Lessons
Pronunciation — prosody
Statement, question, command
Nepali word order doesn't change much between statements and questions. Pitch does the work. Get the contour wrong and your listener won't know whether you're reporting a fact or asking.
The four contour rules
Yes/no questions → rise
Pitch climbs on the final syllable. The word order does not change; pitch alone makes it a question. Example: 'tapaai aaunuhuncha' (you come) vs 'tapaai aaunuhuncha?' (do you come?) — same syllables, rising contour at the end.
Wh-questions → fall
Question words (ke, ko, kaha, kati, kun, kahile, kasari) carry the pitch peak. After the question word the pitch descends through the sentence. Same contour shape as English: 'WHAT did you say?' — fall after 'what'.
Statements → fall
Default declarative contour. Pitch starts mid, may rise slightly on a focused word, then descends to the verb.
Commands & imperatives → flat-emphatic
Honorific imperatives (-nuhos) stay relatively flat with a small emphasis on the verb root. Lower-register imperatives (-a, -e endings) can sound sharper but still don't rise as much as questions.
Listen — same words, different contours
Tap each play button to hear the same Devanagari spoken with the contour for statement, yes/no question, or wh-question. The TTS approximates natural pitch — for the cleanest discrimination, listen on the FSI audio lessons.
Base sentence
तपाईं नेपाली बोल्नुहुन्छ
Tapaai nepali bolnuhuncha
Statement
You speak Nepali.
Pitch: ↘ falling on last syllable
Yes/no question
Do you speak Nepali?
Pitch: ↗ rising on last syllable
Wh-question
तपाईं कुन भाषा बोल्नुहुन्छ?
Tapaai kun bhasha bolnuhuncha?
Which language do you speak?
Pitch: ↘ falling — pitch peaks on 'kun' (which), then drops
Base sentence
खाना तयार छ
Khaana tayaar chha
Statement
The food is ready.
Pitch: ↘ falling on last syllable
Yes/no question
Is the food ready?
Pitch: ↗ rising sharply on 'chha'
Wh-question
खाना कहिले तयार हुन्छ?
Khaana kahile tayaar huncha?
When is the food ready?
Pitch: ↘ pitch peaks on 'kahile' (when), then falls
Base sentence
उनी आए
Uni aae
Statement
They came.
Pitch: ↘ neutral falling
Yes/no question
Did they come?
Pitch: ↗ rising on 'aae'
Command
आउनुहोस्!
Aaunuhos!
Come here / Please come!
Pitch: → flat or slightly emphatic on first syllable
Base sentence
यो रामो छ
Yo raamo chha
Statement
This is good.
Pitch: ↘ falling
Yes/no question
Is this good?
Pitch: ↗ rising on 'chha'