Hindi has a large 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. The traditional core of the consonant system, inherited from Sanskrit, consists of a matrix of 20 plosives, 5 nasals, and 8 sonorants and fricatives. The system is filled out by 5 sounds that originated in Persian, but are now considered Hindi sounds.

The 25 stop consonants occur in five groups, with each group sharing the same position of articulation. These positions in their traditional order are: velar, retroflex, palatal, dental, 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.

1. The first group (the k-group) is the group of 'velar' sounds.

2. The second group is (the c-group) belongs to the 'palatal' group. For these sounds, the front part of the tougue is raised to touch the palate region.

3. For the third group (the T-group or the retroflex group), the tip of the toungue is raised to touch the retroflex region of the mouth.

4. For pronuncing the 't-group' sounds (or the dental sounds), the tip iof the tongue is raised to touch the back of the upper teeth region.

5. For the 'p-group' (or the labial) sounds, both the lips are used.

Click on character to listen to its sound.