Telugu/Alphabet and Pronunciation/క ఖ గ ఘ ఙ

క, ఖ, గ, ఘ, ఙ

The letters above are called ka, kha, ga, gha, na.

'ka' (క) makes the /k/ sound from English as in kayak, kale or Katrina.
'kha' (ఖ) makes the aspirated /kʰ/ sound. Imagine saying 'kaha,' then removing the first 'a' from the word.
'ga' (గ) makes the /g/ sound from English as in game or glory.
'gha' (ఘ) makes the aspirated /ɡʱ/ sound. Similar to ఖ, imagine saying 'gaha' then removing the first 'a' sound.
'na' (ఙ) makes the /ŋ/ sound, similar to pronouncing the letter 'n' with the tongue at the back of your mouth.

Exercises

Read out the following combinations of the letters as practice.