madat:IPA/Nepali

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Nepali on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Nepali in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or its value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.

Shortcut: H:IPA-NE

Charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Nepali pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-ne}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Nepali phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Nepali.

Key

Consonants
IPA	Examples		English Approximation
IPA	Nepali	IAST	English Approximation
b	बाटो	bāṭo	back
bʱ^[1]	भट्टी	bhaṭṭī	clubhouse
d	दाउरा	dāurā	deal (dental), the (Th-stopping)
dʱ	धान	dhān	redhead (dental)
ɖ^[2]	डब्बा	ḍabbā	American English bird
ɽ^[2]	गाडी	gāḍī	American English bird
ɖʱ	ढक्कन	ḍhakkan	American English birdhouse
d͡z	जल	jal	dads
d͡zʱ	झरना	jharanā	dad's house
ɡ	गीत	gīt	again
ɡʱ^[1]	घर	ghar	loghouse
ɦ^[2]	हलो	halo	ahead
k	कलम	kalam	scan
kʰ^[1]	खाना	khānā	can
l	लामो	lāmo	leaf
m	माटो	māṭo	much
n	नाम	nām	not
ŋ	नङ	naṅ	sing
ɳ^[3]	अण्डा	aṇḍā	American English burn
p	पल	pal	span
pʰ^[1]	फल	phal	pan
r^[4]	रातो	rāto	ring (Trilled R)
ɾ^[4]	तारा	tārā	American atom
s^[5]	सानो	sāno	sun
t͡s	चोर	cor	bats
t͡sʰ	छाना	chānā	cats head
t	तर	tara	stick (dental), birth (Th-stopping)
tʰ	थाल	thāl	tell (dental), think (Th-stopping)
ʈ	टमाटर	ṭamāṭar	American English parts
ʈʰ	ठीक	ṭhīk	American English partake
w^[6]	हावा	hawa	want
j	याद	yād	yes

Vowels
IPA	Examples		English Approximation
IPA	Nepali	IAST	English Approximation
Monophthongs
a	आमा	āmā	father
ʌ	असल	asal	cut (conservative dialects)
e	केरा	kerā	may (monophthongal pronunciation)
i	इनाम	inām	happy
i	ईनार	īnār	happy
o	थोपा	thopā	force
u	उमेर	umēr	boot
u	ऊन	ūn	boot
Diphthongs
ʌi̯	ऐना	ainā	writer (Canadian raising)
ʌu̯	मौका	maukā	about (Canadian raising)
ou̯	धोऊ	dhoū	goat
oi̯	खोइ	khoi	toy
au̯	पाउ	pāu	now
ei̯	केही	kehī	day
ai̯	माइत	māita	my
iu̯	जीउ	jīu	similar to few
ui̯	दुई	duī	similar to wheel
eu̯	एउटा	euṭā	No English Equivalent, similar to hey ooh
Vowel Diacritic
◌̃	आँसु	ā̃su	nasal vowel [ʌ̃], [ã], [ũ], etc.)

Suprasegmentals
IPA
◌ ̤ː	Doubled vowel (placed after vowel^[7])
◌ː	Doubled consonant (placed after consonant)

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Voiced and voiceless aspirated/murmured labials and velars can undergo fricativization, therefore, realized as the corresponding homorganic fricatives e.g. /sʌpʰa/ transcribed phonetically as [sʌɸa], /bʱ/as [β], /kʰ/ as [x], and /ɡʱ/ as [ɣ].
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Due to a process of h-deletion in some words, ɦ may be replaced by a retroflex flap [ɽ] if words are pronounced with long vowels e.g. पहाडी which is phonetically [paːɽi] can be analyzed phonemically as /pʌhaɖi/. Additionally, [ɽ] can occur if ɖ or ɖʱ are flapped in postvocalic position.
↑ /ɳ/ may occur as a retroflex nasal flap [ɽ̃] in spellinɡ pronunciations of some Sanskrit loanwords.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 /r/ is usually trilled [r] but may be tapped [ɾ] when in intervocalic position.
↑ /s/ phonetically may be either [s] or [ʃ].
↑ The combination of the labio-velar approximant /w/ and /e, i, o, ʌi̯, r, w, j/ is constrained in Nepali, thus the orthographic ⟨व⟩ is pronounced as a bilabial stop /b/ in such cases.
↑ Words are pronounced with long vowels due to the process of intervocalic h deletion, e.g पहाडी phonemically /pʌɦaɖi/ is realized phonetically as [paːɽi].

Bibliography

Khatiwada, Rajesh (2009), "Nepali", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 39 (3): 337–380, doi:10.1017/S0025100309990181
Pokharel, Madhav Prasad (1989), Experimental analysis of Nepali sound system (Ph.D.), University of Pune, India
Masica, Colin (1991), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-29944-2.
Hutt, Michael; Subedi, Abhi (1999), Teach Yourself Nepali (2003 ed.), McGraw-Hill, ISBN 978-0-07-142468-4.
Acharya, Jayaraj (1991), A Descriptive Grammar of Nepali and an Analyzed Corpus, Georgetown University Press, ISBN 0878400737

[:0-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Voiced and voiceless aspirated/murmured labials and velars can undergo fricativization, therefore, realized as the corresponding homorganic fricatives e.g. /sʌpʰa/ transcribed phonetically as [sʌɸa], /bʱ/as [β], /kʰ/ as [x], and /ɡʱ/ as [ɣ].

[retroflex_flap-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Due to a process of h-deletion in some words, ɦ may be replaced by a retroflex flap [ɽ] if words are pronounced with long vowels e.g. पहाडी which is phonetically [paːɽi] can be analyzed phonemically as /pʌhaɖi/. Additionally, [ɽ] can occur if ɖ or ɖʱ are flapped in postvocalic position.

[3] /ɳ/ may occur as a retroflex nasal flap [ɽ̃] in spellinɡ pronunciations of some Sanskrit loanwords.

[alveolar_trill-4] 4.0 ^4.1 /r/ is usually trilled [r] but may be tapped [ɾ] when in intervocalic position.

[voiceless_palato-alveolar_fricative-5] /s/ phonetically may be either [s] or [ʃ].

[6] The combination of the labio-velar approximant /w/ and /e, i, o, ʌi̯, r, w, j/ is constrained in Nepali, thus the orthographic ⟨व⟩ is pronounced as a bilabial stop /b/ in such cases.

[7] Words are pronounced with long vowels due to the process of intervocalic h deletion, e.g पहाडी phonemically /pʌɦaɖi/ is realized phonetically as [paːɽi].

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[2]

[3]

[4]

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[6]

[7]

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