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Alphabet & Pronunciation

Devanagari script, vowels, consonants, matras and key pronunciation rules
संयुक्त अक्षर: क्ष त्र ज्ञ श्र
conjunct letters: kṣa tra jña śra
ksha tra gya shra
Special conjuncts common in Hindi
हलंत / विराम
halant / virama
halant
Sign that removes the inherent 'a' vowel: क् = k
अनुस्वार ं
anusvara (nasal dot)
anusvaar
Dot above = nasal: हिंदी, अंदर
चंद्रबिंदु ँ
chandrabindu (nasal)
chandrabindu
Nasalises the vowel: हाँ, माँ
विसर्ग ः
visarga
visarg
Breath sound, rare: दुःख
नुक़्ता ़: क़ ख़ ग़ ज़ फ़
nuqta: qa, kha, gha, za, fa
qa khha ghha za fa
Dot below for sounds from Persian/Arabic/English
द्वित्व व्यंजन: पक्का
doubled consonants: pakkaa
double consonants
Geminated consonants written with conjunct
र के रूप: र्क, क्र, ट्र
forms of र: rka, kra, ṭra
r conjunct forms
र takes different shapes in conjuncts
स्वर बनाम मात्रा
independent vowel vs matra
svar vs matra
Vowels: full form at word start, matra after consonant
बिना मात्रा = अंतर्निहित अ
no matra = inherent a
inherent a
Every consonant has built-in 'a' unless marked