Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "चाँद" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce चाँद in Hindi?

चाँद is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /tʃãːd̪/. It means “moon.” chaand with the n dissolved — a dry ch, a long nasalized aa, and a dental d.

chaand with the n dissolved — a dry ch, a long nasalized aa, and a dental d.

चाँद /tʃãːd̪/

chaaṁd

Nasality and length live in the same segment here, so clipping the vowel costs you both at once. The stop at the end contributes nothing to the syllable's duration.

Listen: चाँद

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Sound it out

ch Unaspirated च released with no breath, made slightly further forward than English ch.

aaṁ A long आ nasalized throughout by the chandrabindu; the soft palate lowers for the whole vowel and nothing closes in the mouth.

d The tongue tip moves to the upper teeth for the stop, and the nasality stops the instant that closure forms.

Hear it in a sentence

आज रात पूरा चाँद है।

Aaj raat pooraa chaaṁd hai.

The moon is full tonight.

Listen: आज रात पूरा चाँद है।

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"Aaj raat pooraa chaaṁd hai" makes pooraa masculine to agree with chaaṁd, and raat just before it has an oral long aa. So the sentence puts an oral aa and a nasalized aa two words apart — an ideal minimal comparison.

Where English speakers slip

Learners insert a real n before the d, producing "chaand" with a tongue contact Hindi does not make there, and give the d an alveolar articulation. Let the nasality live entirely in the vowel, then move the tongue tip straight to the teeth for the stop.