Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "बाथरूम" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce बाथरूम in Hindi?

बाथरूम is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /baːt̪ʰ.ɾuːm/. It means “bathroom.” BAATH-room — the th is an aspirated dental stop, not the fricative of English "bath," and the r is a tap.

BAATH-room — the th is an aspirated dental stop, not the fricative of English "bath," and the r is a tap.

बाथरूम /baːt̪ʰ.ɾuːm/

baathroom

The word looks English but has been reshaped: Hindi supplies a stop where English has a fricative and a tap where English has an approximant. The aspiration in the middle stretches the junction between its two long syllables.

Listen: बाथरूम

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Sound it out

baa Unaspirated ब with a long open आ; no breathiness on the b.

th थ blocks the airflow with the tongue tip on the upper teeth and then releases it with a strong puff. Hindi has borrowed the word but not the English fricative.

room A single tap, a long ऊ, and a closing m. The tap is much shorter than the English r it replaces.

Hear it in a sentence

माफ़ कीजिए, बाथरूम कहाँ है?

Maaf keejiye, baathroom kahaaṁ hai?

Excuse me, where is the bathroom?

Listen: माफ़ कीजिए, बाथरूम कहाँ है?

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"Maaf keejiye, baathroom kahaaṁ hai?" opens with the apology formula, whose nuqta फ़ gives a true f, and closes with kahaaṁ's nasalized long aa. Between them baathroom is the only word with an aspirated stop.

Where English speakers slip

Almost everyone just says the English word, supplying the th of "bath" and a rhotic r. Neither exists in Hindi. Make the th a full stop released with breath, and reduce the r to one quick contact — the difference is immediately audible to a Hindi listener.