Hindi Varnamala: A to Z (अ से ज्ञ तक)

Swar are independent letters that can be pronounced without the help of any other letter. There are primarily 13 Swar in traditional Hindi:

अ (a), आ (aa), इ (i), ई (ee), उ (u), ऊ (oo), ऋ (ri), ए (e), ऐ (ai), ओ (o), औ (au), अं (ang), अः (ah).

Vyanjan are letters that require the help of a vowel (usually 'अ') to be fully pronounced. There are 36 main consonants in Hindi, organized into specific phonetic groups based on how the sound is produced in the mouth:

• K-Varg (Throat): क (ka), ख (kha), ग (ga), घ (gha), ङ (nga)
• Ch-Varg (Palate): च (cha), छ (chha), ज (ja), झ (jha), ञ (nya)
• T-Varg (Hard Palate): ट (ta), ठ (tha), ड (da), ढ (dha), ण (na)
• T-Varg (Soft Teeth): त (ta), थ (tha), द (da), ध (dha), न (na)
• P-Varg (Lips): प (pa), फ (pha), ब (ba), भ (bha), म (ma)
• Antasth (Inner): य (ya), र (ra), ल (la), व (va)
• Ushma (Warm air): श (sha), ष (sha), स (sa), ह (ha)

The Varnamala concludes with a few special letters that are actually formed by combining two consonants together:

• क्ष (Ksha) = क् + ष
• त्र (Tra) = त् + र
• ज्ञ (Gya) = ज् + ञ
• श्र (Shra) = श् + र