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Hindi AlphabetThe Hindi alphabet doesn’t function the way that you’ll be accustomed to if you’re only familiar with the English alphabet. This is also an alphabet that is enormously complex, incredibly ancient and that is one of the most ornate and developed writing systems in the world. Hindi culture also shares some linguistic traditions with Arabic, so there are similarities in the way the two alphabets function. Generally speaking, however, Hindi is very complex in its written form. The Hindi alphabet is usually written in a continuous stream, with the letters joined on the top. This gives it a beautiful look and puts it on par with the most developed forms of calligraphy in the world. If you plan on using a language learning tool such as a Hindi dictionary , you’ll need to understand the script. It’s not related to any European alphabets, so you’re going to have a bit of learning ahead of you. The Hindi alphabet sometimes uses entirely different letters to express very small differences in letter sounds. This makes it a bit different than most European languages, which use a system of accents to denote such differences. For example, consider these two different representations of the “K” sound. क: unaspirated “k” ख: aspirated “k” This is not uncommon and, when you’re trying to learn Hindi vocabulary words, you’ll want to make certain that you are taking into account the subtle differences, particularly if you are learning off of a document that contains Hindi type rather than learning from someone who is helping you to pronounce the words directly. It’s easy to make mistakes, so be sure to take your time and to study diligently with this language. Below is another example of how two different “G” sounds are represented in the Hindi alphabet. ग: unaspirated “g” घ: aspirated “g” As you can see, Hindi is very complex. The examples given here employ Devanagari script, which is typically used to write the Hindi language. It is organized differently than our Western alphabets and, according to some linguists, even the organizational scheme of this language is far more advanced than are those used for Western languages. The Hindi alphabet is also unique in the impressive precision of how each letter is pronounced. Plan on taking some time to learn this alphabet. It will be a difficult journey but, in the end, you will have tackled a very gratifying linguistic challenge and learned a great deal. |
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