The Letter That Comes With a Vowel

Hindi · Page 1 of 2

Name Date
DIRECTIONS: Read the page, then answer at the bottom.
This is one letter of Hindi.
It does not say k. It says ka. Every consonant comes with a short a already inside it.
  →  
ka   becomes   k
The little mark underneath kills the vowel. Silence costs an extra mark.
ka
kha
ga
cha
ja
ta
ta
da
Spellings are rough: two letters below are both written ta but are different sounds.
  1. What do all eight sounds have in common?

And One Honest Warning

Hindi · Page 2 of 2

DIRECTIONS: Answer question 2, then read the warning.
  1. The script has no separate letter for the short a in the middle of a word, because it never needs one. Why not?
The warning: spoken Hindi drops many of those as, especially the last. Written Raama is said Raam; kamala is said kamal. Sanskrit says them all.
  1. You have just been told a rule and then told that Hindi breaks it. Was it worth learning the rule anyway? Say why.