Hindi pronunciation on Gulab's speech models

Oct 5, 2026 · question: can the Hindi IPA guide (Wikipedia Help:IPA/Hindi_and_Urdu) fix how our models pronounce Hindi?

Short answer. The IPA guide is the right reference, but feeding IPA to the models makes them worse. What works is writing the Hindi dialogue in Devanagari (the script itself carries retroflex vs dental, aspiration, nasal and vowel length, which romanized "Thakur / daanta / dhadkan" loses). Devanagari matched or beat romanized on every engine except Seedance 2.0 Mini, which failed either way (1/4 vs 0/4). It lifted ElevenLabs V3 from 11/15 to 14/15, and on Hailuo 03 it flipped the line from 2/4 to 4/4 words right.

Recommendation. (1) Auto-convert quoted Hindi dialogue to Devanagari before it reaches any speech or native-audio video model (the IPA table drives the converter's rules: ठ vs थ, ट vs त, ड़, ँ, schwa deletion). (2) For lines that matter, generate the voice on ElevenLabs V4 in Devanagari, then lip-sync, instead of trusting a video model's own voice: Seedance 2.0 Mini got 0 to 1 of 4 words right in either script. (3) Don't use phonetic respelling or IPA pronunciation dictionaries for Hindi: both scored below plain Devanagari.

Scores (per engine × input)

Words right = hard words judged correct by a native-Hindi phonetic judge (retroflex/dental, aspiration, nasal, schwa deletion, flap ड़, vowel length). Accent 1–5, 5 = native.

EngineInputWords rightAccent
ElevenLabs V4Devanagari15/15 (100%)5.0
ElevenLabs V4Devanagari + Hindi language code15/15 (100%)5.0
Veo 3.1 Fast (own voice)Romanized4/4 (100%)5.0
Veo 3.1 Fast (own voice)Devanagari4/4 (100%)5.0
Hailuo 03 (own voice)Devanagari4/4 (100%)5.0
ElevenLabs V4Romanized14/15 (93%)4.8
Sarvam BulbulRomanized14/15 (93%)4.8
Sarvam BulbulDevanagari14/15 (93%)4.8
ElevenLabs V3Devanagari14/15 (93%)4.6
ElevenLabs V3Devanagari + Hindi language code13/15 (87%)4.6
ElevenLabs V4Phonetic respelling12/15 (80%)4.2
ElevenLabs V3Romanized11/15 (73%)4.0
ElevenLabs V4Romanized + IPA dictionary (Wikipedia IPA)11/15 (73%)3.8
Hailuo 03 (own voice)Romanized2/4 (50%)3.0
ElevenLabs V3Phonetic respelling7/15 (47%)2.8
Seedance 2.0 Mini (own voice)Romanized1/4 (25%)2.0
Seedance 2.0 Mini (own voice)Devanagari0/4 (0%)2.0

Test lines

Each line was sent in up to five forms: romanized, Devanagari, Devanagari with the Hindi language code, phonetic respelling (long vowels doubled, schwa written out), and romanized + a pronunciation dictionary holding IPA from the Wikipedia guide (ElevenLabs V4 is the only model that applies IPA to non-English words). Same stock voice for all ElevenLabs runs.

Every clip (listen)

LineEngineInputText sentClipJudge: missed
L1ElevenLabs V3Devanagariठाकुर साहब ने दूध और घी भेजा है।✓ all words
L1ElevenLabs V3Devanagari + Hindi language codeठाकुर साहब ने दूध और घी भेजा है।✓ all words
L1ElevenLabs V3Phonetic respellingThaakur saahab nay doodh aur ghee bhejaa hai.ठाकुर → heard “thakur”
दूध → heard “dood”
घी → heard “gee”
भेजा → heard “beja”
L1ElevenLabs V3RomanizedThakur sahab ne doodh aur ghee bheja hai.ठाकुर → heard “thakoor”
दूध → heard “dood”
घी → heard “gee”
L1ElevenLabs V4Devanagariठाकुर साहब ने दूध और घी भेजा है।✓ all words
L1ElevenLabs V4Devanagari + Hindi language codeठाकुर साहब ने दूध और घी भेजा है।✓ all words
L1ElevenLabs V4Phonetic respellingThaakur saahab nay doodh aur ghee bhejaa hai.✓ all words
L1ElevenLabs V4RomanizedThakur sahab ne doodh aur ghee bheja hai.✓ all words
L1ElevenLabs V4Romanized + IPA dictionary (Wikipedia IPA)Thakur sahab ne doodh aur ghee bheja hai.दूध → heard “dūd”
L1Sarvam BulbulDevanagariठाकुर साहब ने दूध और घी भेजा है।✓ all words
L1Sarvam BulbulRomanizedThakur sahab ne doodh aur ghee bheja hai.✓ all words
L2ElevenLabs V3Devanagariकमला ने अपनी बेटी को डाँटा।✓ all words
L2ElevenLabs V3Devanagari + Hindi language codeकमला ने अपनी बेटी को डाँटा।डाँटा → heard “DaaTaa”
L2ElevenLabs V3Phonetic respellingKamlaa nay apnee baytee ko daantaa.डाँटा → heard “daantaa”
L2ElevenLabs V3RomanizedKamla ne apni beti ko daanta.✓ all words
L2ElevenLabs V4Devanagariकमला ने अपनी बेटी को डाँटा।✓ all words
L2ElevenLabs V4Devanagari + Hindi language codeकमला ने अपनी बेटी को डाँटा।✓ all words
L2ElevenLabs V4Phonetic respellingKamlaa nay apnee baytee ko daantaa.डाँटा → heard “daanta”
L2ElevenLabs V4RomanizedKamla ne apni beti ko daanta.✓ all words
L2ElevenLabs V4Romanized + IPA dictionary (Wikipedia IPA)Kamla ne apni beti ko daanta.बेटी → heard “beetri”
डाँटा → heard “daartaa”
L2Sarvam BulbulDevanagariकमला ने अपनी बेटी को डाँटा।डाँटा → heard “DaaTaa”
L2Sarvam BulbulRomanizedKamla ne apni beti ko daanta.डाँटा → heard “daataa”
L3ElevenLabs V3Devanagariमाँ, मुझे घर जाना है।✓ all words
L3ElevenLabs V3Devanagari + Hindi language codeमाँ, मुझे घर जाना है।✓ all words
L3ElevenLabs V3Phonetic respellingMaan, mujhay ghar jaanaa hai.माँ → heard “maan”
L3ElevenLabs V3RomanizedMaa, mujhe ghar jaana hai.✓ all words
L3ElevenLabs V4Devanagariमाँ, मुझे घर जाना है।✓ all words
L3ElevenLabs V4Devanagari + Hindi language codeमाँ, मुझे घर जाना है।✓ all words
L3ElevenLabs V4Phonetic respellingMaan, mujhay ghar jaanaa hai.✓ all words
L3ElevenLabs V4RomanizedMaa, mujhe ghar jaana hai.✓ all words
L3ElevenLabs V4Romanized + IPA dictionary (Wikipedia IPA)Maa, mujhe ghar jaana hai.✓ all words
L3Sarvam BulbulDevanagariमाँ, मुझे घर जाना है।✓ all words
L3Sarvam BulbulRomanizedMaa, mujhe ghar jaana hai.✓ all words
L4ElevenLabs V3Devanagariपिताजी की चिट्ठी आई है।✓ all words
L4ElevenLabs V3Devanagari + Hindi language codeपिताजी की चिट्ठी आई है।✓ all words
L4ElevenLabs V3Phonetic respellingPitaajee kee chit-thee aayee hai.✓ all words
L4ElevenLabs V3RomanizedPitaji ki chitthi aayi hai.✓ all words
L4ElevenLabs V4Devanagariपिताजी की चिट्ठी आई है।✓ all words
L4ElevenLabs V4Devanagari + Hindi language codeपिताजी की चिट्ठी आई है।✓ all words
L4ElevenLabs V4Phonetic respellingPitaajee kee chit-thee aayee hai.चिट्ठी → heard “chitti”
L4ElevenLabs V4RomanizedPitaji ki chitthi aayi hai.✓ all words
L4ElevenLabs V4Romanized + IPA dictionary (Wikipedia IPA)Pitaji ki chitthi aayi hai.चिट्ठी → heard “chirthi”
L4Sarvam BulbulDevanagariपिताजी की चिट्ठी आई है।✓ all words
L4Sarvam BulbulRomanizedPitaji ki chitthi aayi hai.✓ all words
L5ElevenLabs V3Devanagariधड़कन तेज़ है, खतरा पास है।धड़कन → heard “dhalkan”
L5ElevenLabs V3Devanagari + Hindi language codeधड़कन तेज़ है, खतरा पास है।धड़कन → heard “dhalkan”
L5ElevenLabs V3Phonetic respellingDhadkan tez hai, khat-raa paas hai.धड़कन → heard “dadkan”
खतरा → heard “katra”
L5ElevenLabs V3RomanizedDhadkan tez hai, khatra paas hai.धड़कन → heard “dhadkan / dadkan (used dental/retroflex stop instead of flap ड़ [ɽ])”
L5ElevenLabs V4Devanagariधड़कन तेज़ है, खतरा पास है।✓ all words
L5ElevenLabs V4Devanagari + Hindi language codeधड़कन तेज़ है, खतरा पास है।✓ all words
L5ElevenLabs V4Phonetic respellingDhadkan tez hai, khat-raa paas hai.धड़कन → heard “dhatkan”
L5ElevenLabs V4RomanizedDhadkan tez hai, khatra paas hai.धड़कन → heard “bhadkan”
L5ElevenLabs V4Romanized + IPA dictionary (Wikipedia IPA)Dhadkan tez hai, khatra paas hai.✓ all words
L5Sarvam BulbulDevanagariधड़कन तेज़ है, खतरा पास है।✓ all words
L5Sarvam BulbulRomanizedDhadkan tez hai, khatra paas hai.✓ all words
VHailuo 03 (own voice)Devanagariमाँ, ठाकुर साहब ने चिट्ठी भेजी है।✓ all words
VHailuo 03 (own voice)RomanizedMaa, Thakur sahab ne chitthi bheji hai.माँ → heard “maa”
चिट्ठी → heard “cittī”
VSeedance 2.0 Mini (own voice)Devanagariमाँ, ठाकुर साहब ने चिट्ठी भेजी है।माँ → heard “maa”
ठाकुर → heard “thaakur”
चिट्ठी → heard “chitti”
भेजी → heard “baji”
VSeedance 2.0 Mini (own voice)RomanizedMaa, Thakur sahab ne chitthi bheji hai.माँ → heard “maa”
ठाकुर → heard “thaakur”
चिट्ठी → heard “chitli”
VVeo 3.1 Fast (own voice)Devanagariमाँ, ठाकुर साहब ने चिट्ठी भेजी है।✓ all words
VVeo 3.1 Fast (own voice)RomanizedMaa, Thakur sahab ne chitthi bheji hai.✓ all words

Limits, read before trusting the numbers