(Not a native speaker but learning Hindi.) Yes schwa deletion is a counter example, although it's a solid rule so you could easily say 'well that's just one th

(Not a native speaker but learning Hindi.) Yes schwa deletion is a counter example, although it's a solid rule so you could easily say 'well that's just one thing to learn on top of the script, that it's written but not pronounced in that placement'. A better case for 'no not 100%' IMO is the behaviour of the 'h' sound, which converts 'aha' ('a's around it) it to sound something more like 'ehe'. बहन for example means sister, if you transliterated according to IAST it would be bahan, but most would write behen, and that's how it's pronounced (or something between e and ai anyway).