Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "होशियार" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce होशियार in Hindi?

होशियार is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɦoː.ʃɪ.jaːɾ/. It means “clever / smart.” hoh-shi-YAAR — four sounds of interest: voiced h, long o, short i, and a long aa closed by a tap.

hoh-shi-YAAR — four sounds of interest: voiced h, long o, short i, and a long aa closed by a tap.

होशियार /ɦoː.ʃɪ.jaːɾ/

hoshiyaar

Heavy, light, heavy: two long-vowelled syllables with a short one wedged between them. That dip is the word's signature, and flattening it into three equal beats is what makes learners' versions sound laboured.

Listen: होशियार

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Sound it out

ho Voiced ह into a long ओ held in one lip position, without the closing glide of English "hoe."

shi श like English sh, plus a short lax इ — this middle syllable is the light one and must stay brief.

yaar य gliding into a long aa, closed by a single tap of the tongue tip.

Hear it in a sentence

वह लड़की बहुत होशियार है।

Voh laṛkee bahut hoshiyaar hai.

That girl is very clever.

Listen: वह लड़की बहुत होशियार है।

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"Voh laṛkee bahut hoshiyaar hai" uses laṛkee, which contains ड़ — the retroflex flap — so the sentence asks for a quick backward flick before the adjective. Hoshiyaar itself does not inflect, so nothing marks the girl's gender except the noun.

Where English speakers slip

The middle vowel gets lengthened to match its neighbours, and the final r gets American colouring that swallows the aa. Keep the short i genuinely short and the r down to one contact. The initial h also needs to be voiced rather than the airy English variety.