Practicing the Letter au

You have learned quite a solid foundation of Devanagari letters at this point, and it is not difficult to find Hindi words which you can read. Try to pronounce the Hindi words given below:

• और ☑ Answer
• औरत ☑ Answer
• कौन ☑ Answer
• अमौआ ☑ Answer
• नौकर ☑ Answer

The trick at this point is remembering the difference between the various vowels you have learned so far.

The word अमौआ presented above is slightly tricky. First of all, notice that it starts with the letter अ (a). Don't confuse this letter with the other vowels. Secondly, you should recognize the third letter, ौ (au), which we just learned.

The last letter deserves a bit of explaining. Remember that you learned that the second form of a vowel is called a mātrā, and is used when it changes the vowel sound of a consonant from its inherent a to another vowel sound. The first form of a vowel is used when the vowel sound stands alone—at the beginning of a word, for example.

In the word अमौआ, however, even though the last letter आ (ā), which is a vowel, does not come at the beginning of the word, it is not modifying the sound of any consonant. Indeed, the letter directly before it is ौ (au), another vowel. Since आ (ā) is not modifying the sound of a consonant, we cannot use its second form, or mātrā. Although it does not come at the beginning of the word, the sound it makes is effectively standing alone and we must therefore use its first form आ instead of its mātrā ौ.

Vowel Forms Review

To review, you have learned that vowels come in two forms, the first form and the second form, which is also called a mātrā. The usage of the two forms are explained below:

Form 1

Used when the vowel sound stands alone (e.g. by itself, at the beginning of a word, or after another vowel).

Form 2

Used when the vowel modifies the sound of a consonant (usually when the vowel comes immediately after a consonant).