INTRODUCTION

In this unit, we’ll learn about the 'fe' group which consists of two letters - ‘fe’ ( Devanagari: फ़े | IPA:  /feː/ | Pronunciation:   ) and ‘qaaf’ ( Devanagari: क़ाफ़ | IPA:  /qa:f/ | Pronunciation:   ).

ق
  • qaaf
  • क़ाफ़
ف
  • fe
  • फ़े

Above: The letters ‘fe’ & ‘qaaf’

We can see a slight difference here from the pattern we’ve seen earlier with Urdu letters. The full-forms of these two letters have slightly different basic shapes with the ‘fe’ being a little more elongated and the ‘qaaf’ being rounder in comparison.

We will see later on, however, that the short-forms of these letters is the same, just with different number of nuqte.


16.1.1: ‘fe’

This is the letter ‘fe’ ( Devanagari: फ़े | IPA:  /feː/ | Pronunciation:   ).

It has the sound of ‘f’ as in the English words “feel”, “refer”, “leaf” etc.

IMPORTANT

Note that ‘f’ here, is denoted as फ़ in Devanagari. This is quite different from the फ    we’ve seen earlier. We’ll learn in detail about the distinction between these two sounds in the coming pages.

fe

फ़े



16.1.2: ‘qaaf’

This is the letter ‘qaaf’ ( Devanagri: क़ाफ़ | IPA:  /qa:f/ | Pronunciation:   ).

‘qaaf’ has no equivalent sound in English or Hindi which makes its pronunciation slightly typical.

IMPORTANT

Note that the ‘q’ sound here, is denoted as क़  in Devanagari. This is quite different from the क  we’ve seen earlier. We’ll learn in detail about the distinction between these two sounds shortly.

qaaf

क़ाफ़


Next, let’s take a brief look at some pronunciation cues before we move on to learning new words.