RaD

Monday, October 22, 2007

Why do North Indian dialects write with an R but pronounce with a hard D? Compare: Marwari/marwadi, Chandigarh/Chandigad, curry/kadi.

bluesmoon — Oct 22, 2007 7:21:19 PM — # ↩

because, like I mentioned on my journal, there are some sounds with no English equivalents. That sound really is in between an R and a hard D.

There’s also ZH in Tamizh/Mallu that sounds nothing like a zh in English.
- tsk1979 — Oct 23, 2007 10:52:59 AM — # ↩
  
  ditto.
  English has no sound between r and d.
  So rh is used
  Chandigarh is an example.
deponti — Oct 22, 2007 11:34:56 PM — # ↩

I agree with bluesmoon. The actual sound of that consonant is somewhere in the throat, behind the palate, between R and D..it’s a kind of “gargle D”. Just like that “zh” sound which can only be approximated by typing “zh”.

Listen carefully to Hindi film songs and you will find “par” (meaning, “upon” as in “terE chehrE par” or “but” as in “mein sOyee thee par Aj mein jAg uthee”,according to the context) being pronounced in an untransliterable way! It sounds more like perrrllll…it’s not even the “ra” that is the consonant in Hindi.

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