Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "लिखना" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce लिखना in Hindi?

लिखना is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /lɪkʰ.naː/. It means “to write.” LIKH-naa in two beats — a short lax i, a clear l, and a genuine puff of air after the k.

LIKH-naa in two beats — a short lax i, a clear l, and a genuine puff of air after the k.

लिखना /lɪkʰ.naː/

likhnaa

A light closed syllable and a heavy open one; the aspiration adds duration in the middle, which is why the word can feel longer than its two beats. Schwa deletion after ख is what keeps it from becoming three.

Listen: लिखना

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Sound it out

li Bright front l with a short इ; do not lengthen the vowel toward "leek."

kh Aspirated ख closing the syllable. The breath must be audible even in this word-medial position, where English would suppress it.

naa Following the puff directly, with no vowel in between: the nasal is dental and the final vowel is long.

Hear it in a sentence

मैं एक चिट्ठी लिख रहा हूँ।

Maiṁ ek chiṭṭhee likh rahaa hooṁ.

I am writing a letter.

Listen: मैं एक चिट्ठी लिख रहा हूँ।

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

"Maiṁ ek chiṭṭhee likh rahaa hooṁ" uses the bare stem likh and pairs it with chiṭṭhee, a word with a doubled retroflex ट्ठ — held closure, curled tongue, and aspiration all at once. That noun is considerably harder than the verb it appears with.

Where English speakers slip

The aspiration is the first casualty, especially mid-word, giving "liknaa." English only aspirates stops at the start of stressed syllables, so this position feels unnatural. The l is the second issue: keep it clear and front rather than letting it darken before the k.