◌ं and ◌ँ

ma. The consonant carries a short a unless another sign changes it.

na

ka

ra

la

ā. Independent vowel: use it when a syllable starts with ā.

ā sign. Attached long ā, displayed to the right.

da. Dental d: tongue near the upper teeth.

i. Independent short i.

i sign. Written to the left of its consonant but read after it.

ta. Dental t: no large puff of breath.

ī. Independent long ī.

ī sign. Long ī appears on the right.

pa. Plain p, little breath.

u

ū

u sign. Short u below.

ū sign. Long ū below.

sa

e

ai

e sign. Vowel e above.

ai sign. Often a long open vowel, not necessarily an English eye diphthong.

o

au

o sign

au sign. Often a long open back vowel in Standard Hindi.

kha. A puff after k; not English ch.

ga. Voiced g, as in go.

gha. Voiced with breath; listen to the complete syllable.

ca. Plain ch-like sound.

cha. Airy ch-like sound.

ja. Voiced j.

jha. Voiced j with breath.

tha. Dental t with a puff; not English th.

dha. Dental d with breath; not English th.

ṭa. Retroflex t, tongue curled back.

ṭha. Retroflex t with breath.

ḍa. Retroflex d.

ḍha. Retroflex d with breath.

ba

bha. Voiced b with breath.

pha / often fa. Traditional ph; many contemporary Hindi speakers use f in familiar words.

ya

va / wa. Hindi व lies between English v and w; pronunciation varies by word and speaker.

ha

śa / sha

ṣa / sha. Often pronounced like श in contemporary Hindi; keep the learned spelling.

ṇa. Retroflex nasal, common in Sanskrit-derived words.

a. Independent short a begins a vowel-initial syllable.

ṛ / ri. In modern Hindi usually read approximately ri.

ṛ / ri sign. Attached below the consonant; common in Sanskrit-derived words.

nasal dot. Anusvara: often a nasal matching the following consonant; it can mark vowel nasalisation too.

nasal vowel. Chandrabindu: nasalisation of the vowel.

halant: no inherent vowel. A consonant plus halant joins the next consonant; it may become a half form or ligature.

visarga. Mostly in Sanskrit-derived words; actual Hindi word pronunciation varies.

ṅa. Velar nasal as ng in sing; rare as an independent full sign in ordinary Hindi words.

ña. Palatal nasal; mainly in conjuncts and learned spellings.

nukta: changes a consonant. A dot below a consonant; learn the complete resulting consonant.

ṛa. Retroflex flap, distinct from ordinary ड.

ṛha. Breathy retroflex flap.

fa

za

qa / ka. Back-of-mouth q in some speakers; often k in Hindi speech.

kha / x. A friction sound, not aspirated ख, when distinguished.

gha / ɣ. Voiced back friction when distinguished.

ɔ. Independent rounded vowel in loanwords.

ɔ sign. Rounded loan vowel above/right; contrast the ordinary long आ sign.