Marathi phrasebook
Quick Stats
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Marathi is the main language of Maharashtra, India. Marathi is written in the Devanagari script, like Hindi and some other Indian languages. It is the 4th most widely-spoken language in India, after Hindi, Bengali and Telugu. Regional literature in Marathi dates back to around 1000 AD.
Marathi grammar is largely based on Sanskrit and Pali. Unlike Hindi and similar to Sanskrit, Marathi has not 2, but 3 genders, masculine, feminine and neutral. Figuring out the gender of a word is very easy as it can be distinguished by the word's last vowel. This is not the case in many other Indian languages, such as Hindi or Urdu, where gender is probably the most difficult aspect of grammar.
Goa was a Portuguese colony from the 16th to the 18th century, as a result of which Marathi has had influence from the Portuguese language. बटाटा (ba-tA-tA, potato) is a common example used in everyday speech.
Pronunciation guide
See Learning Devanagari for detailed information on the subject. Marathi is nearly 100% phonetic, so pronunciation is not as much of a problem as it may seem at first glance. Anglophones tend to pronounce आ as in cat or bat. This sound is non-existent in Marathi, and you will not be easily understood if you pronounce it this way. Vowels are added to consonants, similar to other Devanagari languages, but picking up the Devanagari script is not that essential. You will manage fine with the romanization used in this phrasebook.
Vowels
In Marathi, vowels are added to consonants. Most of them are easy to pronounce, ऋ and ॠare slightly challenging. Marathi vowels retain much of their original Sanskrit pronunciation making some of them different from their Hindi counterparts. A notable example is औ (au), pronounced as owl in Marathi but as Oxford in Hindi. ऑ (Ao) is a special vowel used for loan English words, and is pronounced as in doctor.
| Devanagari | Tranileration used here | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| अ | a | as in allow |
| आ | A | as in hard |
| इ | i | as in hit |
| ई | I | as in mean |
| उ | u | as in put |
| ऊ | U | as in hoot |
| ऋ | tR | as in Brr! It's cold + a small u sound |
| ॠ| TR | similar to ऋ, slightly longer |
| लृ | ltR | as in life + ऋ |
| ठ| e | as in main |
| ठ| ai | as in fight |
| ओ | o | as in Oh my God |
| औ | au | as in owl |
| अः | aH | as in huh? |
Consonants
Many Marathi consonants come in three different forms: aspirated, unaspirated and retroflex.
Aspiration means with a puff of air, and is the difference between the sound of the letter p in English pin (aspirated) and spit (unaspirated). Retroflex consonants, on the other hand, are not really found in English. They should be pronounced with the tongue tip curled back. Practice with a native speaker, or just pronounce as usual — you'll usually still get the message across.
| Devanagari | Transliteration | Equivalent/Comments |
|---|---|---|
| क | k | as in skip. |
| ख | kh | as in sinkhole. |
| ग | g | as in go. |
| घ | gh | as in doghouse. |
| ङ | G | as in sing. Used only in Sanskrit loan words, does not occur independently. |
| च | ch | as in church. |
| छ | Ch | as in pinchhit. |
| ज | j | as in jump. |
| ठ| jh | as in dodge her. |
| ञ | nY | as in canyon. Used only in Sanskrit loan words, does not occur independently. |
| ट | t | as in tick. Retroflex, but still a hard t sound similar to English. |
| ठ| T | as in lighthouse. Retroflex |
| ड | d | as in doom. Retroflex |
| ढ | D | as in mudhut. Retroflex |
| ण | N | retroflex n, as in grand. |
| त | th | does not exist in English. more dental t, with a bit of a th sound. Softer than an English t. |
| थ | Th | aspirated version of the previous letter, not as in thanks or the. |
| द | dh | dental d. |
| ध | Dh | aspirated version of the above. |
| न | n | dental n. |
| प | p | as in spin. |
| फ | ph | as in uphill. |
| ब | b | as in be. |
| ठ| bh | as in abhor. |
| म | m | as in mere. |
| य | y | as in yet. |
| र | r | as in Spanish pero, a tongue trip. Don't roll as in Spanish rr, German or Scottish English. |
| ऱ | R | as in ready. slightly different from the above. |
| ल | l | as in lean. |
| ळ | L | as in Norwegian farlig. Retroflex lateral approximent |
| व | v | as in Spanish vaca, between English v and w, but without the lip rounding of an English w. |
| श | sh | as in shoot. |
| ष | Sh | almost indistinguishable retroflex of the above. slightly more aspirated. |
| स | s | as in see. |
| ह | h | as in him. |
Phrase list
Basics
Numbers
1 Ek
2 don
3 theen
4 ch-ar
5 pa-ch
6 sa-ha
7 saa-th
8 aa-tt
9 nau
Time
Clock time
Duration
Days
Months
Months for marathi calendar are different than English calendar
Writing time and date
Colors
Transportation
Bus and train
Directions
Left: डावा ;
Right: उजवा;
UP: वर;
Down: खाली
Left Side: डावी कडे
Right side: उजवी कडे
upside: वरती
Taxi
Lodging
Money
Eating
Breakfast
Food
Water
Ice
Tea
Sugar
Milk
Fruit
Vegetable
Marathi phrasebook nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs.
Shopping
Driving
Authority
Learning more
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