Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "लाल" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce लाल in Hindi?

लाल is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /laːl/. It means “red.” laal — a long open aa framed by two clear l's, both lighter and more forward than the English l in "ball."

laal — a long open aa framed by two clear l's, both lighter and more forward than the English l in "ball."

लाल /laːl/

laal

Heavy monosyllable built on a long vowel plus coda, so it stands solidly on its own; the practical point is duration, since a shortened laal drifts toward the sound of English "lull" and loses the vowel contrast Hindi depends on.

Listen: लाल

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Sound it out

l Hindi ल is a clear, front l with the tongue tip on the ridge and the back of the tongue low, in both initial and final position.

aa Long आ, the vowel of "palm" held for a full beat.

l The final l stays clear too — this is the one that trips people up, because English automatically darkens a syllable-final l.

Hear it in a sentence

यह सेब लाल है।

Yeh seb laal hai.

This apple is red.

Listen: यह सेब लाल है।

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"Yeh seb laal hai" needs no gender change on laal at all — it is one of the invariant adjectives, unlike neelaa or kaalaa nearby in this chapter. So the sentence would look identical with a feminine noun, which makes laal a useful contrast case.

Where English speakers slip

The final l is the giveaway. English speakers produce a dark, velarised l with the tongue body humped up, giving something like "laawl." Hindi keeps both l's clear and front, so the tongue tip should be firmly on the ridge and the back of the tongue relaxed and low.