Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "क्यों" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce क्यों in Hindi?

क्यों is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /kjõː/. It means “why.” One syllable: k and y released together, then a long nasalized o. Not "kee-yon."

One syllable: k and y released together, then a long nasalized o. Not "kee-yon."

क्यों /kjõː/

kyoṁ

One superheavy syllable carrying a long nasal vowel. The cluster at the front adds no beat, so hearing two syllables means a helping vowel has crept in — and that changes the word's whole rhythm in a sentence.

Listen: क्यों

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Sound it out

ky क्य is a genuine onset cluster with no vowel inside it — the same shape as the start of English "cue," but keep the k unaspirated.

oṁ A long ओ nasalized throughout. The lips stay fixed and the soft palate stays lowered; nothing closes at the back of the mouth.

Hear it in a sentence

आप उदास क्यों हैं?

Aap udaas kyoṁ haiṁ?

Why are you sad?

Listen: आप उदास क्यों हैं?

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

"Aap udaas kyoṁ haiṁ?" places the question word immediately before the verb, which is where Hindi likes it. Both kyoṁ and haiṁ end in nasalized vowels, so the sentence finishes with two nasal vowels of different qualities in a row.

Where English speakers slip

Two things go wrong: the cluster gets broken into "ki-yoṁ," and the nasalization becomes a full -ng as in English "song." Release the k and y as a single onset, and let the nose open during the vowel without letting the tongue rise to the soft palate.