Exceptions in Learning Devanagari
Devanagari is quite regular, but there are a few pronunciation quirks to watch out for when using it to read Hindi.
"-a" though usually pronounced short, is always written long at the end of a masculine word (the exception are Sanskrit loan words) as a visible mas. marker -ā. The feminine "-ī" marker is pronounced as written.
When ह follows an inherent vowel as in ताज महल (tāj mahal), the 'a' preceding the 'h' becomes an 'e', as in यह (yeh = this), thus pronounced tāj mehal. Thus the transliteration in such cases is deliberate and not a typo! Another noteworthy aberration is वह (voh = that). Fortunately these are a few of the only words that aren't phonetically pronounced in Hindi. There is also a diphthong -आय which is pronounced as the 'i' in 'high', e.g. चाय (cāy) = tea'. And a double consonant isn't just there to look pretty, hold that consonant's sound a little longer. Finally, the final -ā is purposefully written without the macron, as this is misleading as to the pronunciation, which is more like a schwa sound. If this were Sanskrit, it would be practical, but not here. Just remember the inherent 'a' is always written at the end of a mas. word in Hindi.
The semi-vowel "ऋ" is normally transliterated in Roman as an "r" with a diacritical ring below. This semi-vowel is pronounced like "ri", but slightly trilled as in rip. Unfortunately, the proper Roman diacritic doesn't appear to be supported yet by unicode. It can be found in श्री कृष्ण (śrī kṛṣṇa) - "Lord Krishna"). For now the diacritical bindi (dot) will have to suffice for both of the flapped r's. Ambiguity shouldn't cause too much problems, as the trilled r in कृष्ण (kṛṣṇa) or ऋषि (ṛiṣi) occurs only in Sanskrit loan words, and is very rare in Hindi. In addition; if you are familiar with Devanagari, that should resolve any remaining confusion.
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The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Learning Devanagari
