The alphabet written with pronunciation[edit | edit source]

Here are the letters in an alphabetical order. The vowels are on top, followed by the consonants.

phoneme romanization example
(in English)
example
(in Hindi)
Vowels
a (short) fun अब (ab, now)
ā (long) father आठth, eight)
i (short) sick इमली (imlī Tamarind)
ī (long) sheer मिठाई (mithāī, sweets)
u (short) put उर्दू (Urdū)
ū (long) shoot ऊनn, wool)
ri (short) (in Sanskrit words) crystal ऋषि (rishi, wise (person))
rī (long) (in Sanskrit words)
li (in Sanskrit words)
lī (in Sanskrit words)
e (long) (French) née एक (ek, one)
ai (long) hi ऐनक (ainak, glasses)
ō (long) loaf ओड़िया (Odia)
au (long) scout औरत (aurat, woman)
ô (short, used in English words like hot) robot ऑक्सीजन (oxygen)
Vowel diacritics used with consonants
ā(long) सामान (sāmān, baggage)
ि i (short) पिता (pitā, father)
ī (long) घी (ghī, butter)
u (short) दुकान (dukān, shop)
ū (long) जूता (jūtā, shoe)
ri (short) कृषि (krishi, agriculture)
ē(long) देना (dénā, to give)
ai(long) है (hai, is (verb "to be"))
o (short) सोमवार (somvār, Monday)
au (long) नौ (nau, nine)
ô (short, used in English words like hot) कॉलेज (kôlej, college, university)
अयोगवाह
(anusvār, nasal consonant) रंग (rang, color)
(chandrabindu, nasalizes the preceding vowel) फ़्राँसीसी (fransīsī, French)
अः ah (in Sanskrit words) दुःख (duhkh, sadness)

Consonants
k come कमरा (kamrā, room)
क़ q (words of Arabic, English and Persian origin) Qatar हक़ (haq, right)
kh khaki खराब (kharāb, bad)
ख़ kh (words of Arabic and Persian origin) ख़ूबसूरत (khoobsoorat, beautiful)
g girl गाना (gānā, song, to sing)
ग़ gh (words of Arabic and Persian origin) Afghanistan ग़ालिब (Ghaalib, name of an Indian poet)
gh ghee घर (ghar, home, dwelling)
ṅ (like ng in sing) finger वाङ्मय (Vāṅmay, literature)
ch chair चार (chār, four)
chh छह (chhah, six)
j gene जाना (jānā, to go)
ज़ z (words of Arabic, English and Persian origin) zero ज़िंदगी (zindagī, Life)
jh झूठ (jhūth, lie)
ñ (only in combination with च छ ज झ) jalapeño ज्ञान (ज्+ञान) (Knowledge)
t टमाटर (tamātar, tomato)
th ठंडा (thandā, cold)
d डर (dar, Fear)
ड़ r (rolling) भेड़ (bher, sheep)
dh ढेर (dher, accumulation)
ढ़ rh डेढ़ (derh, one and a half)
n अणु (anu, molecule)
t तमिल (tamil, Tamil)
th
d दो (do, two)
द़ dh (words of Arabic origin) Abu Dhabi रमद़ान (Ramadhaan, Islamic month of fasting)
dh धन्यवाद (dhanyavād, Thanks)
n name नमक (namak, salt)
p papa पति (pati, husband)
ph फिर (phir, then)
फ़ f (words of foreign origin) failure फ़ारसी (Farsī, Persian)
b balloon बीस (bīs, twenty)
bh भारत (bhārat, India)
m mom माथा (māthā, forehead)
y yac यह (yah, this)
r rate रविवार (ravivār, Sunday)
l lake लाना (lānā, bring)
l (used in some dialects of Hindi like Hariyanavi and languages like Marathi)
v, w वायु (vāyu, air)
sh shell शनिवार (shanivār, Saturday)
shh (in Sanskrit words) षड्यंत्र (shhadyantra, conspiracy)
s silk सात (sāt, seven)
h hill होना (honā, to be)
क्ष kshh = क् + ष (compound vowel) क्षेत्र (kshhetra, Area)
त्र tra = त् + र​ (compound vowel) त्रिशूल (trishūl, Trident)
ज्ञ jña = ज् + ञ (compound vowel) ज्ञान (jñān, Knowledge)
श्र shra = श् + र​ (compound vowel) श्री (shrī, Mr)