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Hindi (हिन्दी) is a language spoken mainly in North and Central India. It is an Indo-European language, of the Indo-Aryan subfamily. Hindi is written in Devanāgarī. Hindi became the official language^[2] of India on January 26, 1965, although English and 21 other languages are recognised as official languages by the Constitution of India. ISO 639 is one of several international standards that lists short codes for language names. ... SIL International is a non-profit, Christian, scientific organization with the main purpose to study, develop and document lesser-known languages for the purpose of expanding linguistic knowledge, promoting world literacy and aiding minority language development. ... This list of languages is alphabetical by English name. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies The Indo-European languages include some 443 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken by about three billion people, including most of the major language families of Europe and western Asia, which belong to a single superfamily. ... The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ... Rigveda manuscript in Devanagari (early 19th century) DevanāgarÄ« (देवनागरी —, pronounced as , but in English pronounced as ) (ISCII – IS13194:1991) [1] is an abugida alphabet used to write several Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Bihari, Bhili, Konkani, Bhojpuri and Nepali from Nepal. ... January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Most linguists think of modern vernacular Hindi and Urdu as the same language. They are both subsets of the dialects termed Hindustani, the dialects descended from medieval Prakrits not written before the Independence of India. The distinction of Hindi and Urdu as separate languages is largely for reason of post-1947 politics, with Hindi written in Devanāgarī, and drawing more vocabulary from Sanskrit, and Urdu written in the Persian script and drawing more from Persian and Arabic. Urdu(اردو) is an Indo-European language which originated in India, most likely in the vicinity of Delhi, from whence it spread to the rest of the subcontinent. ... The word Hindustani is an adjective used to denote a connection to India, or, more precisely, the historical region that encompasses Northern India, Pakistan, and nearby areas. ... Prakrit (Sanskrit prakrta: natural, usual) refers to the broad family of the Indic languages and dialects spoken in ancient India. ... The Indian independence movement was a series of steps taken in the Indian subcontinent for independence from British colonial rule, beginning with the Rebellion of 1857. ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Rigveda manuscript in Devanagari (early 19th century) DevanāgarÄ« (देवनागरी —, pronounced as , but in English pronounced as ) (ISCII – IS13194:1991) [1] is an abugida alphabet used to write several Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Bihari, Bhili, Konkani, Bhojpuri and Nepali from Nepal. ... The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing the Arabic language, which is the language of the Quran, the holy book of Islam. ... Persian (فارسی / پارسی), (local name in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan: ‘Fârsi’), ‘Pârsi’ (older local name, but still used by some speakers), Tajik (a Central Asian dialect) or Dari (another local name in Tajikistan and Afghanistan), is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, western Pakistan, Bahrain, and elsewhere. ... Arabic (العربية al-arabiyyah, or less formally arabi) is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ...

Area

Hindi is generally classified in the Central Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. Hindi is the predominant language in the states and territories of Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh. It is also highly spoken the cities of Mumbai and Hyderabad. It is not easy to delimit the borders of the Hindi-speaking region. The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ... Himachal Pradesh, formally the Punjab Hill States, is a state in northwest India. ... This article deals with the city of Delhi. ... Haryana (हरयाणा) is a state in north India. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Uttar Pradesh (Hindi: उत्तर प्रदेश, Urdu: اتر پردیش), also popularly known by its acronym UP, is the fifth largest and the most populous state in India. ... Rajasthan (राजस्थान) is the geographically largest state in northwestern India. ... Madhya Pradesh (मध्य प्रदेश) is a state in central India. ... Bihar (बिहार in Devanagri) is a state situated in the eastern part of India. ... Jharkhand (झारखंड in Devanagari) is a state in eastern India. ... Chhattisgarh (छत्तीसगढ़), a state in central India, formed when the sixteen southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained statehood on November 1, 2000. ... Mumbai (Marathi: मुंबई ) (pronounced in Marathi, and in English), formerly known as Bombay (IPA: ), is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the most populous Indian city with a 2005 estimated population of about 13 million. ... Hyderabad (హైదరాబాదు in Telugu, حیدراباد in Urdu), the 5th largest metropolis of India [1], is the capital of the present day State of Andhra Pradesh. ...

Hindi is a minority language in a number of countries, including Fiji, Mauritius, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and United Arab Emirates.

Number of Speakers

Hindi along with Urdu, is the second most-spoken language in the world, after Chinese. (This ranking comes from estimates from the CIA World Factbook for the year 2000; other language rankings differ.) About 500 million people speak Hindi, in India and abroad, and the total number of people who can understand the language may be 800 million. According to 1991 census^[3] 40.22% of the Indian population can speak Hindi, and 77% of the Indians regard Hindi as "one language across the nation". Urdu(اردو) is an Indo-European language which originated in India, most likely in the vicinity of Delhi, from whence it spread to the rest of the subcontinent. ... World Factbook 2004 cover The World Factbook is an annual publication by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with basic almanac-style information about the various countries of the world. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... This is a list of languages ordered by number of first-language speakers, with some data for second-language use. ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

More than 180 million people in India regard Hindi as their mother tongue. Another 300 million use it as second language. Outside of India, Hindi speakers number 100,000 in the USA; 685,170 in Mauritius; 890,292 in South Africa; 232,760 in Yemen; 147,000 in Uganda; 5,000 in Singapore; 20,000 in New Zealand; 30,000 in Germany.

Origin and history

Hindi evolved from the Middle Indo-Aryan prakrit languages of the Middle Ages, and indirectly, from Sanskrit. Middle Indo-Aryan refers to a stage (c. ... Prakrit (Sanskrit prakrta: natural, usual) refers to the broad family of the Indic languages and dialects spoken in ancient India. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ...

Hindi became the official language^[4] of India on January 26, 1965, although English and 21 other languages are recognised as official languages by the Constitution of India. January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Standardization of Hindi

After independence of India, the Government of India worked on standardizing Hindi, and the following changes took place:

• standardization of Hindi grammar: In 1954, the Government of India set up a Committee to prepare a grammar of Hindi; The committee's report was released in 1958 as "A Basic Grammar of Modern Hindi"
• standardization of Hindi spelling
• standardization of Devanagari (Devanāgarī) script by Central Hindi Directorate, Ministry of Education and Culture to bring about uniformity in writing and improve the shape of some of its characters.
• scientific mode of scribing the Devanagari alphabet
• incorporation of diacritics to express sounds from other languages

The Two parallel languages Urdu & Hindi's popularity has been helped by Bollywood, the Hindi film industry where peotry has always been dominated by Urdu already established and recognized as refined way of communication. These movies have an international appeal and now they have broken into the Western markets as well. 1954 was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Rigveda manuscript in Devanagari (early 19th century) Devanāgarī (देवनागरी — in English pronounced ) (ISCII – IS13194:1991) [1] is an abugida alphabet used to write several Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Bihari, Bhili, Konkani, Bhojpuri and Nepali from Nepal. ... Typical Bollywood movie poster Bollywood is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based film industry in India. ...

Vocabulary

Hindi derives much of its formal and technical vocabulary from Sanskrit. Standard or shuddha ("pure") Hindi is used only in public addresses and radio or TV news, while the everyday spoken language in most areas is one of several varieties of Hindustani, whose vocabulary includes words from Urdu. In addition, spoken Hindi uses words from Portuguese, English and other languages as well. // The Relationship between Hindi, Urdu, and Hindustani/Hindi-Urdu Hindustani (or the Hindustani language) is a term used by linguists to describe a closely related series of languages or dialects stretching across the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. ... Urdu(اردو) is an Indo-European language which originated in India, most likely in the vicinity of Delhi, from whence it spread to the rest of the subcontinent. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Commonly spoken what is called Urdu and Hindi (actually known as Hindustani) sound very similar to each other. However, due to purists, the literary forms differ a lot. Standard Urdu uses a lot of Persian and Arabic words while the standard Hindi has a Sanskritized vocabulary. Hindi had been regarded as the laguage of literates and elite class of the society regarless of their ehthnic or religious background Urdu(اردو) is an Indo-European language which originated in India, most likely in the vicinity of Delhi, from whence it spread to the rest of the subcontinent. ... The word Hindustani is an adjective used to denote a connection to India, or, more precisely, the historical region that encompasses Northern India, Pakistan, and nearby areas. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ...

Dialects of Hindi

• Khadiboli or Sarhindi
• Bambaiya Hindi
• Braj (Brajbhasha)
• Awadhi (Avadhi)
• Kanauji
• Bundeli
• Bagheli
• Chhattisgarhi (Lahariya or Khalwahi)
• Hariyanvi (Bangaru or Jatu)
• Bhaya
• Chamari
• Ghera
• Gowli

Khadiboli is the basis for the language used by the government and taught in schools. Khariboli (also Khadiboli or Khari dialect) is the variation of Urdu/Hindi language that is used by the Indian state as the Hindi:national language, spoken in Western Uttar Pradesh. ... Bambaiya Hindi, also Mumbaiyya is a slang form of Hindi/Urdu spoken primarily in Bombay (Mumbai). ... Braj, though never a clearly defined political region, is considered to be the land of Krishna and is derived from the Sanksrit word vraja. ... Awadhi is a dialect of Hindi, spoken in the Awadh (Oudh) region of Uttar Pradesh. ... Kanauji is a language (or dialect) of India, with about 6 million speakers in the Kanauj area of Uttar Pradesh. ... Bundeli is a dialect of Hindi spoken in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. ... Bagheli is a dialect of the Baghelkhand region of central India. ... Chhattisgarhi is a language of India. ... Hariyanavi or Jatu or Bangaru is a dialect of Hindi language, spoken in the North Indian state of Haryana, and also in Delhi particularly by Jats. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Khariboli (also Khadiboli or Khari dialect) is the variation of Urdu/Hindi language that is used by the Indian state as the Hindi:national language, spoken in Western Uttar Pradesh. ...

Some of the East-Central Zone languages, including and Dhanwar, and Rajasthani languages, including Marwari, are also widely considered to be dialects of Hindi. There has been considerable controversy on the status of Punjabi and the Bihari languages, including Maithili, Bhojpuri, and Magadhi. The Rajasthani languages are a group of related languages spoken in India and Pakistan . ... The Marwari (also variously Marvari, Marwadi, Marvadi) is a language originating in the Western Indian state of Rajasthan, but is also found in the neighboring state of Gujarat and in Eastern Pakistan. ... Punjabi (sometimes spelled Panjabi) is the language of the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan. ... Bihari is a name given to a group of Indo-Aryan languages spoken in Bihar and neighboring states in India. ... Maithili is of the family of Indo-Aryan languages, which are part of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. ... Bhojpuri is the main language spoken in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh. ... The Magadhi language (also known as Magahi) is a language of India. ...

Alphabet and sound system

The Devanāgarī script represents the sounds of spoken Hindi almost exactly, so that a person who knows the Devanagari letters can sound out a written Hindi text comprehensibly, even without knowing what the words mean. The International Phonetic Alphabet. ... Phonetic (pho-NET-ic) is a nationwide voicemail-to-text messaging service available for most digital mobile phones in which a subscriber is provided a custom voice mailbox for the purpose of receiving all incoming voice messages as actual transcribed text for reading via short messaging (also known as SMS... In computing, Unicode provides an international standard which has the goal of providing the means to encode the text of every document people want to store on computers. ... Rigveda manuscript in Devanagari (early 19th century) DevanāgarÄ« (देवनागरी — in English pronounced ) (ISCII – IS13194:1991) [1] is an abugida alphabet used to write several Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Bihari, Bhili, Konkani, Bhojpuri and Nepali from Nepal. ...

There are 11 vowels and 35 consonants in Hindi. Their pronunciation and representation is given below:

Vowels

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Rigveda manuscript in Devanagari (early 19th century) DevanāgarÄ« (देवनागरी — in English pronounced ) (ISCII – IS13194:1991) [1] is an abugida alphabet used to write several Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Bihari, Bhili, Konkani, Bhojpuri and Nepali from Nepal. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet. ... The Extended SAM Phonetic Alphabet (X-SAMPA) is a variant of SAMPA developed in 1995 by John C. Wells, professor of phonetics at the University of London. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... In phonetics, a diphthong (Greek δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally with two sounds) is a vowel combination usually involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... In phonetics, a diphthong (Greek δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally with two sounds) is a vowel combination usually involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ...

Consonants

Hindi has a rich consonant system, with about 38 distinct consonant phonemes. An exact number cannot be given, since the regional varieties of Hindi differ in the details of their consonant repertoire, and it is unclear to what extent certain sounds that appear only in foreign words should be considered part of Hindi. The traditional core of the consonant system, inherited from Sanskrit, consists of a matrix of 25 occlusives (stop consonants), in which the airstream through the mouth is completely blocked, and 8 sonorants and fricatives. The system is filled out by 7 sounds that originated in Persian, and Arabic, but are now considered Hindi sounds. Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-07-20, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... In oral language, a phoneme is the theoretical basic unit of sound that can be used to distinguish words or morphemes; in sign language, it is a similarly basic unit of hand shape, motion, position, or facial expression. ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ... A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... In phonetics and phonology, a sonorant is a member of a class of speech sounds that are continuants produced without turbulent airflow in the vocal tract. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... Arabic (العربية al-arabiyyah, or less formally arabi) is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ...

^* These sounds are typically only found in loanwords. In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lips and the upper teeth, or viceversa. ... In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lips and the upper teeth, or viceversa. ... Dentals are consonants articulated with either the lower or the upper teeth, or both. ... Alveolars are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, the internal side of the upper gums (known as the alveoles of the upper teeth). ... Retroflex consonants are articulated with the tip of the tongue curled up and back so the bottom of the tip touches the roof of the mouth. ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the middle or back part of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. ... The vocal cords, also known as vocal folds, are composed of twin infoldings of mucous membrane stretched horizontally across the human larynx. ... A stop or plosive or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... An affricate is a consonant that begins like a stop (most often an alveovelar, such as [t] or [d]) and that doesnt have a release of its own, but opens directly into a fricative (or, in one language, into a trill). ... A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... In phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ...

^** This sound is written in some Sanskrit words but has merged with /ʃ/ in Hindi. The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ...

Occlusives

The 25 occlusives occur in five groups, with each group sharing the same position of articulation. These positions in their traditional order are: dorso-velar, apico-domal (or retroflex), dorso-palatal, apico-alveolar, and bilabial. In each position, there are five varieties of consonant, with four oral stops and one nasal stop. An oral stop may be voiced, aspirated, both, or neither. This four-way opposition is the hardest aspect of Hindi pronunciation for a speaker of English. In phonetics, a dorso-velar consonant is one in which the airstream through the mouth is blocked or constricted between the upper surface of the tongue (the dorsum) and the back of the hard palate (the velum). ... In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... A voiced consonant is a sound made as the vocal cords vibrate, as opposed to a voiceless consonant, where the vocal cords are relaxed. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some obstruents. ...

The voiced, unaspirated consonants are the easiest for English-speakers to pronounce. The initial sounds of "get", "jet", "debt", and "bet" are perfect examples of the dorso-velar, dorso-palatal, apico-alveolar, and bilabial positions, respectively. The apico-domal or retroflex position is the hardest for an English speaker: the apex of the tongue must be curled backward and brought into contact with the dome of the palate, well behind the gum-line.

The voiceless, unaspirated consonants are similar to those in French or in English words like "skin", "spin", and "stand". Aspirated voiceless consonants are similar to those in the English words "pat", "cat", "chat", and "tap" (though they are typically more heavily aspirated than in English). The voiced, aspirated consonants are the hardest to pronounce, but can be approximated by following the unaspirated version with an audible "h" sound.

The nn sound is retroflex, and the ny sound is the same as the Spanish "ñ" - otherwise, the nasal sounds are the same as in English. Neither nd nor ny occur at the beginning of Hindi words.

Sonorants

The 4 resonants are y, r, l, and v. These are similar to English, except that r is a tap as in Spanish, not an approximant, and v is halfway between English "v" and "w".

Fricatives

The native fricatives of Hindi are s, sh, and h, all three of which are pronounced as in English.

There is a fourth fricative, written ष in Devanāgarī, which is called "ssa" or "sha2". It was originally pronounced as /ʂ/ in Sanskrit, but it has merged with the sh sound in modern Hindi. Rigveda manuscript in Devanagari (early 19th century) DevanāgarÄ« (देवनागरी —, pronounced as , but in English pronounced as ) (ISCII – IS13194:1991) [1] is an abugida alphabet used to write several Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Bihari, Bhili, Konkani, Bhojpuri and Nepali from Nepal. ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ...

Borrowed Sounds

The khutma or Nukta (dot placed below the consonants) indicates Urdu (from Arabic, and Persian) and English sounds that are not present in Sanskrit. Urdu(اردو) is an Indo-European language which originated in India, most likely in the vicinity of Delhi, from whence it spread to the rest of the subcontinent. ... Arabic (العربية al-arabiyyah, or less formally arabi) is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... Persian (فارسی / پارسی), (local name in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan: ‘Fârsi’), ‘Pârsi’ (older local name, but still used by some speakers), Tajik (a Central Asian dialect) or Dari (another local name in Tajikistan and Afghanistan), is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, western Pakistan, Bahrain, and elsewhere. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

The sounds f, z, rd, and rdh are found only in loanwords. The first two are as in English. The latter two are retroflex taps, and never begin a word. The additional sounds /q/, /χ/, and /ʁ/ may be found in some loanwords. Some of the borrowed sounds are difficult for Hindi speakers to pronounce and many Hindi speakers will simply ignore the dot and pronounce the word as if it wasn't there.

Diacritics

• The anuswara (dot placed above a vowel) may represent one of these consonants: rda, nda, na, ma. These are pronounced after the vowel. This style is deprecated.
• The visarga (:) placed after a vowel represents ha.
• The anuswara (.) and visarga (:) are often included in list of vowel letters, but according to the standardized form of Hindi, they are consonants.
• A chandra-bindu sign is placed above a vowel to indicate nasalized vowel (anunasika).
• An ardha chandra-bindu placed above the vowel aa indicates 'o' sound of English (as in "office", "college"). Some people also use this sign, placed above a, to indicate 'e' (as in "bet") sound of English.

Chandrabindu ँ,is Sanskrit for moon-dot. It is a diacritic sign used in the Devanagari and Gujarati alphabets. ...

Literature

Main article: Hindi literature Literature in Hindi, the language spoken by the majority of people in India. ...

The beginnings of Hindi literature go back to the Prakrits that are a part of the classical Sanskrit plays. Tulasidas's Ramacharitamanas attained wide popularity. Modern masters include Jaishankar Prasad, Sumitranandan Pant, Maithili Sharan Gupta, Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala', Mahadevi Varma, Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayana 'Ajneya' and Munshi Premchand. Literature in Hindi, the language spoken by the majority of people in India. ... Goswami Tulsidas (1532-1623) was a medieval Hindi poet and philosopher. ... Jaishankar Prasad (1889 - 1937) was one of the most famous figures in modern Hindi literature. ... Sumitranandan Pant (सुमित्रानन्‍दन पंत) (1900 - December 28, 1977) was one of the most famous modern Hindi poets. ... Suryakant Tripathi Nirala (February 21, 1897-October 15, 1961) was one of the most famous figures of the modern Hindi literature. ... Mahadevi Varma (1907 - 1987) was one of the most famous modern Hindi poets. ... S. H. Vatsyayan (सच्‍चिदानन्‍द हीरानन्‍द वात्‍स्‍यायन) (1911–1987), (Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayana), was popularly known by his pen-name Ajneya or Agyeya, was a pioneer of modern trends not only in the realm of poetry, but also fiction, criticism and journalism. ... Munshi Premchand (July 31, 1880-October 8, 1936) (Premchand) was one of the greatest literary figures of modern Hindi literature. ...

Common difficulties faced in learning Hindi

• the phonetic mechanism of some sounds peculiar to Hindi (eg. rda, dha etc) The distinction between aspirated and unaspirated consonants will be difficult for English speakers. In addition, the distinction between dental and alveoloar (or retroflex) consonants will also pose problems. English speakers will find that they need to carefully distinguish between four different d-sounds and four different t-sounds.
• Even pronunciation of vowels: In English, unstressed vowels tend to have a "schwa" quality. The pronunciation of such vowels in English is changed to an "uh" sound. This is called reducing a vowel sound. The second syllable of "unify" is pronounced "uh" not "ee." The same for the unstressed second syllabe of "person" which is also pronounced "uh" rather than "oh." In Hindi, English-speakers must constantly be careful not to reduce these vowels. Probably the most important mistake here is for English speakers to reduce final "ah" sounds to "uh." This can be especially important because an English pronunciation will lead to misunderstandings about grammar and gender. In Hindi, "vo bolta hai" is "he talks" whereas "vo bolti hai" is "she talks." A typical English pronunciation in the first sentence would be "vo boltuh hai," which will be understood as "she talks" by most Hindi-native speakers.
• the Verbal concordance; Hindi exhibits split ergativity; see Ergative-absolutive language for an example.
• Postpositions (ne)
• Relative-correlative constructions. In English interrogative and relative pronouns are the same word. In "Who are you?" the word "who" is an interrogative, or question, pronoun. In "My friend who lives in Chicago can speak Hindi," the word "who" is not an interrogative, or question, pronoun. It is a relative, or linking, pronoun. We find this pattern with other words: where, when, why, etc. are used both to ask questions and to link words. In Hindi, there are different words for each. The interrogative pronoun tends to start with the "k" sound:" kab = when?, kahaaN = where?, kitna = how much? The relative pronouns are usually very similar but start with "j" sounds: jab = when, jahaaN = where, jitna = how much. Hindi uses these j-sound pronouns where English uses relative pronouns and clauses. In English we say, "I study where she studies" but in Hindi we say this differently. "jahaaN vo padhti hai(she studies) vahaaN main padhta hoon (I study)." Here "jahaaN" means "where" and "vahaaN" means there.
• Honorifics. For many English speakers, the fact that Hindi uses a three-part system of honorifics in the second person pronoun ("you") is deeply mystifying. It shouldn't be. The more formal pronouns are used in situations in which it's proper to express a degree of social respect. The less formal pronouns depart from this and indicate, on the one hand, intimacy, or on the other, an absence of social respect. The most formal is "aap" and is the safest for foreigners to use in all situations. It is used in situations that range from deeply respectful to the merely businesslike. When first meeting adults, whether at the bank, hotel or a restaurant, we should use "aap." The more intimate "tum" would be acceptable in talking with children or with adults with whom one is on more intimate terms. The safest thing with adults is wait and see what pronoun they use with you. They will almost certainly start off with "aap," but might, over time, start to use "tum" if your relationship becomes more like that of close friends. If your Hindi is too weak to determine whether they are using "aap" or "tum," then by all means, you should use "aap." Many grammars say that foreigners will rarely have the chance to use "tum" with Indian colleagues, but that is true only if one behaves like a "memsahib" or "sahib." The most intimate pronoun for you is "tu." This is only used in situations where there is a total absence of human formality: it is used in addressing animals or God, for example. With humans, it should probably be avoided, even for children. With another adult, the use of "tu" may express the intimacy of lovers (but even here "tum" is safer) or extraordinary anger. What's the connection? All of these situations involve the lack of social respect. Persons from lower socio-economic classes may often simply use a two-part system of honorifics: tu-tum. Foreign speakers of Hindi will probably be wise to not imitate this.
• Direct and Oblique inflections
• Optative and Conditional moods
• Compound verbs

Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone = sound/voice) is the study of sounds (voice). ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Look up Concordance on Wiktionary, the free dictionary see Concordance system for usage in politics. ... Split ergativity is shown by languages that have a partly ergative behaviour, but employ another syntax or morphology (usually accusative) in some contexts. ... An ergative-absolutive language (or just ergative language) is one that marks the subject of transitive verbs distinctly from the subject of intransitive verbs and the object of transitive verbs. ... A postposition is a type of adposition, a grammatical particle that expresses some sort of relationship between a noun phrase (its object) and another part of the sentence; an adpositional phrase functions as an adjective or adverb. ... In linguistics, many grammars have the concept of grammatical mood, which describes the relationship of a verb with reality and intent. ... A compound is a word composed of more than one free morphemes. ...

See also

• The list of Hindi words and list of words of Hindi origin at Wiktionary, the free dictionary and Wikipedia's sibling project
• Hindi literature
• Complex Text Layout languages
• Where is Hindi on the Internet?

Wiktionary full URL is a sister project to Wikipedia intended to be a free wiki dictionary (including thesaurus and lexicon) in every language. ... Literature in Hindi, the language spoken by the majority of people in India. ... Complex Text Layout languages (frequently referred to as CTL languages) are languages whose writing systems require complex transformations between text input and text display for proper rendering on the screen or the printed page. ... The figures in the table below were taken from Global Reach [1]. These are an estimate at September 2004 of the world online population per language. ...

External links

Hindi language edition of Wikipedia

Wikibooks has more about this subject:

Hindi language

• Send emails in Hindi language
• A short introduction to Hindi grammar
• Hindi Wiktionary
• Ethnologue on Hindi
• Generator for Hindi typographical filler text
• Madhyam: Free Hindi word processor by Balendu Sharma Dadhich
• Hindi Language Resources: A comprehensive site built by Yashwant Malaiya.
• Hindi documents and dictionary
• International Institute of Information Technologies IIIT, online and downloadable dictionaries cross referenced in English for Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu languages. Includes Classical Hindi Literature, writings of Meera, Suradas, Tulasidas, Premchand, Rahim et cetera.
• Online Itrans to generate Hindi/Devanagari output.
• Government of India website
• Hindi Website of Chinmaya Mission on Vedanta
• Official Unicode Chart for Hindi (PDF)
• Hindi Website of Chinmaya Mission
• Website of Microsoft to Provide Solutions for Hindi Language on net
• Hindi Editor
• Prabhasakshi: Latest news in Hindi
• Chitthaa Vishwa ( Hindi Blogdom )
• Romanized to Unicode Hindi transliterator
• Learn to write/read Hindi
• Hindi Dictionary