Nepali Language: Vowels

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Pronouncing Vowels

• BASIC VOWELS

There are 12 vowels in the Nepali language. For most purposes, you need just the following 10.

a	as in "all"
aa	as in "father"
i	as in "it"
ee	as in "eat"
u	as in "put"
oo	as in "root"
e	as in "egg"
ai	pronounce vowels a + i in swift succession
o	as in "over"
au	pronounce vowels a + u in swift succession

• NASAL VOWELS

Because nasal vowels don't exist in English, Nepali words with nasal vowels may initially prove to be a bit difficult. To get a feel for nasal vowels, say aloud the word "song". The first half of the sound closely resembles a nasal vowel.

All nasal vowels in this site are represented by a tilde (~) sign placed after the vowel to be nasalized.