'Ten English words that you are pronouncing incorrectly'!
'Five French brand names that we're mispronouncing'!
We've all read such listicles over the past few years. Today, let's learn about the commonly mispronounced Hindi words!
One of the most widely spoken languages in the world and a direct descendant of Vedic Sanskrit, the Hindi language has evolved into its present form through Prakrit and Apabhramsa languages. It is the first language of around 430 million people around the world, which makes it worth learning. Apart from India, the language is widely spoken in many other countries, including Nepal, Guyana, Trinidad, Fiji, and Mauritius.
From literature and poetry to arts, music, film, and everyday life, the Hindi language is absolutely worth exploring. Hindi is highly phonetic; this is to say that you can predict the pronunciation of a word in Hindi from its written form. Its words have a smooth, pitched sound that makes it a pleasure to hear and easy to pick up. Those familiar with the Devanagri script will endorse that Hindi is spoken exactly like it is written. But over the years some words have begun to be pronounced differently (nahi - naee), some are mispronounced (ghabraahat - ghabdaahat) and some pronunciations have got influenced due to native scripts being written in English letters.
This can confuse any new learner. So let's check out some of the words to understand why they are pronounced in different ways!
Nahi नहीं: Basically, the word नहीं (nahi) means ‘no’. Many people now pronounce it as नई (naee), which is a convenient short form and hence has become very common! This is comparable to how in English, 'I don't know' is often reduced to 'dono'.
Yah यह: This word means ‘this’ and is pronounced ‘yah’. In spoken language, however, people in hurry pronounce it as ये (ye). This pronunciation has become more common than the original one.
Namaskaar नमस्कार: When we meet someone, we traditionally greet them with the word, ‘Namaskaar’. People may sometimes pronounce it as नमश्कार (namashkaar), which may be out of over-enthusiasm!
Prasaad प्रसाद: In India, you should not refuse two things: a girl asking for help, and someone offering you food in the temple that is called Prasad. In spoken language, however, people sometimes tend to pronounce it प्रशाद (prashaad).
Ghabraahat घबराहट: Let’s admit that every time we go for an exam, an interview, or meet someone special, we experience butterflies in our stomachs. This mixed feeling is known as Ghabraahat in Hindi. But while speaking people often mispronounce it as घबडाहट (ghabdaahat).
Dhakelna धकेलना: This word basically means to push someone on something. But the word is usually mispronounced as ढकेलना (Dhhakelna - with a heavy Dh) rather than धकेलना (dhakelna - with a soft dh).
बादाम: Almost every Indian household swears by almonds as a brain booster. In Hindi, it is known as बादाम (baadaam) but is often mispronounced as बदाम (badaam).
रामायण: The Ramayan is one of the most sacred Hindu epics. In Hindi and Sanskrit, it is pronounced and known as रामायण Ramayan. This word is very commonly mispronounced as रामयणा Ramayana by bilingual Indian people - because of the final 'a' in its English spelling. But whatever language you are speaking, the pronunciation will always be रामायण (Ramayan). The same goes with महाभारत (Mahabharat), बुद्ध (Buddha), अर्जुन (Arjun), etc.
So, how do you pronounce thse words? Tell us in the comments!
Learning a new language and speaking it how the locals speak it is not easy unless you have friends to speak it with. But, you can do that now in the Language Curry app. The app enables you to 'tap and listen' to hear the pronunciation and 'repeat' the word so that it can check your own diction and pronunciation as well. The best part is that you don't have to spend a dime!
So, what are you waiting for? Just get started! Use correct Hindi words in your conversation and steal the limelight.
Do you know of the commonly mispronounced Gujarati words or Marathi words? Do check them out too!
Happy Learning!!!!
