LEARN HINDI – LESSON
1
[Introduction] [Lesson 2] [Lesson 3] [Lesson 4] [Lesson 5]
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1 Pronunciation Guidelines With some exceptions, Hindi pronunciation is closer to
that of Continental European languages such as Spanish, Italian or Greek,
than to English. One of the reasons for this is the pronunciation of normally
simple vowels (monophthongs) as double vowels (diphthongs)
- for example, i as aa-ee,
a as e-ee, o as o-u – which is a peculiarity of
modern English. However, single vowel sounds do occur in English.
English speakers, therefore, should encounter little difficulty in learning
Hindi provided that they abide by certain guidelines. VOWELS The Hindi language has ten vowels known as a-varg (a-class) of which a, i, u
are simple and short but also occur in a long form: aa,
ii, uu. The
remaining four vowels e, ai, o, au are always long.
The sound ri was adopted from Sanskrit where it was
originally pronounced as a vowel (somewhat like ur
in murky) and is sometimes regarded as such in Hindi. In practice,
however, it is pronounced as ri in brink. 1. A
(a) is half-open and short as in English above. Vowels also occur in a nasalised form which
ends in the sound ng as in English speaking, French maison, etc. This
will be indicated here as an “n” immediately succeeding the nasalised
vowel. For example, “ain”
for nasalised “ai”. Consonants are generally similar to those in most
European languages. Exceptions to this will be explained as they occur. Stress SHORT VOWELS: If all vowels in a word are short (a, i, u) the stress falls on the first syllable. LONG VOWELS: Long vowels (aa,
ii, uu, e, ai, o, au) are always stressed. SHORT AND LONG VOWELS: In words with both short and
long vowels the stress falls on the long vowels. The exception to this are
syllables containing a short vowel followed by two consonants which are
always stressed. EMPHATIC STRESS: Hindi has no emphatic stress. Emphasis
is expressed either (a) through the particles hii, bhii or to, or (b) through the inversion of the usual
word order. CONSONANTS All Hindi consonants have an inherent “a” sound
(pronounced as in above, but, etc.). They are therefore usually transliterated as
ka, kha, ga, etc. When
the inherent “a” is suppressed this is shown in transliteration by its
absence: k, kh, g. Hindi consonants are arranged in seven classes (varg) according to their pronunciation. 1. ka-varg (gutturals): ka, kha, ga, gha, Nga. These are pronounced from the throat. Nga is a velar
nasal sound produced by touching the soft palate with the root of the tongue. 2. cha-varg (pre-palatals): cha, chha,
ja, jha, NYa. Pronounced by
striking the area between the upper teeth and the roof of the mouth with the
surface of the tongue. NYa is a palatal nasal sound similar to French gn in rossignol or
Spanish n in espanol. 3. Ta-varg (palatals): Ta, Tha, Da, Dha, Na. Pronounced by
curling the tongue up and touching the roof of the palate with the tip of the
tongue. Na is a retroflex nasal sound
found in Sanskrit words, otherwise often identical with the dental nasal na, below. 4. ta-varg (dentals): ta, tha, da, dha,
na.
Pronounced by striking the edge of the upper teeth with the tip of the
tongue. 5. pa-varg (labials): pa, pha, ba, bha, ma. Pronounced as in English, by bringing the
lips together and parting them to release the expelled air. 6. ya-varg (semi-vowels): ya, ra, la, va. These are identical to their English
equivalents with the exception of r which in Hindi is pronounced as in most
of Continental Europe (especially Italy, Greece, etc.). Hindi y (ya) is pronounced as
in English yard, yearn, yawn, penny, never as in my, why, hyper. 7. sha-varg (sibilants): sha, Sha, sa, ha. These are voiceless, hissing sounds. Sha is similar to English sh
but, in Sanskrit words, it is produced by curling the tongue up and bringing
it closer to the roof of the mouth. In Hindi, however, it is identical to sh. Hindi s is always pronounced as ss
and never as z. NOTE: Particular care must be taken to differentiate
between aspirated and non-aspirated consonants. For example, between k and kh, g and gh, etc. The compounds kh, gh, th, dh, etc., are always aspirated
sounds, that is, pronounced as smooth
k, g, t, d, quickly followed by h, as in
brickhouse, hothouse, madhouse,
clubhouse. As aspirates are quite common in Hindi it is well to put
some effort into mastering their pronunciation. The best way of doing this is
by repeating the sounds kha, khaa,
khu, khi, khii, khe, kho;
tha, thaa, thu…; dha, dhaa,
dhu… etc., until pronunciation becomes easier and
smoother. Distinction must also be made between dentals and
palatals. For example, between t (dental, produced by striking the teeth) and
T (palatal or retroflex produced by striking the roof of the mouth). ALPHABET Hindi is written in the Devanagari
alphabet which is different from the Latin or Greek-derived alphabets of
European languages. All Hindi words are here given in English transliteration
to facilitate their learning. Reading and writing in Devanagari
is not essential for speaking and understanding the language. The student may
therefore acquire some knowledge of Hindi first. Nevertheless, the Devanagari
alphabet ought to be mastered sooner rather than later. To learn the basics of the Devanagari script click HERE. A. COMMON PHRASES namaste (or namaskaar): Greetings This is said with palms joined together in front of the
chest and covers English “Hello”, “Good Morning”, “Good Evening” as well as
“Goodbye”. Other forms of greeting are “om namah shivaaya”, “raam raam”, etc., all of which
invoke the name of God. aap
kaise hain?: How
are you? Note the nasalised
vowel ai. The sound h is pronounced as in English hat,
etc. main
thiik huun: I
am well Observe that the sound th is never pronounced as in English the, thus, etc. but
as t followed by h, as in hothouse. aur
aap kaise hain?: And how are you? main
bhii thiik huun, dhanyavaad:
I am well, too, thank
you Again, it should be remembered that the compounds bh, th, dh, etc., are always aspirated
and not smooth sounds. aapkaa
naam kyaa hai?: What
is your name? A more courteous form of asking a person’s name would
be “aapkaa shubh naam” meaning “what is your good (lit. auspicious)
name?” English speakers must note that Hindi y (ya) is never pronounced as in my, why, etc., but as in
yard, yearn, yawn, very. Thus kyaa is pronounced kia as in Italian chiaroscuro or Chianti, where ch is pronounced as k and the first syllable (kee-ah) rimes with tia in
tiara. meraa naam shivraaj hai: My
name is Shivaraj The sound v is pronounced as in English but somewhat
softer, especially after a consonant (except r and t) when it becomes closer
to English w. In Sanskrit words it is pronounced by bringing the lips
together instead of touching the upper teeth with the lower lip. kyaa
aap bhaartiiy hain?: Are you Indian? Note that the Hindi word for India is Bhaarat. Indian therefore is Bhaartiiy.
Alternative words for India are Hind, Hindustaan
and for Indian, Hindustaanii. The y in bhaartiiy is
pronounced as a very short English ee somewhat
similar to the y in pretty, never as in my, why, etc. jii haan, main
bhaartiiy huun: Yes, I am Indian kyaa
vo manushy bhaartiiy hai?: Is that man Indian? jii nahiin, vo bhaartiiy nahin hai,
vo paakistaanii hai: No,
he is not Indian, he is Pakistani yaeh
manushy kaun hai?: Who
is this man? Note that the final y in manushy
is pronounced as in bhaartiiy, above. Thus an
approximate pronunciation of manushy would be “manooshee” with a very short final ee
as in pushy. yaeh
arjun hai. yaeh meraa
bhaaii hai: He is Arjun.
He is my brother. aur yaeh
strii kaun hai?: Who
is this woman? yaeh
kamal hai. yaeh merii
bahin hai: And this is Kamal.
She is my sister ve
maataajii hain. ve
pitaajii hain: This is (my) Mother. This is (my) Father kyaa
aap log hinduu hain?: Are you (people) Hindu? jii haan, ham sab hinduu hain: Yes, we are all Hindu B. GRAMMAR PERSONAL
PRONOUNS
THE VERB HO-NAA “TO BE” The verb HO-NAA is a very important element of Hindi language
which is often used as an auxiliary in the conjugation of many verbs.
Note that Hindi has various forms of addressing
a person: (1) Familiar or Intimate, (2) Polite and (3) Formal. The tuu form (Familiar or Intimate) is used with the 2nd
person singular of the verb. The tum and aap forms (Polite and Formal) are used with the 2nd
person plural, Polite and Formal of the verb, respectively. The tuu form is expressive of familiarity or intimacy.
It is used mainly by women among themselves, by a man to his wife, children
and servants, by a Guru to his close disciples, and by believers to the
Deity. When used to address somebody who is not any of the above, it may
connote disrespect or contempt. In consequence, it is advisable for beginners
in the Hindi language to avoid using tuu
altogether. The tum form expresses informal politeness and is used
to address friends, acquaintances and generally persons one considers as his
equals. A waiter in the restaurant, for example, may be addressed with tum (but never with tuu). The aap form expresses respect and formality and is
used to address one’s superiors or to suggest formality when addressing
persons of equal rank. It is the normal form used by children to address
their parents, employees their employers, etc. Tum and aap are always plural
irrespective of whether we are addressing one or several persons. Titles that
designate persons belonging to the aap group as
well as Divine Beings are followed by the honorific particle jii which connotes honour and
affection: Guru-jii, Maataa-jii,
Pitaa-jii, Kamal-jii,
Shiva-jii, etc. The particle jii also occurs in affirmative and negative sentences as
the equivalent of the English adverbs yes (jii haan or haan jii)
and no (jii nahiin or nahiin jii). When used on its own, jii
means yes. C. VOCABULARY namaste greetings, hello,
goodbye namaskaar greetings, hello, goodbye jii
nahiin (nahiin jii) no (Sir) jii
haan (haan jii) yes (Sir) aur and kyaa what (also
used to begin a question) kaun who kaisaa,
kaise, kaisii how (masc. sg.,
masc. pl., fem.) thiik well dhanyavaad thank you bhii also, too naam (m.) name yaeh this vo that main I tuu you
(familiar) vo he, she,
it ham we tum you (polite) aap you (formal) ve they manushy man strii woman maataa mother pitaa father bhaaii brother bahin sister bhaartiiy Indian log (m. pl.) people sab all hinduu Hindu ho-naa to be |