You are viewing a free preview of this lesson.
Subscribe to unlock all 10 lessons in this course and every other course on LearningBro.
This lesson covers the remaining 18 consonants in Devanagari: the dentals (तवर्ग), labials (पवर्ग), semivowels (अंतःस्थ), sibilants (ऊष्म), and the aspirate ह.
Dental sounds are produced with the tongue touching the back of the upper teeth. These are softer than the retroflex sounds from the previous lesson.
| Character | Romanisation | IPA | Aspirated? | Example Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| त | ta | /t̪ə/ | No | तारा (taaraa) | star |
| थ | tha | /t̪ʰə/ | Yes | थाली (thaalee) | plate |
| द | da | /d̪ə/ | No | दरवाज़ा (darvaazaa) | door |
| ध | dha | /d̪ʱə/ | Yes | धन (dhan) | wealth |
| न | na | /nə/ | Nasal | नमक (namak) | salt |
Tip: English "t" and "d" are actually pronounced with the tongue on the alveolar ridge (behind the teeth), not on the teeth themselves. Hindi dentals require you to place your tongue directly on the upper teeth. This is one of the most important pronunciation differences for English speakers.
Subscribe to continue reading
Get full access to this lesson and all 10 lessons in this course.