The Letters

1.1 The Consonants
We will learn seven consonants of Hindi in this lesson and see how the words are formed. These letters have sounds as indicated.

ग	न	म	त	ल	र	स
g	n	m	t	l	r	s

1.2 Pronunciation
The pronunciation of all the above letters are familiar to an English speaker, except that of <त>. The sound of the Hindi letter <त> is dental whereas the English <t> is alveolar. The alveolar /t/ is pronounced when the tip of the tongue touches the root of the teeth; the dental is pronounced when the tip of the tongue touches the tip of the teeth, making it almost visible.

Reading Practice

2.1 The inherent vowel
The sounds of the words you heard contains the vowel /a/ as in ‘about’. In fact it is difficult to pronounce a consonant alone. So the letters are usually pronounced with /a/.

2.2 Word Formation
Listen to the pronunciation of the following words.

मग	मगर	नगर

Note that consonants placed together make a word. In fact, the Hindi consonants have, inherently, the short vowel /a/ and that helps formation of the word. Other vowels of Hindi languages have a symbol which we shall learn subsequently.
You may also have noticed that the last letter of the word is spoken without a vowel. This is a process unique to Hindi language called /a/ deletion. There are other places in the word too where /a/ is deleted. We will discuss them in due course.

2.3 The matra of the long vowel /a:/

We will also learn the vowel symbol <ा> for the long vowel /a:/ that is attached to the consonants. See the formation of the letters with the long vowel /a:/.

ग	न	म	त	ल	र	स
गा	ना	मा	ता	ला	रा	सा

See how the words are formed by combining the above 14 letters.

मन	मना	मान	माना
mind	prohibited	honour	agreed

2.4 Reading words
Listen to the pronunciation of the following words and repeat. Note that proper nouns (names of persons) are indicated by the capital letter.

तल	तन	सम	मत	गन	नम
level	body	equal	vote	gun	wet
ताल	तान	लाल	रात	गान	नाम
pond	tune	red	night	singing	name
तला	तना	रमा	लता	गला	मना
bottom	tree trunk	Rama	Lata	neck	prohibited
ताला	ताना	नाता	लाला	गाना	माला
lock	taunt	relationship	Lala	song	garland
नगर	लगन	समन	मगन	गलत	तरस
city	devotion	summons	Magan	wrong	pity
सलाम	तमाम	समान	मलाल	लगान	मसान
greeting	entire	equal	resentment	land tax	cemetery
सताना	गलाना	मनाना	समाना	लगाना	मलाला
To torture	To melt	To celebrate	be absorbed	To fix	Malala
सारस	मानस	रामन	सालन	तापस	लानत
stork	mental	Raman	gravy	sage	fie on you

2.4.1 /a/ deletion within a word

If a word has three letters and the middle short vowel /a/ is followed by /a:/ (or, for that matter, any long vowel, as we shall see later) then that /a/ is not pronounced.

सरला	सलमा	मरना	मारना	तानना	सामना
Sarala	Salma	to die	to kill/beat	to stretch	facing

Perception Test

3.1 Recognition

3.1.1 Letter Recognition

Press the letter pronounced.            Once you finish you can start the list all over.         

3.1.2 Sound recognition– First Letter

Listen to a word, recognize the first sound of the word and punch it. You can see the word just for two seconds. However you can listen to it many times.

मीना
			Next	Exit

3.1.3 Sound recognition– Last Letter

Now listen to the last letter of the word, recognize the sound and punch it.

सलीम
			Next	Exit

3.2 Matching

Listen to the pairs of words. If both words pronounced are similar press ‘same’; if not press ‘different’.

		Same	Different
		Next	Exit

Further Reading

4.1 Longer words

A name like रामलाल is a combination of two words – राम  ‘Lord Rama’ and लाल ‘beloved’. So if you know the structure of a word you can get the pronunciation as both words carry their pronunciation to the word. See the words which are names of persons.

रामलाल	मगनलाल	रतनलाल	लालाराम	माताराम	रामरतन

4.2 Full stop in Hindi

Normally full stop in Hindi is indicated by a vertical line after the last word. Occasionally you may come across the full stop instead.

4.3 Perception of Expressions

Listen to the sentence and say which one is pronounced by pressing its number.

4.3.1 Pattern 1

सरला, गाना गा। Sarla, sing a song.

Listen to the sentence and say which one is pronounced by pressing its number. 

	सरला, गाना गा।	रामरतन, गाना गा।	लालाराम, गाना गा।	सलमान, गाना गा।
	Start	Next	Back	Exit

4.3.2 Pattern 2

कमला, दाल लाना। Kamla, please bring (some) dal.

	सागरमल, ताला लाना।	मगन, गमला लाना।	कमला, सालन लाना।	सरला, माला लाना।
	Sagarmal, bring the lock.	Magan, bring a (flower) pot.	Kamla, bring the mutton curry.	Sarla, bring the garland.
	Start	Next	Back	Exit

4.3.3 Reading Expressions

Read the following expressions. You may listen to the pronunciation of the sentences when necessary.  Practice till you are able to read fluently.                

Pattern 3

कमला, माला न लाना। Kamla, do not bring the garland. 

	सलमा, सारा सालन लाना।	Salma, bring all the mutton curry.
	माला, गाना गा।	Mala, sing a song.
	तारा, माला लाना।	Tara, bring the garland.
	रामलाल, दाल न लाना।	Ramlal, do not bring the dal.
	समर, ताला न लाना।	Samar, do not bring the lock.
	कमल, कलम लाना।	Kamal, bring a pen.  .
	Start	Next	Back	Exit

 

                   

Writing Practice

5.1 Letter Formation

See how the letters are written.

5.2 Copying

5.2.1 Print the page and copy the letters. Download PDF

5.2.2 Copying words

Try to get the pronunciation as you write. You can listen to the word many times. When ready to write you can see the word many times by pressing the Show Hint button.
You should get a mental image of the whole word and write it from memory. Do not copy letter by letter.

	Next	Back

5.3 Word formation

Listen to the pronunciation of the word, press the appropriate letters to form that word. You can listen to or see the word many times.

5.4 Dictation

Listen to the words and write in the page. You can listen to or see the word many times. After writing your word press Show Hint once more for reinforcement.

 

		ममता
		Next	Exit

 

Follow up

Structure

6.1 Matching Vowel Length

Match the words of Group A and Group B that are different by a vowel. Write the pairs in your copy.

Grourp A	Grourp B
नम	सतना
समन	ताल
मनना	मारता
लाला	नाम
तना	मना
राम	लला
ताला	समान
लगना	तन
मन	लगाना
सताना	सरस
मरता	मनाना
सारस	रमा