Wikipedia:IPA for Hindi and Urdu

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Hindi and Urdu pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.

See Hindi-Urdu phonology for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Hindustani.

Consonants
IPA Hindi Urdu English equivalent
b ب abash
bʱ بھ abhor
[1] د ado (closer to French d)
ʱ [1] دھ adhere
ɖ [1] ڈ guard
ɖʱ [1] ڈھ guardhouse
ج hedge
ʱ جھ hedgehog
f फ़ ف food
ɡ گ agate
ɡʱ گھ pigheaded
h ح head (final only)
ɦ ahead
j ي yak
k ک scan
kʰ کھ can
l ل leaf
m م much
n ن not
ɳ ڻ burner
(Sanskrit; often [n])
ŋ - bank
p پ span
pʰ پھ pan
(often allophonic with [f] in Hindi)
q क़ ق a k in the throat
(Urdu; often [k] in Hindi)
r ر trilled r
ɽ ड़ ڑ US: larder
ɽʱ ढ़ ڑھ as [ɽ] plus h
s س sue
ʂ worship
(Sanskrit; often [ʃ])
ʃ ش shoe
[1] ت stable (closer to French t)
ʰ [1] تھ table
ʈ [1] ٹ art
ʈʰ [1] ٹھ art-historian
چ catch
ʰ چھ choose
ʋ[2] و varies between w and v
x ख़ خ Bach
(Urdu; often [kʰ] in Hindi)
ɣ ग़ غ like a French r
(Urdu; often [ɡ] in Hindi)
z ज़ ز zen
ʒ झ़ ژ pleasure
Vowels
IPA Hindi Urdu English equivalent
आ, पा آ, با Spanish or French a to English bra
ए, पे ے between yell and Yale
ɛː ऐ, पै yell
ə अ, प بَ nut
[3] ई, पी ی feet
ɪ [3] इ, पि بِ dill
ओ, पो و old
ɔː औ, पौ law
[3] ऊ, पू loot
ʊ [3] उ, पु بُ look
 ̃ ں nasal vowel
([ãː], [õː], etc.)


Suprasegmentals
IPA
ˈ stress
(placed before stressed syllable)
ː doubled consonant

Notes

badlo
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 To an English ear, [t̪ t̪ʰ ʈ ʈʰ] all sound like /t/, and [d̪ d̪ʱ ɖ ɖʱ] all sound like /d/. However, to a Hindi-Urdu speaker's ear these are very different sounds. [t̪ d̪] are like Spanish or French [t d], with the tongue touching the teeth, and [t̪ʰ d̪] are how a Hindi-Urdu speaker hears English /θ ð/ (the th sounds). Hindi-Urdu [ʈ ɖ] are pronounced with the tongue further back, touching behind the teeth, and [ʈʰ ɖ] are how a Hindi-Urdu speaker hears English t d; [ʈ] is how they hear English t after s.
  2. [v], [w] and intermediate [ʋ] are allophonic in Hindi-Urdu. Some words, such as vrat ('व्रत', fast), are pronounced with [v] and others, such as pakwan ('पकवान', food dish), are pronounced with [w].
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 /iː, ɪ/ and /uː, ʊ/ are neutralized to [i, u] at the end of a word.