Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "कुत्ता" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce कुत्ता in Hindi?

कुत्ता is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /kʊt̪.t̪aː/. It means “dog.” KOOT-taa — hold the dental closure for an extra beat before releasing into the long aa.

KOOT-taa — hold the dental closure for an extra beat before releasing into the long aa.

कुत्ता /kʊt̪.t̪aː/

kuttaa

The doubled consonant makes the first syllable heavy by position while the long vowel makes the second heavy by length, so the word is balanced with all its time in the middle. Consonant length is contrastive in Hindi, so the hold is not optional.

Listen: कुत्ता

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Sound it out

ku क releases with no air at all, and the उ after it is short and lax, rounded like the oo of "book" but briefer.

tt A geminate dental stop: the tongue tip stays against the upper teeth for roughly twice the normal duration before releasing.

aa The long आ that follows the release, marking masculine agreement.

Hear it in a sentence

कुत्ता ज़ोर से भौंक रहा है।

Kuttaa zor se bhaunk rahaa hai.

The dog is barking loudly.

Listen: कुत्ता ज़ोर से भौंक रहा है।

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"Kuttaa zor se bhaunk rahaa hai" uses zor se for "loudly," with a nuqta ज़ at the front, and bhaunk carries a breathy-voiced भ plus the rounded औ. The verb is considerably harder than the noun.

Where English speakers slip

English does not use consonant length contrastively inside a word, so learners produce a single short t — and place it on the alveolar ridge as well. Two fixes: keep the tongue tip on the teeth, and hold the closure noticeably longer than feels natural.