In this lesson, we will learn the pronunciation of the alphabet in Marathi.

Friends, In the beginning, we will write Marathi in the English script. So as to enable you to read it, we will decide some conventions for it.
Note that in some cases there is some difference in pronunciation when the capital letter is used instead of a small letter. e.g n/N ; t/T ; d/D

Go through it once. You may not remember all pronunciation now. But as and when you will use it in the sentence, come back to these rules and check it. After a few days, you will remember it automatically.

Also, I have mentioned Devanagari symbols. So later when we will start using Devanagari. you can refer this chart to get the sound for each symbol.

Vowels

Let’s start studying Marathi vowels. In Marathi, vowels are added to consonants. Most of them are easy to pronounce, ऋ is slightly challenging. Marathi vowels retain much of their original Sanskrit pronunciation making some of them different from their Hindi counterparts. A notable example is औ (au), pronounced as an owl in Marathi but as Oxford in Hindi. ऑ (Ao) is a special vowel used for loan English words and is pronounced as in doctor.

DevanagariTransliteration used hereExamples
aas in allow
A
as in hard
i
as in hit
Ias in mean
uas in put
Uas in hoot
eas in main
aias in fight
oas in Oh my God
auas in owl
अंaMas sound of "um" in number, sound of "um" as in jum
अःaHas “uh” in huh?
अ‍ॅ~aas in “bat”
~oas in O in Oxford
Ruas “ru” in ruby;“roo” in “roof”

Listen pronunciation of vowels online at

or
https://soundcloud.com/kaushik-lele/pronunciation-of-vowels-in-marathi-learn-marathi

Pronunciation of ऋ(Ru) is different in Hindi and Marathi.
In Hindi ऋ(Ru)  is pronounced as रि(ri). Whereas in Marathi sound is similar to रु (ru).

Listen pronunciation of ऋ Ru
https://soundcloud.com/kaushik-lele/pronunciation-of-ru-learn-marathi

Consonants

Now lets us learn consonants in Marathi. Many Marathi consonants come in three different forms: aspiratedunaspirated and retroflex.

Aspiration means with a puff of air and is the difference between the sound of the letter p in English pin (aspirated) and spit (unaspirated). Retroflex consonants, on the other hand, are not really found in English. They should be pronounced with the tongue tip curled back. Practice with a native speaker, or just pronounce as usual — you’ll usually still get the message across.

DevanagariTransliteration used hereEquivalent/Comments
kas in skip.
khas in sinkhole.
gas in go.
ghas in doghouse.
Gas in sing. Used only in Sanskrit loan words, does not occur independently.
chas in church.
Chas in pinchhit.
jas in jump.
jhas in dodge her.
nYas in canyon. Used only in Sanskrit loan words, does not occur independently.
Tas in tick. Retroflex, but still a hard t sound similar to English.
Thas in lighthouse. Retroflex
Das in doom. Retroflex
Dhas in mudhut. Retroflex
Nretroflex n, as in grand.
tdoes not exist in English. more dental t, with a bit of a th sound. Softer than an English t.
thaspirated version of the previous letter, not as in thanks or the.
ddental d.
dhaspirated version of the above d.
nn in man, pan
pas in spin.
phas in uphill.
bas in be.
bhas in abhor.
mas in mere.
yas in yet.
rr in rat
las in lean.
vas in Spanish vaca, between English v and w, but without the lip rounding of an English w.
shas in shoot.
Shalmost indistinguishable retroflex of the above. slightly more aspirated.
sas in see.
has in him.
Las in Norwegian farlig. Retroflex lateral approximent
क्षkShAs in k + sh
ज्ञdnyPronounced as d + n + y

Listen pronunciation of Consonants

There are two sounds for symbols च(ch) ज(j) झ (jh)

Listen difference in pronunciation of श(sh) and ष(Sh)

Listen pronunciation of ळ(L)

Pronunciation of ज्ञ(dny) is different in Hindi and Marathi