Page 213 - The Rough Guide Phrasebook - Hindi & Urdu

Pronunciation
Throughout this book, Hindi and Urdu words have been
transliterated into romanized form so that they can be read
as though they were English, bearing in mind the notes on
pronunciation given below. A number of Hindi/Urdu sounds
have no exact equivalent in English: ask someone to say them
for you.
Vowels HOW THE LANGUAGE WORKS
a as in about, like unstressed English a
ā a as in faff r
a a as in mat
ai as in Thai
aw as in awe
e long e sound somewhere between the bold characters
in air or may, similar to the a in cable
i as in bit
ī ee as in need N
ō like the oa in moan
u as in put
ū oo as in fooff l
Nasal Vowels Pr onunciation
Hindi and Urdu vowels are sometimes nasalized, that is they are
pronounced as if followed by a slight ng sound, similar to the
nasal sound as at the end of the French pronunciation of restau-
rant. In this book nasal vowels are shown in bold type.
Consonants
Unless listed below, consonants are pronounced more or less
as in English:
d similar to the th in the (d pronounced with the tongue
against the teeth
d similar to d as in done (d pronounced with the tongue
back against the roof of the mouth)
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