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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Maithili pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see ((IPA-mai)) and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Maithili phonology, for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Maithili.

Key

Consonants
IPA[1] Devanagari[1] ISO 15919 [1] English Approximation
b ब ba butter
bʱ भ bha clubhhouse
d[2] द da deal
dʱ[2] ध dha redhead
dʑ ज ja jazz
dʑʱ झ jha hedgehog
ɖ ड ḍa American English bird
ɖʱ ढ ḍha American English birdhouse
ɡ ग ga green
ɡʱ घ gha loghouse
ɦ ह ha head
k क ka sky
kʰ ख kha car
l ल la leaf
m म ma much
n न na not
ɳ ण ṇa somewhat like grant
ɲ ञ ña enjoyable
ŋ ङ ṅa bank
p प pa sport
pʰ फ pha pencil
r र ra American atom
s स sa sue
t[2] त ta still
tʰ[2] थ tha tip
tɕ च ca catch
tɕʰ छ cha choose
ʈ ट ṭa carts
ʈʰ ठ ṭha trip
Marginal Consonants
ɕ श[3] śa somewhat like ship
ɸ~f फ़[4] fa face
j य[5] ya yak
ɽ ड़[6] ṛa somewhat like garter
ɽɦ ढ़[7] ṛha ṛ and h, somewhat like warhead
ʂ ष[8] ṣa somewhat like shot
ʋ~w व[9] va vary
x ख़[10] k͟ha Scottish loch
z ज़/ध़[11] za zen
ʑ झ़[12] zha somewhat like vision
Vowels
IPA Devanagari ISO 15919 Grierson English Approximation
a ॴ, बऻ a[13] ă palm (General American)
aː आ, बा ā[14] father
æ ऍ, बॅ æ trap
e ऎ, बॆ e somewhat like dress
eː ए, बे ē somewhat like play
ə[15] अ, ब a[13] about
əː अ२, ब२
 ā[14] ä somewhat like nurse (not rhotic)
iː[16] ई, बी ī feed
ɪ[16] इ, बि i kid
o ऒ, बॊ o somewhat like cloth
oː ओ, बो ō story
ɔ अऽ, बऽ ô å choice
uː[16] ऊ, बू ū mood
ʊ[16] उ, बु u wood
Syllabic vowels
l̩[17] ऌ, बॢ[18] l̥ bottle
ɹ̩[19] ऋ, बृ[18] r̥ bird
ɹ̩ː[20] ॠ, बॄ[18] r̥̄ longer r̥
Diphthongs
aːi̯ ऐ, बै
āi 		price
aːu̯ औ, बौ
āu 		mouth
əi̯ ꣾ[21], बꣿ ai somewhat like face
əu̯ ॵ, बॏ au goat
Short Vowels
IPA Devanagari Grierson English Approximation
ă ॳ, बऺ a Shorter variation of short vowels
ĭ इऺ, बिऺ i
ŭ उऺ, बुऺ u
Vowel Diacritics
IPA Devanagari ISO 15919 Grierson English Approximation
◌̃ ँ m̐ ◌̃ nasal vowel faun

([ãː, õː], etc.)

h ः ḥ ahead
Suprasegmentals
IPA Devanagari ISO 15919 English Approximation
ˈ◌ stress

(placed before stressed syllable)

◌ː २ doubled vowel

(placed after doubled vowel)

् Halanta[22] (placed after last consonant)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c In the letter series beginning with क, क = क् + अ; ka = k + a. Thus 'क' has the inherent vowel 'अ', giving 'क' without added vowel sign using diacritics (The halanta "्" is removed). But the IPA shown here has the consonant 'k' only & does not include the vowel 'a'.
  2. ^ a b c d /t/ and /d/ are mostly pronounced as dental stops [t̪] and [d̪], with the tongue touching the teeth, but alveolar pronunciation is also common.
  3. ^ Often merged with [s].
  4. ^ Almost always merged with फ.
  5. ^ Replaced with [dʑ] in initial position in Sanskrit words and whenever it is after [r] followed by central vowels ([ə] and [a]). Replaced with vowel [e] in between central vowels.
  6. ^ Allophone of [r] in most times. Allophone of intervocalic [d].
  7. ^ Often pronounced as [rʰ]. Allophone of intervocalic [dʰ].
  8. ^ Merged with [s].
  9. ^ [v], [w] and intermediate [ʋ] are allophonic in Maithili. Often pronounced as [b] between central vowels. In Perso-Arabic words, replaced with vowel [o] in initial position. Pronounced as [bh] in English words.
  10. ^ Commonly, pronounced as [kh]. Found in Perso-Arabic loanwords. Also, a remnant of Sanskrit jihvamuliya.
  11. ^ Commonly pronounced as [dʑ]. Found in Perso-Arabic loanwords.
  12. ^ A conditional allophone of [y], when between [h] and a central vowel. Also, present in Perso-Arabic loanwords, in which pronounced as [j].
  13. ^ a b /ə/ and /a/ both are represented in ISO 15919 as 'a'.
  14. ^ a b /aː/ and /əː/ both are represented in ISO 15919 as 'ā'.
  15. ^ /ɐ/ occurs as a conditioned allophone of /ə/ in initial position of a word.
  16. ^ a b c d /iː, ɪ/ and /uː, ʊ/ are neutralised to [i], [u] at the end of a word.
  17. ^ Usually pronounced as [lĭ].
  18. ^ a b c In Sanskrit words (tatsama).
  19. ^ Usually pronounced as [rĭ].
  20. ^ Usually pronounced as [ri].
  21. ^ Not visible in most systems. A Unicode character U+A8FE.
  22. ^ Used to show that the consonant doesn't have any inherent vowel,
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