Let us now take a closer look at the letter ‘Gain’ ( Devanagri: ग़ैन | IPA:  /ɣɛːn/ ) and its typical sound. Here it is again. Click on the speaker icon to listen to the  way the name of the letter is pronounced.

Above: The letter ‘Gain’. Click on the speaker icon to listen to the way the ‘G’ is pronounced.

16.5.1: The sound of ‘Gain’

It is important in spoken Urdu to pronounce the sound of ‘Gain’, represented by ‘G’, correctly. It is often confused with the sound of ‘g’ as in the English words “goat”, “jaggery” etc. or Hindi words such as “गोल”, “अगला” etc.

It is also confused with the sound of ‘gh’ sometimes. However, it is important to note that the sounds ‘g’, ‘gh’ and ‘G’ are all quite distinctly different. Listen carefully to the sounds given below to help you better understand this:

Above: Comparative illustrating the difference in the pronunciation of the sounds ‘G’, ‘g’ and ‘gh’

If you listen to the sounds presented above carefully, the distinction should be quite clear. The ‘G’ sound of ‘Gain’ is a fricative^(?) sound and those new to Urdu will face difficulty in reproducing this sound. But with time and practice, it should become easier.

Wrongly pronounced, the word may take upon a different meaning as illustrated by the examples below:

NOTE

It is of utmost importance that the ‘G’ sound be pronounced ccorrectly. It is strongly recommended that this be practised regularly in the company of someone who is fluent in the correct pronunciation of this sound.

16.5.2: Some more words

Here are a few more words with the ‘Gain’ to help you practice the ‘G’ sound.

And with this, we come to the end of the ‘ain’ group. It gets a little simpler from here since you’re now equipped with new-found knowledge of not only all the vowels we’d seen earlier but also with ‘ain’ and its unique characteristics.