Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "बेटा" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce बेटा in Hindi?

बेटा is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /beː.ʈaː/. It means “son.” BAY-ṭaa — a flat long e, then a retroflex ṭ with the tongue tip curled back to the roof of the mouth.

BAY-ṭaa — a flat long e, then a retroflex ṭ with the tongue tip curled back to the roof of the mouth.

बेटा /beː.ʈaː/

beṭaa

Setting up the retroflex closure in the middle slightly delays the second syllable without lengthening it. That delay is articulation, not stress, and the two long vowels stay equal.

Listen: बेटा

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

be Unaspirated ब with a long ए held motionless; English "bay" glides upward at the end and this must not.

ṭaa ट is retroflex: curl the tongue tip up and back until it strikes behind the alveolar ridge, then release without aspiration into a long aa.

Hear it in a sentence

उनका एक छोटा बेटा है।

Unkaa ek chhoṭaa beṭaa hai.

He has a young son.

Listen: उनका एक छोटा बेटा है।

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

"Unkaa ek chhoṭaa beṭaa hai" pairs beṭaa with chhoṭaa, and both contain a retroflex ट — so the tongue curls back twice in three words. Chhoṭaa also opens with an aspirated छ, which beṭaa's plain ब does not.

Where English speakers slip

The English alveolar t sits between Hindi ट and त and reads as neither. Curl the tongue tip back until the position feels exaggerated. The first vowel is the other issue: freeze it rather than letting it glide toward ee as English "bay" does.