Pronunciation Key

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• Syllables are separated by hyphens in pronunciations.
• Syllables spoken with the most stress are shown in CAPITAL letters
• Words of one syllable are shown with no stress.
• Only one pronunciation is generally given. When more pronunciation are equally common, preferred one is given first
• While giving pronunciation keys we have preferred to stick with the closest English letter or their combination which will produce the "Marathi" sounds. However, not all Marathi alphabets can have equivalent English alphabet or combination of alphabets. In such cases, the only way to learn these sounds is listen to the pronunciations by Marathi speaker. Please use audio help available for pronunciation key.
• For the English words which are used in Marathi, the pronunciation is not given. For example, wherever doctor is used in Marathi, it is written as "doctor" and no pronunciation is given.
• The Marathi alphabets which are blue in color have unique pronunciation in Marathi and can not easily described using combination of English alphabets.
• The only Marathi word that does not use the Marathimitra Pronunciation Key symantics is the word - "Marathi". You will always see this word visible on our site as Marathi and not as Ma-raa-tdhee

Vowels

Sound	ITRANS Key	Comment
a	a	as sound of "a" in ahead, metal {short "a" }
aa	A	as sound of "a" in in arm, cart, bar or as sound of "i" in ice, bite, fire {long "a"}
i	i	as sound of "i" in pencil, credible {short "i" }
ee	I	as sound of "i" in if, give, mirror {long "i" } or as sound of "ee" in esteem
u	u	as sound of "u" in push, pull
oo	uu	as sound of "o" in soon, fool {long "u" } or as sound of "u" in rule
e	e	as sound of "e" in egg, bed, merry or as sound of "a" in age, aim, came
ai	ai	as sound of "ei" in Eikman
o	o	as sound of "o" in go, low
au	au	similar to the sound of "ow" in cow (if it pronounced as single syllable)
.n or .m or -N- or -M-	aM	as sound of "um" in number, sound of "um" as in jump
.ah	sound of "h" with hard stop

Consonants

Sound	ITRANS Key	Comment
k	k	as sound of "k" in karate
kh	kh	as sound of "kh" in khaki
g	g	as sound of "g" in gum
gh	gh	as sound of "gh" in ghost
xn	~N	similar to the sound of "n" in bring, thing
ch	ch	as sound of "ch" in chuck;use of middle palate
cxh	ch	as sound of "ch" in chuck;use of front palate
chh	Ch	similar to the "ch" in chuck , but with the release of breath, or aspiration.
j	j	as sound of "j" in jug
jx	j	variation of sound of "j" in jug; use of front palate
z	jh	as sound of "z" in lazy
zh	jh	variation of sound of "z" in lazy; use of middle palate
yn	~n	distinct sound of "y" and "n" pronounced together
t	T	as sound of "t" in tune, hit
tdh	Th	sound of "dh" using back palate and moving toung down instantantly blowing air out
d	D	as sound of "d" in done
dhv	Dh	sound of "dh" using back palate as sound of "dh" in "adhere"
tn	N	sound of "n" using middle palate.
tv	t	soft sound of "t" , dental sound of "t" as sound of "t" in Spanish word "tamale"
th	th	as sound of "th" in thumb, thick
dv	d	as sound of "th" in mother, there
dh	dh	as sound of "th" this
n	n	as sound of "n" in nun, none
p	p	as sound of "p" in pun
f	ph	as sound of "f" in firm
b	b	as sound of "b" in bum
bh	bh	as sound of "b" using lips and saying "b" and "h" together as in "bhaji"
m	m	as sound of "m" in mother
y	y	as sound of "ye" in yes
r	r	as sound of "ru" in run
l	l	as sound of "lo" in love
w	v	as sound of "wo" in work
sh	sh	as sound of "sh" in shun {middle palate}
hsh	hsh	close to the sound of "ssion" in mission {back palate}
s	s	as sound of "so" in some
h	h	as sound of "hu" in hut
hl	L	as sound of "l" using back/middle palate
ksh	x	as sound of letters "ksh" pronunced together
dn	j~n	distinct sound similar to nasal and front palate sound of "n"
xr	R	distinct sound similar to gutteral sound of r
tvr	tr	as sound of "tr" in Russian word peristroika Or close to the sound of "tr" in tree if used front palate.