Devanagari Consonants

DEVANAGARI CONSONANT PRONUNCIATION:

In Devanagari script, all consonants are organized into a very logical system as to where in the mounth they are pronounced. 

The first group consists of consonants that are produced at the back of the throat such as: ka, kha, ga, gha. The second group consist of consonants such as cha, chha, ja, jhaa and so on. The last group will consist of those consonants that are pronounced with lips such as: pa, pha, ba, bha, ma. These will be followed by semi-vowels ya, ra, la , va and these, accordingly, will be followed by the group of sibilants sha, Sha, sa and the last sound of the Devanagari syllabary is the aspirate "ha". 

After the full Devanagari consonant list, the will be a table of the dotted characters. Dots are used to make a deeper, more articulate sound and are mostly met in words borrowed from the Persian language and Arabic. These type of words are mostly used in Urdu or formal Hindi (my observation, may not be the rule).

Dancers in Jaipure (photo: Aditya)

VELAR CONSONANTS :

क	कबूतर	kabootar	pigeon
ख	खरगोश	khargosh	rabbit
ग	गमला	gamlaa	flower pot
घ	घड़ी	ghaRhy	watch, clock

PALATAL CONSONANTS:

च	चम्मच	chammach	spoon
छ	छतरी	chhatry	umbrella
ज	जहाज	jahaaj	ship
झ	झंडा	jhanDaa	flag

RETROFLEX CONSONANTS (Tongue should be "curled", sound like sitar strings):

ट	टमाटर	TamaaTar	tomato
ठ	ठेला	Thelaa	hand barrow
ड	डमरू	Damroo	small hand drum
ढ	ढोलक	Dholak	drum

DENTAL CONSONANTS:

त	तोता	totaa	parrot
थ	थर्मस	tharmas	thermos
द	दरवाज़ा	darvaazaa	door
ध	धनुष	dhanuSh	bow
न	नमक	namak	salt

LABIAL CONSONANTS:

प	पाठ	paaTh	lesson
फ	फल	phal	fruit
ब	बस	bas	bus
भ	भालू	bhaaloo	bear
म	मोर	mor	peacock

SEMI-CONSONANTS:

य	यज्ञ	yagya	sacrifice, offering
र	रथ	rath	chariot
ल	लड़का	ladkaa	boy
व	वन	van	forest

SIBILANT CONSONANTS श, ष, स AND ASPIRATE  ह:

श	शेर	sher	lion
ष	शतकोण	shatkoN	hexagon
स	सपेरा	saperaa	snake charmer
ह	हाथी	haathee	elephant

DOTTED AND OTHER CONSONANTS (Usually rarely used): 

(Unfinished)

क़	क़लम	Kalam	pen
ख़	ख़बर	Khabar	news
ग़	ग़ज़ल	Gazal	ghazal
ज़	ज़िन्दगी	Zindagy	life
फ़	फ़ैसला	Faislaa	decision
ड़
ढ़
ङ
ञ
क्ष
श्र
ज्ञ