Letters that look alike, and sounds the spelling hides

Most Nepali consonants come in pairs, plain and puffed, often a single stroke apart. Learn to tell them apart, and learn the few places where the spelling will not tell you the sound.

≈ 4 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

Most consonants come in pairs, plain and puffed, sitting side by side — often only a stroke apart.
Two consonants outside the twelve turn up in almost every line: य ya and ल la.
Three letters, श ष स, are one s sound in ordinary Nepali speech.
व is written v in the guide and usually said as a b.
Inside a word the built-in a can go quiet as well, so a word is often shorter than its spelling.

English has no habit of hearing a puff of air, because it never changes an English word. Puffed and plain are different letters in Nepali, not accents of one letter.

Plain, and the same letter with a puff of air

Read across each row: the plain letter, the same letter with a puff of air after it, and a word that uses the puffed one.

Plain	Puffed	A word with the puffed one
कka	खkha	रूखrūkh“tree”
गga	घgha	बाघbāgh“tiger”
चca	छcha	छcha“is, there is”
टṭa	ठṭha	ठूलोṭhūlo“big”
डḍa	ढḍha	ढल्योḍhalyo“it fell over”
तta	थtha	साथीsāthī“friend”
दda	धdha	धेरैdherai“a lot, very”
पpa	फpha	फूलphūl“flower”
बba	भbha	भन्योbhanyo“he said”

One further pair, ज / झja / jha, works the same way. Hold a hand in front of your mouth: on ख it is pushed, on क barely at all.

Two more letters you will meet everywhere

Both of these turn up in almost every line, so learn them alongside the first twelve.

य
ya — y as in yes
योyo
“this”
ल
la — l as in let
ठूलोṭhūlo
“big”

Where the tongue goes for t and d

Nepali makes t and d in two places: with the tongue on the teeth, or curled back to the roof. Say each pair aloud.

तta — tongue flat on the back of the top teeth

टṭa — tongue curled back to the roof

English t sits between them, so both will sound wrong at first and both will be understood

दda

डḍa

the same move, voiced

Where the spelling does not tell you the sound

The spelling here will not tell you the sound. Take the sound on the right as part of the word.

श ष स

one s sound

three letters for a distinction the mouth largely gave up; श leans towards sh in careful speech

धन्यवाद

धन्यवादdhanyavād“thank you”

the guide writes v because the letter is व, but the mouth says b: “dhan-ya-bād”

बाघbāgh + ले

बाघलेbāghle“the tiger, as the doer”

the tiger’s own quiet a stays quiet when a small word attaches behind it — said bāgh-le, not “bā-gha-le”

तर

तरtara“but”

a handful of short everyday words keep their final a against the rule — learn those with the word

Which of the pair is it?

ठूलो
The first letter is the puffed member of a curled-back pair.
Show answer +Hide answer −
ठूलोṭhūlo“big” — tongue curled back, and a puff of air.
बाघ against बाग
One stroke apart, and one puff apart.
Show answer +Hide answer −
बाघbāgh“tiger” has the puff; बागbāg“garden” does not.
Why is बाघले said in two syllables and not three?
Show answer +Hide answer −
Because बाघ already ends its a quietly, and ले attaches behind that: bāghle.

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