Hindi - 'za' and 'ja'
I have been told differing pronunciations for Hindi words including the "ज" sound.

Even when a dot is present under the symbol, some native speakers still pronounce it as a "ja" sound, while others pronounce it as "za".

For example, the word for door...

At temple, when I pronounce it as "darwaza" I am corrected. "No no...it's darwaja".

Same for the word for table. I was taught at first to say it "mez" , but was later corrected to say "mej".

Is this just a dialect thing? Or is it a matter of "proper" vs "common" pronunciation?

Question

Hindi - 'za' and 'ja'
I have been told differing pronunciations for Hindi words including the "ज" sound.

Even when a dot is present under the symbol, some native speakers still pronounce it as a "ja" sound, while others pronounce it as  "za".

For example, the word for door...

At temple, when I pronounce it as  "darwaza" I am corrected. "No no...it's darwaja".

Same for the word for table. I was taught at first to say it "mez" , but was later corrected to say "mej".

Is this just a dialect thing? Or is it a matter of "proper" vs "common" pronunciation?

Answer

The 'za' syllable originates from Urdu language; you will notice a lot of Urdu words used in Hindi language.

The correct pronunciation for 'Door' is ' Darwaza' and for ' Table' is ' Mez'. In this case, ' Ja' is absolutely incorrect. Just be cautious as even many of the Hindi speakers use it wrongly.

Answer

Whenever you find dot below ज़ it is always pronounced as ZA, like मेज़ (MEZ). In the case when there is no dot then you simply pronounce it as JA like in जग (JAG).

Answer

yeah it is matter of  "proper" and "common" pronunciation. Stick with 'proper' pronunciation :D.