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Unit 4 · Spelling and speech · Read
Spelling and speech
Know which clues print supplies and which come from the whole word.
कमल
kamal: the last a is not spoken
Read, then confirm with the whole word
Learn inherent-vowel presence from the Nepali word. कमल is kamal, with no vowel after the last l, but छ, is, keeps its vowel: cha.
कमल
lotus
छ
is (familiar Nepali form)
दिती
Two i signs, one i sound in Nepali
Two spellings, one sound
The written vowel pairs ि/ी and ु/ू do not normally make a length contrast in Nepali. Listen to day and three: both have the same short i. Learn which sign a word uses as part of its spelling.
दिन
day
तीन
three
शषसव
Usually one s sound · व often read b
Letters that share a sound
श ष स are usually one s sound: army, cold and language all have a plain s. व is often b: वन, forest, is ban.
सेना
army
शीत
cold / dew
भाषा
language
वन
forest
Melody shows questions and emphasis, not a new word
No tones, no stress marks
Nepali does not use word tones. Stress and phrase melody come from whole-word listening, not a written stress mark.
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