Fricatives

F and V are not realized as labiodentals in some varieties of IndE. For most speakers of Oriya and Bangla and those in the Hindi speaking belt, F is realized as [p^h] and V often overlaps with W as in the realizations of the word power - [pa:vər] ~ [pa: wər]. In Orissa and Bengal the V is also realized as [b^h] as in the word never - [neb^h ər].

The dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/ are non-existent in IndE. The aspirated voiceless stop  is realized for /θ/; the voiced stop  is realized for /ð/ - as in thin =  and then = [den]. In South India the alveolar stop /t/ is often used instead of /θ/ as in thought - [tɔt].

/s/ and /z/ do occur in IndE. However, regional variations are often heard. E.g., in Bengal /s/ is replaced by /ʃ/ as in [ʃem] for same. The [z] is also often realized as [ʤ] as in [p^hri:ʤ] or [fri:ʤ] for freeze and [praɪʤ] for prize.

The palato-alveolars /ʃ/, /Ʒ/ also have their variant forms. While /ʃ/ is realized in most places as in RP, in Orissa it is often replaced by a /s/ as in [si:] for she, and [si:p] or [sɪp] for ship. The /Ʒ/ sound is mostly non-existent in IndE. It is realized as /dZ/, /z/ or /j/ as in [ple:ʤər], [ple:zər] or [plaɪjər] for pleasure.

The glottal fricative /h/ is generally realized in North India. There is, however, a tendency towards H-dropping, substituted by a low tone amongst some Punjabi speakers; e.g., house is realized as [áus] and heat as . In South India a ‘euphonic’ /j/ and /w/ are sometimes realized in place of the /h/ as in [jill] for hill, [jæd] for had and [laɪvliwud] for livelihood.

IndE has two liquids, /l/ and /r/. The /l/ is generally `clear’ (i.e. alveolar), even after contexts that induce a dark /l/ in other dialects of English (e.g. after back vowels). The liquid /r/ is generally trilled; in consonant clusters in words like trap, drain, cry etc it has a trilled rather than approximant realization. This is true of postvocalic /r/ as well: e.g., [ka:r] and  for car and cart respectively. Although postvocalic realizations of /r/ might be an instance of spelling pronunciation, it must be conceded that the English brought to India from the earliest times is likely to have its postvocalic r’s intact.

Amongst the semivowels /j/ is only realized as [j]; while /w/ has an overlap with the labiodental fricative /v / as in [pa:vər] or [pa:wər] for power. It has already been pointed out that the ‘euphonic’ /j/ and /w/ exist in most South Indian speech as can be seen in [jevery] for every and [won] and [wonly] for own and only respectively.