Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "कहाँ" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce कहाँ in Hindi?

कहाँ is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /kə.ɦãː/. It means “where.” kuh-HAAN with the n dissolved — a dry k, a soft voiced h, and a long nasalized aa.

kuh-HAAN with the n dissolved — a dry k, a soft voiced h, and a long nasalized aa.

कहाँ /kə.ɦãː/

kahaaṁ

All the weight is on the second syllable, which carries both length and nasality. This word shares its shape with yahaaṁ and vahaaṁ, so the family differs only in the opening consonant — which makes that unstressed first syllable more important than its weight suggests.

Listen: कहाँ

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Sound it out

ka A dry velar release and a bare schwa; at speed this opening syllable compresses almost to nothing.

haaṁ Voiced ह into a long आ nasalized from beginning to end. No closure anywhere; only the soft palate lowers.

Hear it in a sentence

आप कहाँ रहते हैं?

Aap kahaaṁ rehte haiṁ?

Where do you live?

Listen: आप कहाँ रहते हैं?

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"Aap kahaaṁ rehte haiṁ?" keeps the question word in mid-clause rather than fronting it, and rehte haiṁ agrees with the polite plural aap. Rehte shows the same ह-colouring pattern in its first syllable that kahaaṁ shows in its second.

Where English speakers slip

The standard errors are a hard final n and a strong voiceless h. Both come straight from English. Hindi wants a light voiced murmur for the h and pure nasalization for the vowel, with the tongue staying clear of the roof of the mouth throughout.