Hindi · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "थका" in Hindi?

Q: How do you pronounce थका in Hindi?

थका is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /t̪ʰə.kaː/. It means “tired (m.; f. थकी).” thuh-KAA — the th is an aspirated dental stop, tongue on the teeth with a puff of air, never the th of "thin."

thuh-KAA — the th is an aspirated dental stop, tongue on the teeth with a puff of air, never the th of "thin."

थका /t̪ʰə.kaː/

thakaa

One puff-heavy light syllable feeding a long-vowelled one, so the beat is at the end. The aspiration on थ adds so much audible time to the front of the word that learners often mistake it for a stressed syllable; it is not, it is just breathy.

Listen: थका

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Sound it out

th थ blocks the airflow completely with the tongue tip on the upper teeth, then releases it with a strong breath. It is a stop, not the fricative English writes with the same two letters.

a A bare schwa, so light it is almost carried by the aspiration in front of it.

kaa Unaspirated क — no puff at all this time — opening into a long aa that also marks masculine agreement.

Hear it in a sentence

मैं आज रात बहुत थका हूँ।

Maiṁ aaj raat bahut thakaa hooṁ.

I am very tired tonight.

Listen: मैं आज रात बहुत थका हूँ।

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"Maiṁ aaj raat bahut thakaa hooṁ" uses the masculine thakaa; a woman would say thakee, changing the final vowel. Raat before it ends in a dental त with no aspiration, so the sentence puts an unaspirated and an aspirated dental within two words of each other.

Where English speakers slip

Almost everyone reads th as the fricative in "thanks" and produces a sound Hindi does not have at all. The airflow must stop completely first. The mirror error is aspirating the second consonant instead — the puff belongs to थ and the क must stay dry.