The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Gujarati language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-gu}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Gujarati phonology for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Gujarati.

Consonants
IPA Gujarati IAST English approximation
b બ b bat
bʱ ભ bh No English equivalent
β[1] ભ bh somewhat like averse
d દ d dog
ð[1] ધ dh other
dʱ ધ dh No English equivalent
ɖ ડ ḍ somewhat like cord
ɖʱ ઢ ḍh No English equivalent
dʒ જ j jack
dʒʱ ઝ jh No English equivalent
f[1] ફ ph afraid
ɡ ગ g gate
ɡʱ ઘ gh No English equivalent
ɣ[1] ઘ gh go, but without completely blocking airflow on the g
h ઃ ḥ head
ɦ હ h ahead
j ય y yak
k ક k scold
kʰ ખ kh cold
l લ l leaf
ɭ ળ l somewhat like Merlin
m મ m much
n ન n not
ɳ ણ ṇ somewhat like burner
ɲ ઞ ñ canyon
ŋ ઙ ṅ bank
p પ p span
pʰ ફ ph pan
ɾ ર r butter (American English)
ɽ[2] ડ ḍ somewhat like murder
ɽʱ[2] ઢ ḍh No English equivalent
ɽ̃[2] ણ ṇ as above, but nasal
s[3] સ s sue
ʂ[3] ષ ṣ somewhat like worship
ʃ[3] શ ś sheep
t ત t stop
tʰ થ th top
ʈ ટ ṭ somewhat like court
ʈʰ ઠ ṭh somewhat like tree
tʃ ચ c somewhat like catch
tʃʰ છ ch cheese
ʋ વ v vine
Vowels
IPA Gujarati IAST English approximation
ɑ આ, કા ā bra
æ cash
e એ, કે e pay
ɛ ઍ, કૅ â bed
ə અ, ક a about
i ઇ/ ઈ, કિ/ કી i see
o ઓ, કો o story
ɔ ઑ, કૉ ô off
u ઉ/ ઊ, કુ/ કૂ u look
əj ઐ, કૈ ai Somewhat like kite
əʋ ઔ, કૌ au Somewhat like house


Other symbols
IPA Gujarati IAST Notes
◌̃ ં ṃ nasal vowel ([õː], etc.)
◌̃ ◌̤ murmured vowel[4]
ː Length: Vowels are long when nasal (e.g. [moʈʈũː]
ˈ stress
(placed before stressed syllable)

Notes[edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The voiced aspirated stops /ɡʱ, dʱ, bʱ/ and /pʰ/ have spirant allophones [ɣ, ð, β, f].Cardona & Suthar (2003:665)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The voiced retroflex stops and the nasal /ɖʱ, ɖ, ɳ/ have flapped allophones [ɽʱ, ɽ, ɽ̃]. Intervocalically all three are flapped. The stops are also flapped when before or after other consonants.Mistry (1997:659) The stops are unflapped initially, geminated, and postnasally; and flapped intervocalically, finally, and before or after other consonants.Masica (1991:97).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 While there is dialectal variation in this regard, for Wikipedia transcriptions [ʃ] appears contiguous with palatal segments and [ʂ] appears before retroflex consonants: [spəʂʈ] ('clear').Mistry (1997:658)
  4. ↑ Gujarati contrasts murmured and non-murmured vowels, except for /e/ and /o/.Cardona & Suthar (2003:662) Mistry (2003:116).

References[edit source]

  • Cardona, George; Suthar, Babu (2003), "Gujarati", in Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (eds.), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-77294-5
  • Masica, Colin (1991), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-29944-2
  • Mistry, P.J. (1997), "Gujarati Phonology", in Kaye, A.S (ed.), Phonologies of Asia and Africa, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, ISBN 1-57506-019-1
  • Mistry, P.J. (2003), "Gujarati", in Frawley, William (ed.), International Encyclopedia of Linguistics, vol. 2 (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-516784-8