Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "बाहर जाना" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce बाहर जाना in Hindi?

बाहर जाना is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /baː.ɦəɾ dʒaː.naː/. It means “to go out.” BAA-hur JAA-naa — a long aa then a schwa in the first word, and two long aa vowels in the second.

BAA-hur JAA-naa — a long aa then a schwa in the first word, and two long aa vowels in the second.

बाहर जाना /baː.ɦəɾ dʒaː.naː/

baahar jaanaa

The phrase alternates heavy-light then heavy-heavy, so it has a distinctly uneven gait. Getting the schwa in -har genuinely short is what keeps baahar from sounding like a two-long-vowel word and blurring into other vocabulary.

Listen: बाहर जाना

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Sound it out

baa Unaspirated ब and a long open आ; do not let the b acquire breathiness, which would turn it into भ.

har Voiced ह, a short schwa, and a quick tap. This syllable is much lighter than the one before it.

jaanaa The affricate ज with no aspiration, then two long vowels — the same shape as aanaa but with a consonant onset.

Hear it in a sentence

क्या हम आज रात बाहर जाएँ?

Kyaa ham aaj raat baahar jaaeṁ?

Shall we go out tonight?

Listen: क्या हम आज रात बाहर जाएँ?

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"Kyaa ham aaj raat baahar jaaeṁ?" uses the subjunctive jaaeṁ for a suggestion, and its nasalized ending agrees with ham. Aaj raat sits before baahar with three long aa vowels in succession, so the short schwa in baahar is the first real break in the vowel pattern.

Where English speakers slip

Two errors compound: making the h too strong and voiceless, which artificially separates the syllables, and giving the final r American colouring, which lengthens the schwa. In Hindi the h is a soft voiced murmur and the r is a single flick, so the second syllable should be over almost before it starts.