Devanagari

Devanāgari देवनागरी
Devanāgarī script (vowels top three rows, consonants below)
Script type	Abugida
Time period	12th century CE to present
Direction	Left-to-right
Region	IndiaandNepal(Official) Fiji(Co-official)
Languages	Apabhramsha,Angika,Awadhi,Bajjika,Bhili,Bhojpuri,Boro,Braj,Chhattisgarhi,Dogri,Garhwali,Haryanvi,Hindi,Kashmiri,Khandeshi,Konkani,Kumaoni,Magahi,Maithili,Marathi,Marwari,Mundari,Nagpuri,Newari,Nepali,Pāli,Pahari,Prakrit,Rajasthani,Sanskrit,Santali,Sherpa,Sindhi,Surjapuri,and many more.
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian hieroglyphs Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic Brāhmī Gupta Siddhaṃ Nāgarī Devanāgari
Sister systems	Nandināgarī Kaithi Gujarātī Moḍī
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Deva(315),​Devanagari (Nagari)
Unicode
Unicode alias	Devanagari
Unicode range	U+0900–U+097FDevanagari, U+A8E0–U+A8FFDevanagari Extended, U+11B00–11B5FDevanagari Extended-A, U+1CD0–U+1CFFVedic Extensions

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Devanagari(/ˌdeɪvəˈnɑːɡəri/DAY-və-NAH-gə-ree;देवनागरी,IAST:Devanāgarī,Sanskrit pronunciation:[deːʋɐˈnaːɡɐriː]) is anIndic scriptused in the northernIndian subcontinent.Also simply calledNāgari(Sanskrit:नागरि,Nāgari),it is a left-to-rightabugida(a type of segmentalwriting system),based on the ancientBrāhmiscript.It is one of theofficial scripts of the Republic of IndiaandNepal.It was developed and in regular use by the 8th century CEand achieved its modern form by 1200 CE.The Devanāgari script, composed of 48 primary characters, including 14 vowels and 34 consonants,is the fourth most widelyadopted writing systemin the world,being used for over 120 languages.

Theorthographyof this script reflects the pronunciation of the language.Unlike the Latin Alpha bet, the script has no concept ofletter case.It is written from left to right, has a strong preference for symmetrical rounded shapes within squared outlines, and is recognisable by a horizontal line, known as aशिरोरेखाśirorekhā,that runs along the top of full letters.In a cursory look, the Devanāgarī script appears different from otherIndic scripts,such asBengali-AssameseorGurmukhi,but a closer examination reveals they are very similar except for angles and structural emphasis.

Among the languages using it as a primary or secondary script areMarathi,Pāḷi,Sanskrit,Hindi,Boro,Nepali,Sherpa,Prakrit,Apabhramsha,Awadhi,Bhojpuri,Braj Bhasha,Chhattisgarhi,Haryanvi,Magahi,Nagpuri,Rajasthani,Khandeshi,Bhili,Dogri,Kashmiri,Maithili,Konkani,Sindhi,Nepal Bhasa,Mundari,Angika,BajjikaandSantali.The Devanāgarī script is closely related to theNandināgarīscript commonly found in numerous ancient manuscripts ofSouth India,and it is distantly related to a number of southeast Asian scripts.

Etymology

Devanāgarīis formed by the addition of the worddeva(देव) to the wordnāgarī(नागरी).Nāgarīis an adjective derived fromnagara(नगर), a Sanskrit word meaning "town" or "city," and literally means "urban" or "urbane".The wordNāgarī(implicitly modifyinglipi,"script" ) was used on its own to refer to a North Indian script, or perhaps a number of such scripts, as Al-Biruni attests in the 11th century; the formDevanāgarīis attested later, at least by the 18th century.The name of theNandināgarīscript is also formed by adding a prefix to the generic script namenāgarī.The precise origin and significance of the prefixdevaremains unclear.

History

Devanāgarī is part of theBrahmic familyof scripts ofIndia,Nepal,Tibet,andSoutheast Asia.It is a descendant of the 3rd century BCEBrāhmī script,which evolved into theNagari scriptwhich in turn gave birth to Devanāgarī andNandināgarī.Devanāgarī has been widely adopted across India and Nepal to writeSanskrit,Marathi,Hindi,Central Indo-Aryan languages,Konkani,Boro,and various Nepalese languages.

Some of the earliest epigraphic evidence attesting to the developingSanskritNāgarī scriptin ancient India is from the 1st to 4th century CE inscriptions discovered inGujarat.Variants of script callednāgarī,recognisably close to Devanāgarī, are first attested from the 1st century CERudradamaninscriptions in Sanskrit, while the modern standardised form of Devanāgarī was in use by about 1000 CE.Medieval inscriptions suggest widespread diffusion of Nāgarī-related scripts, withbiscriptspresenting local script along with the adoption of Nāgarī scripts. For example, the mid 8th-centuryPattadakal pillarinKarnatakahas text in bothSiddha Matrikascript, and an earlyTelugu-Kannadascript; while, theKangraJawalamukhiinscription inHimachal Pradeshis written in bothSharadaand Devanāgarī scripts.

The Nāgarī script was in regular use by the 7th century CE, and it was fully developed by about the end of first millennium.The use of Sanskrit in Nāgarī script in medieval India is attested by numerous pillar and cave-temple inscriptions, including the 11th-centuryUdayagiri inscriptionsinMadhya Pradesh,and an inscribed brick found inUttar Pradesh,dated to be from 1217 CE, which is now held at theBritish Museum.The script's prototypes and related versions have been discovered with ancient relics outside India, in places such asSri Lanka,MyanmarandIndonesia.In East Asia, theSiddhaṃ matrikascript (considered as the closest precursor to Nāgarī) was in use byBuddhists.Nāgarī has been theprimus inter paresof the Indic scripts.It has long been used traditionally by religiously educated people inSouth Asiato record and transmit information, existing throughout the land in parallel with a wide variety of local scripts (such asMoḍī,Kaithi,andMahajani) used for administration, commerce, and other daily uses.

Sharada remained in parallel use inKashmir.An early version of Devanāgarī is visible in theKutila inscription of Bareillydated toVS1049 (992 CE), which demonstrates the emergence of the horizontal bar to group letters belonging to a word.One of the oldest surviving Sanskrit texts from the early post-Mauryaperiod consists of 1,413 Nāgarī pages of a commentary byPatanjali,with a composition date of about 150 BCE, the surviving copy transcribed about 14th century CE.

Examples of Devanāgarī manuscripts created between the 18th and 19th centuries

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Evolution from Brahmi to Gupta, and to Devanagari

	k-	kh-	g-	gh-	ṅ-	c-	ch-	j-	jh-	ñ-	ṭ-	ṭh-	ḍ-	ḍh-	ṇ-	t-	th-	d-	dh-	n-	p-	ph-	b-	bh-	m-	y-	r-	l-	v-	ś-	ṣ-	s-	h-
Brahmi	𑀓	𑀔	𑀕	𑀖	𑀗	𑀘	𑀙	𑀚	𑀛	𑀜	𑀝	𑀞	𑀟	𑀠	𑀡	𑀢	𑀣	𑀤	𑀥	𑀦	𑀧	𑀨	𑀩	𑀪	𑀫	𑀬	𑀭	𑀮	𑀯	𑀰	𑀱	𑀲	𑀳
Gupta
Devanagari	क	ख	ग	घ	ङ	च	छ	ज	झ	ञ	ट	ठ	ड	ढ	ण	त	थ	द	ध	न	प	फ	ब	भ	म	य	र	ल	व	श	ष	स	ह

East Asia

In the 7th century, under the rule ofSongtsen Gampoof theTibetan Empire,Thonmi Sambhotawas sent to Nepal to open marriage negotiations with aNepaliprincess and to find a writing system suitable for theTibetanlanguage. He then invented theTibetan scriptbased on the Nāgarī used in Kashmir. He added 6 new characters for sounds that did not exist in Sanskrit.

Other scripts closely related to Nāgarī (such asSiddhaṃ) were introduced throughout East and Southeast Asia from the 7th to the 10th centuries CE: notably in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Japan.

Most of the Southeast Asian scripts have roots in Dravidian scripts, but a few found in south-central regions of Java and isolated parts of southeast Asia resemble Devanāgarī or its prototypes. TheKawi scriptin particular is similar to the Devanāgarī in many respects, though the morphology of the script has local changes. The earliest inscriptions in the Devanāgarī-like scripts are from around the 10th century CE, with many more between the 11th and 14th centuries.

Some of the old-Devanāgarī inscriptions are found in Hindu temples of Java, such as thePrambanantemple.The Ligor and the Kalasan inscriptions of central Java, dated to the 8th century, are also in the Nāgarī script of north India. According to the epigraphist and Asian Studies scholar Lawrence Briggs, these may be related to the 9th century copper plate inscription of Devapaladeva (Bengal) which is also in early Devanāgarī script.The term kawi in Kawi script is a loan word fromkāvya(poetry). According to anthropologists and Asian studies scholarsJohn Norman Miksicand Goh Geok Yian, the 8th century version of early Nāgarī or Devanāgarī script was adopted in Java,Bali,and Khmer around the 8th–9th centuries, as evidenced by the many contemporaneous inscriptions of this period.

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  Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī SūtrainSiddhaṃonpalmleaf in 609 CE found inHōryū-ji,Japan. The last line is a complete Sanskritsyllabaryin Siddhaṃ script.

Letters

Theletter orderof Devanāgarī, like nearly all Brāhmic scripts, is based onphoneticprinciples that consider both themannerandplace of articulationof the consonants and vowels they represent. This arrangement is usually referred to as thevarṇamālā( "garlandof letters ").The format of Devanāgarī for Sanskrit serves as the prototype for its application, with minor variations or additions, to other languages.

Vowels

The vowels and their arrangement are:

		Independent form	IAST	ISO	IPA	As diacritic withप(Barakhadi)		Independent form	IAST	ISO	IPA	As diacritic withप(Barakhadi)
kaṇṭhya (Guttural)		अ	a		[ɐ]	प		आ	ā		[aː]	पा
tālavya (Palatal)		इ	i		[i]	पि		ई	ī		[iː]	पी
oṣṭhya (Labial)		उ	u		[u]	पु6		ऊ	ū		[uː]	पू6
mūrdhanya (Retroflex)		ऋ	ṛ	r̥	[r̩]	पृ		ॠ4	ṝ	r̥̄	[r̩ː]	पॄ
dantya (Dental)		ऌ4	ḷ	l̥	[l̩]	पॢ		ॡ4,5	ḹ	l̥̄	[l̩ː]	पॣ
kaṇṭhatālavya (Palatoguttural)		ए	e	ē	[eː]	पे		ऐ	ai		[ɑj]	पै
kaṇṭhoṣṭhya (Labioguttural)		ओ	o	ō	[oː]	पो		औ	au		[ɑw]	पौ
		अं/ं1,2	ṃ	ṁ	[◌̃]	पं		अः/ः1	ḥ		[h]	पः
		ॲ / ऍ7		ê	[æ]	पॅ		ऑ7		ô	[ɒ]	पॉ

1. Arranged with the vowels are two consonantaldiacritics,the finalnasalanusvāraंṃand the finalfricativevisargaःḥ(calledअंaṃandअःaḥ).Masica (1991:146) notes of theanusvārain Sanskrit that "there is some controversy as to whether it represents a homorganicnasal stop...,anasalised vowel,a nasalisedsemivowel,or all these according to context ". Thevisargarepresents post-vocalicvoiceless glottal fricative[h],in Sanskrit anallophoneofs,or less commonlyr,usually in word-final position. Some traditions of recitation append an echo of thevowelafter the breath:इः[ihi].Masica (1991:146) considers thevisargaalong with lettersङṅaandञñafor the "largely predictable"velarandpalatal nasalsto be examples of "phonetic overkill in the system".
2. Another diacritic is thecandrabindu/anunāsikaँअँ.Salomon (2003:76–77) describes it as a "more emphatic form" of theanusvāra,"sometimes...used to mark a true [vowel] nasalization ". In a new Indo-Aryan language such as Hindi the distinction is formal: thecandrabinduindicatesvowel nasalisationwhile theanusvārindicates a homorganicnasalpreceding another consonant:e.g.,हँसी[ɦə̃si]"laughter",गंगा[ɡəŋɡɑ]"theGanges".When anakṣarahas a vowel diacritic above the top line, that leaves no room for thecandra( "moon" ) strokecandrabindu,which is dispensed with in favour of the lone dot:हूँ[ɦũ]"am", butहैं[ɦɛ̃]"are". Some writers and typesetters dispense with the "moon" stroke altogether, using only the dot in all situations.
3. Theavagraha(ऽअऽ) (usuallytransliteratedwith anapostrophe) is a Sanskritpunctuation markfor theelisionof avowelinsandhi:एकोऽयम्eko'yam( ←एकस्ekas+अयम्ayam) ( "this one" ). An originallong vowellost to coalescence is sometimes marked with a doubleavagraha:सदाऽऽत्माsadā'tmā( ←सदाsadā+आत्माātmā) "always, the self".In Hindi,Snell (2000:77) states that its "main function is to show that a vowel is sustained in a cry or a shout":आईऽऽऽ!āīīī!.In Madhyadeshi languages like Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Maithili, etc. which have "quite a number of verbal forms that end in that inherent vowel",theavagrahais used to mark thenon-elision of word-final inherenta,which otherwise is a modern orthographic convention:बइठऽbaiṭha"sit" versusबइठbaiṭh
4. The syllabic consonantsॠṝ,ऌḷ,andॡḹare specific to Sanskrit and not included in thevarṇamālāof other languages. The sound represented byṛhas also been largely lost in the modern languages, and its pronunciation now ranges from[ɾɪ](Hindi) to[ɾu](Marathi).
5. ḹis not an actualphonemeof Sanskrit, but rather a graphic convention included among the vowels in order to maintain the symmetry of short–long pairs of letters.
6. There are non-regular formations ofरुru,रूrū,andहृhṛ.
7. There are two more vowels inMarathi,ॲandऑ,that respectively represent [æ], similar to theRPEnglish pronunciation of⟨a⟩inact,and [ɒ], similar to the RP pronunciation of⟨o⟩incot.These vowels are sometimes used in Hindi too, as inडॉलरdôlar( "dollar" ).IAST transliteration is not defined. InISO 15919,the transliteration isêandô,respectively.
8. Kashmiri Devanagari uses letters likeॳ,ॴ,ॶ,ॷ,ऎ,ऒ,औ,ॵto represent its vowels (seeKashmiri language#Devanagari).

Consonants

The table below shows the consonant letters (in combination withinherent vowela) and their arrangement. To the right of the Devanāgarī letter it shows the Latin script transliteration usingInternational Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration,and the phonetic value (IPA) inHindi.

Phonetics→	sparśa (Occlusive)								anunāsika (Nasal)		antastha (Approximant)		ūṣman/saṃgharṣī (Fricative)
Voicing→	aghoṣa				saghoṣa								aghoṣa		saghoṣa
Aspiration→	alpaprāṇa		mahāprāṇa		alpaprāṇa		mahāprāṇa		alpaprāṇa				mahāprāṇa
kaṇṭhya (Velar)	क	ka [k]	ख	kha [kʰ]	ग	ga [ɡ]	घ	gha [ɡʱ]	ङ	ṅa [ŋ]					ह	ha [ɦ]
tālavya (Palatal)	च	ca [tʃ]	छ	cha [tʃʰ]	ज	ja [dʒ]	झ	jha [dʒʱ]	ञ	ña [ɲ]	य	ya [j]	श	śa [ʃ]
mūrdhanya (Retroflex)	ट	ṭa [ʈ]	ठ	ṭha [ʈʰ]	ड	ḍa [ɖ]	ढ	ḍha [ɖʱ]	ण	ṇa [ɳ]	र	ra [r]	ष	ṣa [ʂ]
dantya (Dental)	त	ta [t̪]	थ	tha [t̪ʰ]	द	da [d̪]	ध	dha [d̪ʱ]	न	na [n]	ल	la [l]	स	sa [s]
oṣṭhya (Labial)	प	pa [p]	फ	pha [pʰ]	ब	ba [b]	भ	bha [bʱ]	म	ma [m]	व	va [ʋ]

• Additionally, there isळḷa(IPA:[ɭ]or[ɭ̆]), the intervocaliclateral flapallophone of thevoiced retroflex stopinVedic Sanskrit,which is aphonemein languages such asMarathi,Konkani,Garhwali,andRajasthani.
• Beyond the Sanskritic set, new shapes have rarely been formulated.Masica (1991:146) offers the following, "In any case, according to some, all possible sounds had already been described and provided for in this system, as Sanskrit was the original and perfect language. Hence it was difficult to provide for or even to conceiveothersounds, unknown to thephoneticiansof Sanskrit ". Where foreign borrowings and internal developments did inevitably accrue and arise in New Indo-Aryan languages, they have been ignored in writing, or dealt through means such asdiacriticsandligatures(ignored in recitation).
  • The most prolific diacritic has been thesubscriptdot (nuqtā)़.Hindiuses it for thePersian,Arabicand English soundsक़qa/q/,ख़xa/x/,ग़ġa/ɣ/,ज़za/z/,झ़zha/ʒ/,andफ़fa/f/,and for theallophonicdevelopmentsड़ṛa/ɽ/andढ़ṛha/ɽʱ/.(Althoughऴḻa/ɻ/could also exist, it is not used in Hindi.)
  • Devanagari used to write Mahl dialect of Dhivehi uses nukta onच़,त़,द़,ल़,श़,स़,ह़to represent other Perso-Arabic phonemes (seeMaldivian writing systems#Devanagari script for Mahl).
  • Sindhi's andSaraiki'simplosivesare accommodated with a line attached below:ॻ[ɠə],ॼ[ʄə],ॾ[ɗə],ॿ[ɓə].
  • Aspiratedsonorantsmay be represented as conjuncts/ligatureswithहha:म्हmha,न्हnha,ण्हṇha,व्हvha,ल्हlha,ळ्हḷha,र्हrha.
  • Masica (1991:147) notesMarwarias usingॸforḍa[ɗə](whileडrepresents[ɽə]).
  • Devanagari used to write Avestan uses letters likeॹ/ʒ/ to represent its sounds.

Vowel diacritics

Voweldiacriticsonक

Table: Consonants with vowel diacritics. Vowels in their independent form on the top and in their corresponding dependent form (vowel sign) combined with the consonant 'k' on the bottom. 'ka' is without any added vowel sign, where the vowel 'a' isinherent.

a	ā	ê	ô	i	ī	u	ū	e	ē	ai	o	ō	au	r̥	r̥̄	l̥	l̥̄	ṁ	ḥ
अ	आ	ॲ	ऑ	इ	ई	उ	ऊ	ऎ	ए	ऐ	ऒ	ओ	औ	ऋ	ॠ	ऌ	ॡ	अं	अः
	ा	ॅ	ॉ	ि	ी	ु	ू	ॆ	े	ै	ॊ	ो	ौ	ृ	ॄ	ॢ	ॣ	ं	ः	्
ka	kā	kê	kô	ki	kī	ku	kū	ke	kē	kai	ko	kō	kau	kr̥	kr̥̄	kl̥	kl̥̄	kaṁ	kaḥ	k
क	का	कॅ	कॉ	कि	की	कु	कू	कॆ	के	कै	कॊ	को	कौ	कृ	कॄ	कॢ	कॣ	कं	कः	क्

A vowel combines with a consonant in their diacritic form. For example, the vowelआ(ā) combines with the consonantक्(k) to form the syllabic letterका(kā), withhalant (cancel sign)removed and added vowel sign which is indicated bydiacritics.The vowelअ(a) combines with the consonantक्(k) to formक(ka) with halant removed. But the diacritic series ofक,ख,ग,घ(ka, kha, ga, gha,respectively) is without any added vowel sign, as the vowelअ(a) isinherent.

TheJñānēśvarīis a commentary on theBhagavad Gita,dated to 1290 CE. It is in written inMarathiusing the Devanāgarī script.

The combinations of all consonants and vowels, each in Alpha betical order, are laid out in thebārākhaḍī(बाराखडी) orbārahkhaṛī(बारहखड़ी) table. In the followingbarakhaditable, the transliteration of each combination will appear on mouseover:

Barakhadi table

	a	ā	i	ī	u	ū	e	ai	o	au	aṁ	aḥ
	अ	आ	इ	ई	उ	ऊ	ए	ऐ	ओ	औ	अं	अः
k-	क	का	कि	की	कु	कू	के	कै	को	कौ	कं	कः
kh-	ख	खा	खि	खी	खु	खू	खे	खै	खो	खौ	खं	खः
g-	ग	गा	गि	गी	गु	गू	गे	गै	गो	गौ	गं	गः
gh-	घ	घा	घि	घी	घु	घू	घे	घै	घो	घौ	घं	घः
ṅ-	ङ	ङा	ङि	ङी	ङु	ङू	ङे	ङै	ङो	ङौ	ङं	ङः
c-	च	चा	चि	ची	चु	चू	चे	चै	चो	चौ	चं	चः
ch-	छ	छा	छि	छी	छु	छू	छे	छै	छो	छौ	छं	छः
j-	ज	जा	जि	जी	जु	जू	जे	जै	जो	जौ	जं	जः
jh-	झ	झा	झि	झी	झु	झू	झे	झै	झो	झौ	झं	झः
ñ-	ञ	ञा	ञि	ञी	ञु	ञू	ञे	ञै	ञो	ञौ	ञं	ञः
ṭ-	ट	टा	टि	टी	टु	टू	टे	टै	टो	टौ	टं	टः
ṭh-	ठ	ठा	ठि	ठी	ठु	ठू	ठे	ठै	ठो	ठौ	ठं	ठः
ḍ-	ड	डा	डि	डी	डु	डू	डे	डै	डो	डौ	डं	डः
ḍh-	ढ	ढा	ढि	ढी	ढु	ढू	ढे	ढै	ढो	ढौ	ढं	ढः
ṇ-	ण	णा	णि	णी	णु	णू	णे	णै	णो	णौ	णं	णः
t-	त	ता	ति	ती	तु	तू	ते	तै	तो	तौ	तं	तः
th-	थ	था	थि	थी	थु	थू	थे	थै	थो	थौ	थं	थः
d-	द	दा	दि	दी	दु	दू	दे	दै	दो	दौ	दं	दः
dh-	ध	धा	धि	धी	धु	धू	धे	धै	धो	धौ	धं	धः
n-	न	ना	नि	नी	नु	नू	ने	नै	नो	नौ	नं	नः
p-	प	पा	पि	पी	पु	पू	पे	पै	पो	पौ	पं	पः
ph-	फ	फा	फि	फी	फु	फू	फे	फै	फो	फौ	फं	फः
b-	ब	बा	बि	बी	बु	बू	बे	बै	बो	बौ	बं	बः
bh-	भ	भा	भि	भी	भु	भू	भे	भै	भो	भौ	भं	भः
m-	म	मा	मि	मी	मु	मू	मे	मै	मो	मौ	मं	मः
y-	य	या	यि	यी	यु	यू	ये	यै	यो	यौ	यं	यः
r-	र	रा	रि	री	रु	रू	रे	रै	रो	रौ	रं	रः
l-	ल	ला	लि	ली	लु	लू	ले	लै	लो	लौ	लं	लः
v-	व	वा	वि	वी	वु	वू	वे	वै	वो	वौ	वं	वः
ś-	श	शा	शि	शी	शु	शू	शे	शै	शो	शौ	शं	शः
ṣ-	ष	षा	षि	षी	षु	षू	षे	षै	षो	षौ	षं	षः
s-	स	सा	सि	सी	सु	सू	से	सै	सो	सौ	सं	सः
h-	ह	हा	हि	ही	हु	हू	हे	है	हो	हौ	हं	हः

Old forms

A mid-10th century Sanskrit land grant for a college, written in Devanāgarī, and discovered on a stone buried in north Karnataka. Parts of the inscription are written inCanarese script.

The following letter variants are also in use, particularly in older texts and in specific regions:

Letter variants

Standard	Ancient

Conjunct consonants

Main article:Devanagari conjuncts

Picture with conjuncts fromAn Elementary Grammar of the Sanscrit Language,page 25,Monier Monier-Williams(1846).

As mentioned, successive consonants lacking a vowel in between them may physically join as aconjunct consonantorligature.When Devanāgarī is used for writing languages other than Sanskrit, conjuncts are used mostly with Sanskrit words and loan words. Native words typically use the basic consonant and native speakers know to suppress the vowel when it is conventional to do so. For example, the native Hindi wordkarnāis writtenकरना(ka-ra-nā).The government of these clusters ranges from widely to narrowly applicable rules, with special exceptions within. While standardised for the most part, there are certain variations in clustering, of which theUnicodeused on this page is just one scheme. The following are a number of rules:

Few examples ofशconsonant clusters.

• 24 out of the 36 consonants contain a vertical right stroke (यya,नna,गgaetc.). As first or middle fragments/members of a cluster (when letters are to be written as half pronounced), they lose that stroke. e.g.त्+व=त्वtva,ण्+ढ=ण्ढṇḍha,स्+थ=स्थstha.In Unicode, as in Hindi, these consonants without their vertical stems are called "half forms".शśaappears as a different, simple ribbon-shaped fragment precedingवva,नna,चca,लla,andरra,causing these second members to be shifted down and reduced in size. Thusश्वśva,श्नśna,श्चśca,श्लśla,श्रśra,andशृśṛi.
• रraas a first member takes the form of a curved upward dash above the final character or itsā-diacritic. e.g.र्वrva,र्वाrvā,र्स्पrspa,र्स्पाrspā.In Marathi and Nepali,रraas a first member of a conjunct also takes on an eyelash form when in front of glides and semivowels. e.g.र्‍यrya,र्‍वrva.As a final member withटṭa,ठṭha,डḍa,ढḍha,ड़ṛa,छcha,it is two lines together below the character pointed downwards. Thusट्रṭra,ठ्रṭhra,ड्रḍra,ढ्रḍhra,ड़्रṛra,छ्रchra.Elsewhere as a final member it is a diagonal stroke extending leftwards and down. e.g.क्र ग्र भ्र ब्र.तtais shifted up to make the conjunctत्रtra.
• As first members, remaining characters lacking vertical strokes such asदdaandहhamay have their second member, reduced in size and lacking its horizontal stroke, placed underneath.कka,छcha,andफphashorten their right hooks and join them directly to the following member.
• The conjuncts forkṣaandjñaare not clearly derived from the letters making up their components. The conjunct forkṣaisक्ष(क्+ष) and forjñait isज्ञ(ज्+ञ).

Accent marks

Main article:Vedic accent § Notation

Thepitch accentofVedic Sanskritis written with various symbols depending onshakha.In theRigveda,anudāttais written with a bar below the line (◌॒),svaritawith a stroke above the line (◌॑) whileudāttais unmarked.

Punctuation

The end of a sentence or half-verse may be marked with the "।"symbol (called adaṇḍa,meaning "bar", or called apūrṇa virām,meaning "full stop/pause" ). The end of a full verse may be marked with a double-daṇḍa,a "॥"symbol. A comma (called analpa virām,meaning "short stop/pause" ) is used to denote a natural pause in speech.Punctuation marks ofWesternorigin, such as thecolon,semicolon,exclamation mark,dash,andquestion markhave been in use in Devanāgarī script since at least the 1900s,matching their use in European languages.

Numerals

See also:Indian numerals,Brāhmī numerals,andHindu–Arabic numeral system

Devanāgarī digits

०	१	२	३	४	५	६	७	८	९
0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Fonts

A variety of Unicode fonts are in use for Devanāgarī. These include Akshar,Annapurna,Arial,CDAC-Gist Surekh,CDAC-Gist Yogesh,Chandas,Gargi,Gurumaa,Jaipur,Jana,Kalimati,Kanjirowa,Lohit Devanagari, Mangal,Kokila,,Preeti,Raghu,Sanskrit2003,Santipur OT,Siddhanta, and Thyaka.

The form of Devanāgarī fonts vary with function. According to Harvard College for Sanskrit studies:

Uttara [companion toChandas] is the best in terms of ligatures but, because it is designed for Vedic as well, requires so much vertical space that it is not well suited for the "user interface font" (though an excellent choice for the "original field" font). Santipur OT is a beautiful font reflecting a very early [medieval era] typesetting style for Devanagari. Sanskrit 2003is a good all-around font and has more ligatures than most fonts, though students will probably find the spacing of the CDAC-Gist Surekhfont makes for quicker comprehension and reading.

The Google Fonts project has a number of Unicode fonts for Devanāgarī in a variety of typefaces in serif, sans-serif, display and handwriting categories.

Transliteration

Main article:Devanagari transliteration

Indic scripts share common features, and along with Devanāgarī, all major Indic scripts have been historically used to preserve Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts.

There are several methods ofRomanisationortransliterationfrom Devanāgarī to theRoman script.

Hunterian system

Main article:Hunterian transliteration

TheHunterian systemis the national system of romanisation inIndia,officially adopted by theGovernment of India.

ISO 15919

Main article:ISO 15919

A standard transliteration convention was codified in the ISO 15919 standard of 2001. It uses diacritics to map the much larger set of Brāhmic graphemes to the Latin script. The Devanāgarī-specific portion is nearly identical to the academic standard for Sanskrit,IAST.

IAST

TheInternational Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST)is the academic standard for the romanisation of Sanskrit. IAST is the de facto standard used in printed publications, like books, magazines, and electronic texts with Unicode fonts. It is based on a standard established by theCongress of OrientalistsatAthensin 1912. The ISO 15919 standard of 2001 codified the transliteration convention to include an expanded standard for sister scripts of Devanāgarī.

TheNational Library at Kolkata romanisation,intended for the romanisation of all Indic scripts, is an extension of IAST.

Harvard-Kyoto

Compared to IAST,Harvard-Kyotolooks much simpler. It does not contain all the diacritic marks that IAST contains. It was designed to simplify the task of putting large amount of Sanskrit textual material into machine readable form, and the inventors stated that it reduces the effort needed in transliteration of Sanskrit texts on the keyboard.This makes typing in Harvard-Kyoto much easier than IAST. Harvard-Kyoto usescapital lettersthat can be difficult to read in the middle of words.

ITRANS

ITRANSis a lossless transliteration scheme of Devanāgarī intoASCIIthat is widely used onUsenet.It is an extension of theHarvard-Kyotoscheme. In ITRANS, the worddevanāgarīis written "devanaagarii" or "devanAgarI". ITRANS is associated with an application of the same name that enables typesetting inIndic scripts.The user inputs in Roman letters and the ITRANS pre-processor translates the Roman letters into Devanāgarī (or other Indic languages). The latest version ofITRANSis version 5.30 released in July 2001. It is similar to Velthuis system and was created by Avinash Chopde to help print various Indic scripts with personal computers.

Velthuis

Main article:Velthuis

The disadvantage of the aboveASCIIschemes is case-sensitivity, implying that transliterated names may not be capitalised. This difficulty is avoided with the system developed in 1996 by Frans Velthuis forTeX,loosely based on IAST, in which case is irrelevant.

ALA-LC Romanisation

ALA-LCromanisation is a transliteration scheme approved by the Library of Congress and the American Library Association, and widely used in North American libraries. Transliteration tables are based on languages, so there is a table for Hindi,one for Sanskrit and Prakrit,etc.

WX

Main article:WX notation

WX is a Roman transliteration scheme for Indian languages, widely used among thenatural language processingcommunity in India. It originated atIIT Kanpurfor computational processing of Indian languages. The salient features of this transliteration scheme are as follows.

• Every consonant and every vowel has a single mapping into Roman. Hence it is aprefix code,advantageous from computation point of view.
• Lower-case letters are used for unaspirated consonants and short vowels, while capital letters are used for aspirated consonants and long vowels. While the retroflex stops are mapped to 't, T, d, D, N', the dentals are mapped to 'w, W, x, X, n'. Hence the name 'WX', a reminder of this idiosyncratic mapping.

Encodings

ISCII

ISCIIis an 8-bit encoding. The lower 128 codepoints are plainASCII,the upper 128 codepoints are ISCII-specific.

It has been designed for representing not only Devanāgarī but also various otherIndic scriptsas well as a Latin-based script with diacritic marks used for transliteration of the Indic scripts.

ISCII has largely been superseded by Unicode, which has, however, attempted to preserve the ISCII layout for its Indic language blocks.

Unicode

Main articles:Devanagari (Unicode block),Devanagari Extended (Unicode block),Devanagari Extended-A (Unicode block),andVedic Extensions (Unicode block)

The Unicode Standard defines four blocks for Devanāgarī: Devanagari (U+0900–U+097F), Devanagari Extended (U+A8E0–U+A8FF), Devanagari Extended-A (U+11B00–11B5F), and Vedic Extensions (U+1CD0–U+1CFF).

Devanagari[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart(PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+090x

ऀ

ँ

ं

ः

ऄ

अ

आ

इ

ई

उ

ऊ

ऋ

ऌ

ऍ

ऎ

ए

U+091x

ऐ

ऑ

ऒ

ओ

औ

क

ख

ग

घ

ङ

च

छ

ज

झ

ञ

ट

U+092x

ठ

ड

ढ

ण

त

थ

द

ध

न

ऩ

प

फ

ब

भ

म

य

U+093x

र

ऱ

ल

ळ

ऴ

व

श

ष

स

ह

ऺ

ऻ

़

ऽ

ा

ि

U+094x

ी

ु

ू

ृ

ॄ

ॅ

ॆ

े

ै

ॉ

ॊ

ो

ौ

्

ॎ

ॏ

U+095x

ॐ

॑

॒

॓

॔

ॕ

ॖ

ॗ

क़

ख़

ग़

ज़

ड़

ढ़

फ़

य़

U+096x

ॠ

ॡ

ॢ

ॣ

।

॥

०

१

२

३

४

५

६

७

८

९

U+097x

॰

ॱ

ॲ

ॳ

ॴ

ॵ

ॶ

ॷ

ॸ

ॹ

ॺ

ॻ

ॼ

ॽ

ॾ

ॿ

Notes 1.^As of Unicode version 16.0

Devanagari Extended[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart(PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+A8Ex

꣠

꣡

꣢

꣣

꣤

꣥

꣦

꣧

꣨

꣩

꣪

꣫

꣬

꣭

꣮

꣯

U+A8Fx

꣰

꣱

ꣲ

ꣳ

ꣴ

ꣵ

ꣶ

ꣷ

꣸

꣹

꣺

ꣻ

꣼

ꣽ

ꣾ

ꣿ

Notes 1.^As of Unicode version 16.0

Devanagari Extended-A[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart(PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+11B0x

𑬀

𑬁

𑬂

𑬃

𑬄

𑬅

𑬆

𑬇

𑬈

𑬉

U+11B1x

U+11B2x

U+11B3x

U+11B4x

U+11B5x

Notes 1.^As of Unicode version 16.0 2.^Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Vedic Extensions[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart(PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1CDx

᳐

᳑

᳒

᳓

᳔

᳕

᳖

᳗

᳘

᳙

᳚

᳛

᳜

᳝

᳞

᳟

U+1CEx

᳠

᳡

᳢

᳣

᳤

᳥

᳦

᳧

᳨

ᳩ

ᳪ

ᳫ

ᳬ

᳭

ᳮ

ᳯ

U+1CFx

ᳰ

ᳱ

ᳲ

ᳳ

᳴

ᳵ

ᳶ

᳷

᳸

᳹

ᳺ

Notes 1.^As of Unicode version 16.0 2.^Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Devanāgari keyboard layouts

For a list of Devanāgari input tools and fonts, please seeHelp:Multilingual support (Indic).

Introduction to Inscript Key board

InScript layout

InScriptis the standardkeyboardlayout for Devanāgarī as standardized by the Government of India. It is inbuilt in all modern majoroperating systems.Microsoft Windowssupports the InScript layout, which can be used to input unicode Devanāgarī characters. InScript is also available in some touchscreen mobile phones.

Devanāgarī INSCRIPT bilingual keyboard layout

Typewriter

This layout was used on manual typewriters when computers were not available or were uncommon. For backward compatibility some typing tools like Indic IME still provide this layout.

Phonetic

Devanāgari Phonetic Keyboard Layout

One can use ULS "लिप्यंतरण"(Transliteration) or "इनस्क्रिप्ट"(Inscript) typing options to search or edit Devanagari-script articles as shown in this video clip example. CC instructions are available for British English.

Such tools work on phonetic transliteration. The user writes in the Latin Alpha bet and theIMEautomatically converts it into Devanāgarī. Some popular phonetic typing tools are Akruti,BarahaIME andGoogle IME.

TheMac OS Xoperating system includes two differentkeyboard layoutsfor Devanāgarī: one resembles the INSCRIPT/KDE Linux, while the other is a phonetic layout called "Devanāgarī QWERTY".

Any one of the Unicode fonts input systems is fine for the Indic language Wikipedia and other wikiprojects, including Hindi, Bhojpuri, Marathi, and Nepali Wikipedia. While some people useInScript,the majority uses eitherGoogle phonetic transliterationor the input facilityUniversal Language Selectorprovided on Wikipedia. On Indic language wikiprojects, the phonetic facility provided initially was java-based, and was later supported by Narayam extension for phonetic input facility. Currently Indic language Wiki projects are supported byUniversal Language Selector (ULS),that offers both phonetic keyboard (Aksharantaran, Marathi:अक्षरांतरण,Hindi:लिप्यंतरण, बोलनागरी) andInScript keyboard(Marathi:मराठी लिपी).

TheUbuntu Linuxoperating system supports severalkeyboard layoutsfor Devanāgarī, including Harvard-Kyoto,WX notation,Bolanagari and phonetic. The 'remington' typing method in Ubuntu IBUS is similar to the Krutidev typing method, popular in Rajasthan. The 'itrans' method is useful for those who know English (and the English keyboard) well but are not familiar with typing in Devanāgarī.

See also

• Languages of India
• Clip font
• Devanāgarī transliteration
• Devanāgarī Braille
• ISCII
• Nagari Pracharini Sabha
• Nepali
• Schwa deletion in Indo-Aryan languages
• Shiksha– theVedicstudy of sound, focusing on the letters of theSanskritAlpha bet

References

General sources

• Lambert, Hester Marjorie (1953),Introduction to the Devanagari Script: For Students of Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali,London: Geoffrey Cumberlege (Oxford University Press).
• Masica, Colin(1991),The Indo-Aryan Languages,Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,ISBN978-0-521-29944-2.
• Snell, Rupert (2000),Teach Yourself Beginner's Hindi Script,Hodder & Stoughton,ISBN978-0-07-141984-0.
• Salomon, Richard (1996). "Brahmi and Kharoshthi". In Daniels, Peter T.; Bright, William (eds.).The World's Writing Systems.Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-507993-0.
• Salomon, Richard (2003), "Writing Systems of the Indo-Aryan Languages", in Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (eds.),The Indo-Aryan Languages,Routledge, pp. 67–103,ISBN978-0-415-77294-5.
• Verma, Sheela (2003), "Magahi", in Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (eds.),The Indo-Aryan Languages,Routledge, pp. 498–514,ISBN978-0-415-77294-5.
• Wikner, Charles (1996),A Practical Sanskrit Introductory.

Census and catalogues of manuscripts in Devanāgarī

Thousands of manuscripts of ancient and medieval era Sanskrit texts in Devanāgarī have been discovered since the 19th century. Major catalogues and census include:

• A Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in Private LibrariesatGoogle Books,Medical Hall Press, Princeton University Archive
• A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit ManuscriptsatGoogle Books,Vol 1: Upanishads, Friedrich Otto Schrader (Compiler), University of Michigan Library Archives
• A preliminary list of the Sanskrit and Prakrit manuscripts,Vedas, Sastras, Sutras, Schools of Hindu Philosophies, Arts, Design, Music and other fields, Friedrich Otto Schrader (Compiler), (Devanagiri manuscripts are identified by Character codeDe.)
• Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts,Part 1: Vedic Manuscripts, Harvard University Archives (mostly Devanāgarī)
• Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts,Part 4: Manuscripts of Hindu schools of Philosophy and Tantra, Harvard University Archives (mostly Devanāgarī)
• Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts,Part 5: Manuscripts of Medicine, Astronomy and Mathematics, Architecture and Technical Science Literature, Julius Eggeling (Compiler), Harvard University Archives (mostly Devanāgarī)
• Catalogue of the Sanskrit ManuscriptsatGoogle Books,Part 6: Poetic, Epic and Purana Literature, Harvard University Archives (mostly Devanāgarī)
• David Pingree(1970–1981), Census of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit: Volumes 1 through 5,American Philosophical SocietyArchived11 February 2022 at theWayback Machine,Manuscripts in various Indic scripts including Devanāgarī

External links

• Devnagari Unicode Legacy Font ConvertersArchived27 September 2021 at theWayback Machine
• Digital Nāgarī fonts,University of Chicago
• Devanāgarī in different fonts,Wazu, Japan (Alternate collection:Luc Devroye's comprehensive Indic FontsArchived25 January 2022 at theWayback Machine,McGill University)
• Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency,p. 30, atGoogle Books,Rudradaman's inscription in Sanskrit Nāgarī script from 1st through 4th century CE (coins and epigraphy), found in Gujarat, India, pages 30–45
• Numerals and Text in DevanāgarīArchived22 November 2020 at theWayback Machine,9th century temple in Gwalior Madhya Pradesh, India, Current Science
• Maurer, Walter H. (1976). "On the Name Devanāgarī".Journal of the American Oriental Society.96(1): 101–104.doi:10.2307/599893.JSTOR599893.