The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Hindi and Urdu pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.

See Hindustani phonology for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Hindi-Urdu. See Devanagari and Urdu alphabet for help converting Hindi and Urdu spelling to pronunciation.

Consonants
IPA[१] Hindi[१] ISO 15919 [१] Urdu Approximate English equivalent
k ka ک sky
kha کھ ache (khh sound)
ɡ ga گ again
ɡʱ gha گھ aghast
ŋ ṅa ن bank (mostly Hindi; Urdu uses [n] (ن)).
ca چ catch
tʃʰ cha چھ choose
ja ج jazz
dʒʱ jha جھ hedgehog (strong jhh sound)
ɲ ña ن roughly like canyon (mostly Hindi; Urdu uses [n] (ن)).
ʈ[२] ṭa ٹ artist
ʈʰ[२] ṭha ٹھ Thai, tarp
(deeper thh sound)
ɖ[२] ḍa ڈ odd, depot
ɖʱ[२] ḍha ڈھ adhere
ɳ ṇa ن bunny (mostly Hindi; Urdu uses [n] (ن)).
[२] ta ت، ط kite
t̪ʰ[२] tha تھ thump (dental thh sound)
[२] da د the
d̪ʱ[२] dha دھ within (as a dhh sound, tongue touches palate, strong air exhalation)
n na ن not
p pa پ pencil
pha پھ pith (phh sound)
b ba ب butter
bha بھ abhor
m ma م much
j ya ی yak
r ra ر rapture (r may be trilled)
l la ل leaf
ʋ[३] va و varies between w and v
ʃ śa ش shoe (light s with h sound)
ʂ ṣa ش/س assure
(strong s; no h sound) (mostly Hindi; Urdu uses either [ʃ] (ش) or [s] (س)).
s sa ث، س، ص sue
ɦ ha ح head
q क़ qa ق quail (k in the throat, tongue not touching palate) (mostly Urdu; sometimes substituted for [k] (क) in Hindi)
x ख़ k͟ha خ Bach (kh in the throat, tongue not touching palate) (mostly Urdu; sometimes substituted for [kʰ] (ख) in Hindi)
ɣ ग़ ġa غ similar to a French r (mostly Urdu; sometimes substituted for [ɡ] (ग) in Hindi).
z ज़ za ذ، ز، ض، ظ zen, zero
ʒ झ़ zha ژ pleasure, seizure
ɽ ड़ ṛa ڑ gourd
ɽʱ ढ़ ṛha ڑھ as [ɽ] plus h; somewhat as the US: warhead or Greek rho
f फ़ fa ف phantom, food (f sound)
Vowels
IPA Hindi ISO 15919 Urdu Approximate English equivalent
ə[४] अ, प a اَ، بَ strut, but
आ, पा ā آ, بَا far, heart
ɪ[५] इ, पि i اِ، بِ dill, still
[५] ई, पी ī اِی، بِی feed
ʊ[५] उ, पु u اُ، بُ book, took
[५] ऊ, पू ū اُو، بُو moon
ऋ, पृ ری، پر Syllabic ‹r›: repaired
ए, पे ē اے، بے Yale
ɛː ऐ, पै ai اَے، بَے rain,, feign
ओ, पो ō او، بو roar
ɔː औ, पौ au اَو، بَو awe
◌̃ ـں nasal vowel faun
([ãː, õː], etc.)
ŋ, ɲ, ɳ, n, m, ◌̃ ـں jungle
ɦ ه ahead
Suprasegmentals
IPA
ˈ◌ stress
(placed before stressed syllable)
◌ː doubled consonant
(placed after doubled consonant)
  1. १.० १.१ १.२ In the letter series beginning with क, क= क् + अ; ka= k+ a.Thus 'क' has the inherent vowel 'अ', giving 'क' without added vowel sign using diacritics (The halant "्" is removed). But the IPA shown here has the consonant 'k' only & does not include the vowel 'a'.
  2. २.० २.१ २.२ २.३ २.४ २.५ २.६ २.७ To an English-speaker's ear, [ʈ ʈʰ t̪ t̪ʰ] all sound like /t/, and [ɖ ɖʱ d̪ d̪ʱ] all sound like /d/. However, to a Hindi-Urdu-speaker's ear, each is a very different sound. [t̪ d̪] are like the Spanish or French [t d], with the tongue touching the teeth. [t̪ʰ d̪ʱ] are how a Hindi-Urdu speaker hears English [θ ð] (the th and dh sounds). Hindi-Urdu [ʈ ɖ] are pronounced with the tongue further back, touching behind the teeth mid-palate. [ʈʰ ɖʱ] are how a Hindi-Urdu speaker hears English t d, and [ʈ] is how they hear the English t after an s (as in st).
  3. [v], [w] and intermediate [ʋ] are allophonic in Hindi-Urdu. Some words, such as vrat ('व्रत', 'ورت', religious fast), are pronounced with [v]; others, such as pakwan ('पकवान', 'پكوان', cooked food), are pronounced with [w].
  4. /ɛ/ occurs as a conditioned allophone of /ə/ near an /h/ surrounded on both sides by schwas. Usually, the second schwa undergoes syncopation, and the resultant is just an /ɛ/ preceding an /h/.
  5. ५.० ५.१ ५.२ ५.३ /iː, ɪ/ and /uː, ʊ/ are neutralised to [i, u] at the end of a word.