Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "कहानी" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce कहानी in Hindi?

कहानी is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /kə.ɦaː.niː/. It means “story.” kuh-HAA-nee — a dry k, a soft voiced h, and two long vowels in the last two syllables.

kuh-HAA-nee — a dry k, a soft voiced h, and two long vowels in the last two syllables.

कहानी /kə.ɦaː.niː/

kahaanee

One light syllable feeding two heavy ones, which is a shape shared with maheenaa and hameshaa. In all three the initial schwa is nearly inaudible, and treating it as a full beat is the standard learner error.

Listen: कहानी

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Sound it out

ka No air escapes as the velar stop releases, and the vowel after it is a bare schwa.

haa Voiced ह running into a long open आ; the h is a murmur, so the two syllables almost blend.

nee A nasal made on the teeth, then a long tense ई closing the word.

Hear it in a sentence

क्या आप मुझे एक कहानी सुनाएँगे?

Kyaa aap mujhe ek kahaanee sunaaeṁge?

Can you tell me a story?

Listen: क्या आप मुझे एक कहानी सुनाएँगे?

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

"Kyaa aap mujhe ek kahaanee sunaaeṁge?" uses the future sunaaeṁge with a nasalized ending agreeing with aap, and mujhe supplies the listener. Kyaa at the front marks the yes-no question without changing word order.

Where English speakers slip

A strong English h splits the word into over-separated beats and puts a false stress up front. Hindi's ह is voiced and light. The k also picks up aspiration, and the final vowel tends to shorten under English rhythm when it should stay fully long.