1.2: हिंदी व्यंजन वर्ण "Hindi Consonant Letters"

Please watch the following video of Hindi consonant letters. While watching the video, you can pause and try to say each letter out loud.

Instructor Video: Hindi Consonant letters

Writing Consonant Letters

Please watch the following video and try to learn how to write consonant letters.

Instructor Video: Writing Consonants

Table 4. List of Consonant Letter with their English equivalent sounds.

Table 4 (above). Hindi consonant letters with their English equivalent and their place and manner of articulations.

	Place of Articulation	Unvoiced Unaspirated	Unvoiced Aspirated	Voiced Unaspirated	Voiced Aspirated	Nasal
Hindi	Velar	क	ख	ग	घ	ङ
English		ka	kha	ga	gha	nga
Hindi	Palatal	च	छ	ज	झ	ञ
English		cha	chha	ja	jha	nja
Hindi	Retroflex	ट	ठ	ड/ड़	ढ/ढ़	ण
English		Ta	Tha	Da/Ra	Dha/Rha	Na
Hindi	Dental	त	थ	द	ध	न
English		ta	tha	da	dha	na
Hindi	Labial	प	फ	ब	भ	म
English		pa	pha	ba	bha	ma
Hindi	Semi-vowels	य	र	ल	व
English		ya	ra	la	va/wa
Hindi	Sibilants	स	श	ष
English		sa	sha	shha
Hindi	Glotal	ह
English		ha
Hindi	Clusters	क्ष	त्र	ज्ञ
English		ksha	tra	jna

Table 5. Examples of Hindi Consonants in English and Hindi words

Table 5 (above). Examples of consonant letters in Hindi and English words.

Consonants	English	Hindi	Notes
क	SKILL, STICK	कलम, कपड़ा
ख		खरगोश, खरा	“ख” is pronounced as “क,” but with aspiration (extra puff of air).
ग	GUN, GOAL	गमला, गड़बड़
घ		घर, घड़ी	“घ” is pronounced as “ग,” but with aspiration (extra puff of air).
ङ		गंगा, कंघी	Velar nasal does not explicitly appear in a word. It comes as a dot (.) above the letter to show nasalization.
च	PITCH, SWITCH	चरखा, चरित्र
छ		छत, छड़ी	“छ” is pronounced as “च,” but with aspiration (extra puff of air).
ज	JUG, JOKE	जग, जटिल
झ		झरना, झगड़ा	“झ” is pronounced as “ज,” but with aspiration (extra puff of air).
ञ		पंजाब, पंच	Palatal nasal does not explicitly appear in a word. It comes as a dot (.) above the letter to show nasalization.
ट	BAT, CAT	टमाटर, टमटम
ठ		ठठेरा, ठग	“ठ” is pronounced as “ट,” but with aspiration (extra puff of air).
ड	BAD, CARD	डमरू, डब्बा
ढ		ढक्कन, ढहना	“ढ” is pronounced as “ड,” but with aspiration (extra puff of air).
ण		ठंडा, अंडा	Retroflex nasal does not explicitly appear in a word. It comes as a dot (.) above the letter to show nasalization.
त		तरबूज, तनाव	“त” is pronounced as “ट,” with the tongue at dental position.
थ		थरमस, थकना	“थ” is pronounced as “त,” but with aspiration (extra puff of air).
द	THE, THEN	दवा, दरवाज़ा
ध		धन, धनुष	“ध” is pronounced as “द,” but with aspiration (extra puff of air).
न	NO, NEAR	नल, नहाना
प	NAP, SLEEP	पतंग, पलंग
फ		फल, फटना	“फ” is pronounced as “प,” but with aspiration (extra puff of air).
ब	TUB, PUB	बकरी, बदन
भ		भलाई, भरोसा	“भ” is pronounced as “ब,” but with aspiration (extra puff of air).
म	MOM, MONEY	मछली, ममता
य	YELLOW, YES	यज्ञ, यश
र	REST, RIVER	रस्सी, रचना
ल	LAMP, LARGE	लट्टू, लड़का
व	WAY, WINE	वर्दी, वकील	Hindi has only “व” for English “W,” and “V.”
स	SUN, SERVICE	सब्ज़ी, सड़क
श	SHOE, SHINE	शलगम, शत
ष		षट्भुज, षड्यंत्र	“ष” is pronounced as “श,” with the tongue at retroflex position.
ह	HINDI, HUB	हरा, हरिन
क्ष		क्षत्रिय, वृक्ष	“क्ष” is a borrowed letter from Sanskrit. It does not have English equivalent.
त्र		पत्र, पात्र	“त्र” is a borrowed letter from Sanskrit. It does not have English equivalent.
ज्ञ		यज्ञ,	“ज्ञ” is a borrowed letter from Sanskrit. It does not have English equivalent.

Worksheet 2. Please practice writing these consonant letters

Worksheet 2. Hindi language learners can download the worksheet below to practice writing consonant letters.

Worksheet 2 PDF

Test Yourself

Activity 1: Match the followings

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://openbooks.lib.msu.edu/ll151/?p=674

Activity 2: Choose the correct option.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://openbooks.lib.msu.edu/ll151/?p=674

Activity 3:

Please record your consonant sounds here and share it with your friends/teacher for further feedback.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://openbooks.lib.msu.edu/ll151/?p=674

Reading and Writing Task

You should try to read the words in Worksheet 3 (below). You can write them down in Roman script then watch the following video and check your answer.

Worksheet 3 (above). Reading and Writing: Please read these words and try to write them in Roman script and then check your answer using video 5 (below).

जल	नल	सच	झट	रथ
फल	हल	मत	पर	घर
डर	बस	कह	चख	कर
मत	हर	अब	पढ़	यम
कलम	कमल	खरब	कलश	महल
बतख	मदन	पलक	नहर	भजन
शहद	शहर	सड़क	मगर	चरण
पकड़	इधर	ऊपर	गरम	परत
कसरत	अजगर	दशरथ	शरबत	टमटम
बरगद	नटखट	उबटन	परवल	पनघट
चमचम	लगभग	करवट	जगमग	हलचल

Instructor Video: Feedback on Worksheet 3

Half Consonants

Unlike English, Hindi has half consonants (consonant without vowel). In Hindi, half consonants are used to form consonant clusters in words.

Please watch the following video to learn how to write half consonant.

Instructor Video: Half Consonants

Picture 1. Handwritten half consonant in both styles.

Picture 2. Typed half consonants in Hindi

Half “र” (R)

Half “र” when it comes in a consonant cluster, it is written in two ways.

(a) When half “र” comes after another consonant, it is marked as a diagonal stroke at the bottom of the letter going from right top to the left bottom.

For example:

प्र	प्रेम	Prem
क्र	क्रम	kram
ग्र	ग्राहक	graahak

(b) When “र” come before another consonant, it is marked on the top of another consonant as a “रेफ” reph.

For example:

र्प	सर्प	sarp
र्य	आर्य	aary
र्षा	वर्षा (if there is a long vowel, reph goes on the top of the long vowel)	warshhaa

धन्यवाद !