Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "मरना" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce मरना in Hindi?

मरना is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /məɾ.naː/. It means “to die.” MUR-naa — schwa, one tap, then the long ending; two beats, never three.

MUR-naa — schwa, one tap, then the long ending; two beats, never three.

मरना /məɾ.naː/

marnaa

Light then heavy, with the deleted schwa after र keeping it to two beats. Because both the tap and the schwa are so brief, the word is essentially one long vowel with a fast run-up.

Listen: मरना

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Sound it out

ma m plus a bare schwa, exactly the vowel of the first syllable of "mundane."

r A single tap of the tongue tip against the ridge, closing the syllable. It should be shorter than you expect.

naa The only long vowel in the word, preceded by a nasal made against the teeth; all the duration lives here.

Hear it in a sentence

मैं भूख से मर रहा हूँ।

Maiṁ bhookh se mar rahaa hooṁ.

I'm starving!

Listen: मैं भूख से मर रहा हूँ।

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"Maiṁ bhookh se mar rahaa hooṁ" uses se to mark the cause — dying of hunger — and bhookh packs a breathy-voiced भ and an aspirated ख into one syllable. The bare stem mar keeps the tap, so the r is still a single flick.

Where English speakers slip

An American r turns this into "MURR-naa," with an r-coloured vowel that lasts the whole syllable and no distinct tap. Hindi keeps the schwa clean and adds one quick contact at the end. Some learners also insert a vowel and say ma-ra-naa, which no native speaker does.