Devanagari
Template:Short description Template:Use Indian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox writing system Template:Brahmic Template:Writing systems in India
Devanagari (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell;<ref>Template:Cite OED</ref> in script: Template:Lang, Template:IAST3, Template:IPA) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent.<ref name="kathleen">Template:Cite book</ref> It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system),<ref name="georgec" /> based on the ancient Brāhmī script.<ref name=gazett/> It is one of the official scripts of India and Nepal. It was developed in, and was in regular use by, the 8th century CE.<ref name=kathleen/> It had achieved its modern form by 1000 CE.<ref name=salomon1000/> The Devanāgarī script, composed of 48 primary characters, including 14 vowels and 34 consonants,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> is the fourth most widely adopted writing system in the world,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="mostused1">Template:Cite web</ref> being used for over 120 languages, the most popular of which is Hindi (Template:Lang).<ref name="devasilusa">Template:Citation</ref>
The orthography of this script reflects the pronunciation of the language.<ref name=devasilusa/> Unlike the Latin alphabet, the script has no concept of letter case, meaning the script is a unicameral alphabet.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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 a Template:Lang Template:IAST, that runs along the top of full letters.<ref name=georgec/> In a cursory look, the Devanāgarī script appears different from other Indic scripts, such as Bengali-Assamese or Gurmukhi, but a closer examination reveals they are very similar, except for angles and structural emphasis.<ref name="georgec">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
Among the languages using it as a primary or secondary script are Marathi, Pāḷi, Sanskrit,<ref name=george/> Hindi,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Boro, Nepali, Sherpa, Prakrit, Apabhramsha, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Braj Bhasha,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Chhattisgarhi, Haryanvi, Magahi, Nagpuri, Rajasthani, Khandeshi, Bhili, Dogri, Kashmiri, Maithili, Konkani, Sindhi, Nepal Bhasa, Mundari, Angika, Bajjika and Santali.<ref name=devasilusa/> The Devanāgarī script is closely related to the Nandināgarī script commonly found in numerous ancient manuscripts of South India,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and it is distantly related to a number of Southeast Asian scripts.<ref name=devasilusa/>
Etymology
[edit]Template:IAST is formed by the addition of the word Template:IAST (Template:Lang) to the word Template:IAST (Template:Lang). Template:IAST is an adjective derived from Template:IAST (Template:Lang), a Sanskrit word meaning "town" or "city", and literally means "urban" or "urbane".<ref>Template:MWSD</ref> The word Template:IAST (implicitly modifying Template:IAST, "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 form Template:IAST is attested later, at least by the 18th century.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The name of the Nandināgarī script is also formed by adding a prefix to the generic script name Template:IAST. The precise origin and significance of the prefix Template:IAST remains unclear.
History
[edit]Devanāgarī is part of the Brahmic family of scripts of India, Nepal, Tibet, and Southeast Asia.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="fischer2004">Template:Cite book</ref> It is a descendant of the 3rd century BCE Brāhmī script, which evolved into the Nagari script which in turn gave birth to Devanāgarī and Nandināgarī. Devanāgarī has been widely adopted across India and Nepal to write Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi, Central Indo-Aryan languages, Konkani, Boro, and various Nepalese languages.
Some of the earliest epigraphic evidence attesting to the developing Sanskrit Nāgarī script in ancient India is from the 1st to 4th century CE inscriptions discovered in Gujarat.<ref name="gazett">Template:Cite book</ref> Variants of script called Template:IAST, recognisably close to Devanāgarī, are first attested from the 1st century CE Rudradaman inscriptions in Sanskrit, while the modern standardised form of Devanāgarī was in use by about 1000 CE.<ref name="salomon1000">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Medieval inscriptions suggest widespread diffusion of Nāgarī-related scripts, with biscripts presenting local script along with the adoption of Nāgarī scripts. For example, the mid 8th-century Pattadakal pillar in Karnataka has text in both Siddha Matrika script, and an early Telugu-Kannada script; while, the Kangra Jawalamukhi inscription in Himachal Pradesh is written in both Sharada and Devanāgarī scripts.<ref name="richardbiscript">Template:Cite book</ref>
The Nāgarī script was in regular use by the 7th century CE, and it was fully developed by about the end of first millennium.<ref name=kathleen/><ref name=salomon1000/> The use of Sanskrit in Nāgarī script in medieval India is attested by numerous pillar and cave-temple inscriptions, including the 11th-century Udayagiri inscriptions in Madhya Pradesh,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and an inscribed brick found in Uttar Pradesh, dated to be from 1217 CE, which is now held at the British Museum.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The script's prototypes and related versions have been discovered with ancient relics outside India, in places such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Indonesia. In East Asia, the Template:IAST script (considered as the closest precursor to Nāgarī) was in use by Buddhists.<ref name=george/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Nāgarī has been the Template:Lang of the Indic scripts.<ref name="george">Template:Cite book</ref> It has long been used traditionally by religiously educated people in South Asia to record and transmit information, existing throughout the land in parallel with a wide variety of local scripts (such as Moḍī, Kaithi, and Mahajani) used for administration, commerce, and other daily uses.
Sharada remained in parallel use in Kashmir. An early version of Devanāgarī is visible in the Kutila inscription of Bareilly dated to VS 1049 (992 CE), which demonstrates the emergence of the horizontal bar to group letters belonging to a word.<ref name="taylor2003">Template:Cite book</ref> One of the oldest surviving Sanskrit texts from the early post-Maurya period consists of 1,413 Nāgarī pages of a commentary by Patanjali, with a composition date of about 150 BCE, the surviving copy transcribed about 14th century CE.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia;
Original manuscript, dates in Saka Samvat, and uncertainties associated with it: Template:Citation</ref>
In Sinja Valley, mid-western Nepal where the Nepali language originates from, the earliest examples of the Devanagari script from the 13th century were found on the cliffs and in nearby Dullu.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:GalleryTemplate:Devanagari abugida sidebar
East Asia
[edit]In the 7th century, under the rule of Songtsen Gampo of the Tibetan Empire, Thonmi Sambhota was sent to Nepal to open marriage negotiations with a Nepali princess and to find a writing system suitable for the Tibetan language. He then invented the Tibetan script based on the Nāgarī used in Kashmir. He added 6 new characters for sounds that did not exist in Sanskrit.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Other scripts closely related to Nāgarī (such as Siddhaṃ) were introduced throughout East and Southeast Asia from the 7th to the 10th centuries CE: notably in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Japan.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="richard">Template:Cite book</ref>
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. The Kawi script in 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Some of the old-Devanāgarī inscriptions are found in Hindu temples of Java, such as the Prambanan temple.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The term kawi in Kawi script is a loan word from Template:IAST (poetry). According to anthropologists and Asian studies scholars John Norman Miksic and 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.<ref name="MiksicYian2016p177">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:GalleryTemplate:Brahmi-Gupta-Devanagari
Letters
[edit]The letter order of Devanāgarī, like nearly all Brāhmic scripts, is based on phonetic principles that consider both the manner and place of articulation of the consonants and vowels they represent. This arrangement is usually referred to as the Template:IAST ("garland of letters").<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> The format of Devanāgarī for Sanskrit serves as the prototype for its application, with minor variations or additions, to other languages.<ref name="Salomon 2003 75">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
Vowels
[edit]The vowels and their arrangement are:<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
- Arranged with the vowels are two consonantal diacritics, the final nasal Template:IAST Template:Lang Template:IAST and the final fricative Template:IAST Template:Lang Template:IAST (called Template:Lang Template:IAST and Template:Lang Template:IAST). Template:Harvcoltxt notes of the Template:IAST in Sanskrit that "there is some controversy as to whether it represents a homorganic nasal stop Template:Omission, a nasalised vowel, a nasalised semivowel, or all these according to context". The Template:IAST represents post-vocalic voiceless glottal fricative Template:IPA, in Sanskrit an allophone of Template:IAST, or less commonly Template:IAST, usually in word-final position. Some traditions of recitation append an echo of the vowel after the breath:<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> Template:Lang Template:IPA. Template:Harvcoltxt considers the Template:IAST along with letters Template:Lang Template:IAST and Template:Lang Template:IAST for the "largely predictable" velar and palatal nasals to be examples of "phonetic overkill in the system".
- Another diacritic is the Template:IAST/Template:IAST Template:Lang Template:Lang. Template:Harvcoltxt describes it as a "more emphatic form" of the Template:IAST, "sometimes Template:Omission used to mark a true [vowel] nasalization". In a new Indo-Aryan language such as Hindi the distinction is formal: the Template:IAST indicates vowel nasalisation<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> while the Template:IAST indicates a homorganic nasal preceding another consonant:<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> e.g., Template:Lang Template:IPA "laughter", Template:Lang Template:IPA "the Ganges". When an Template:IAST has a vowel diacritic above the top line, that leaves no room for the Template:IAST ("moon") stroke Template:IAST, which is dispensed with in favour of the lone dot:<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> Template:Lang Template:IPA "am", but Template:Lang Template:IPA "are". Some writers and typesetters dispense with the "moon" stroke altogether, using only the dot in all situations.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
- The Template:IAST (Template:Lang Template:Lang) (usually transliterated with an apostrophe) is a Sanskrit punctuation mark for the elision of a vowel in sandhi: Template:Lang Template:IAST ( ← Template:Lang Template:IAST + Template:Lang Template:IAST) ("this one"). An original long vowel lost to coalescence is sometimes marked with a double Template:IAST: Template:Lang Template:IAST ( ← Template:Lang Template:IAST + Template:Lang Template:IAST) "always, the self".<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> In Hindi, Template:Harvcoltxt states that its "main function is to show that a vowel is sustained in a cry or a shout": Template:Lang Template:IAST. In Madhyadeshi languages like Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Maithili, etc. which have "quite a number of verbal forms that end in that inherent vowel",<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> the Template:IAST is used to mark the non-elision of word-final inherent Template:IAST, which otherwise is a modern orthographic convention: Template:Lang Template:IAST "sit" versus Template:Lang Template:IAST
- The syllabic consonants Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, and Template:Lang Template:IAST are specific to Sanskrit and not included in the Template:IAST of other languages. The sound represented by Template:IAST has also been largely lost in the modern languages, and its pronunciation now ranges from Template:IPA (Hindi) to Template:IPA (Marathi).
- Template:IAST is not an actual phoneme of Sanskrit, but rather a graphic convention included among the vowels in order to maintain the symmetry of short–long pairs of letters.<ref name="Salomon 2003 75" />
- There are non-regular formations of Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, and Template:Lang Template:IAST.
- There are two more vowels in Marathi, Template:Lang and Template:Lang, that respectively represent [[[:Template:IPA]]], similar to the RP English pronunciation of Template:Angbr in act, and [[[:Template:IPA]]], similar to the RP pronunciation of Template:Angbr in cot. These vowels are sometimes used in Hindi too, as in Template:Langx Template:IAST ("dollar").<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> IAST transliteration is not defined. In ISO 15919, the transliteration is Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration, respectively.
- Kashmiri Devanagari uses letters like Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang to represent its vowels (see Kashmiri language#Devanagari).
Consonants
[edit]The table below shows the consonant letters (in combination with inherent vowel Template:IAST) and their arrangement. To the right of the Devanāgarī letter it shows the Latin script transliteration using International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration,<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> and the phonetic value (IPA) in Hindi.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Additionally, there is Template:Lang Template:IAST (IPA: Template:IPAblink or Template:IPAblink), the intervocalic lateral flap allophone of the voiced retroflex stop in Vedic Sanskrit, which is a phoneme in languages such as Marathi, Konkani, Garhwali, and Rajasthani.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
- Beyond the Sanskritic set, new shapes have rarely been formulated. Template:Harvcoltxt 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 conceive other sounds, unknown to the phoneticians of 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 as diacritics and ligatures (ignored in recitation).
- The most prolific diacritic has been the subscript dot (Template:IAST) Template:Lang. Hindi uses it for the Persian, Arabic and English sounds Template:Lang Template:IAST /q/, Template:Lang Template:IAST /x/, Template:Lang Template:IAST /ɣ/, Template:Lang Template:IAST /z/, Template:Lang Template:IAST /ʒ/, and Template:Lang Template:IAST /f/, and for the allophonic developments Template:Lang Template:IAST /ɽ/ and Template:Lang Template:IAST Template:IPA.<ref name="PandeyMondalAgrawalBangalore2013">Template:Cite book</ref> (Although Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:IPA could also exist, it is not used in Hindi.)
- Devanagari used to write Mahl dialect of Dhivehi uses nukta on Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang to represent other Perso-Arabic phonemes (see Maldivian writing systems#Devanagari script for Mahl).
- Sindhi's and Saraiki's implosives are accommodated with a line attached below: Template:Lang Template:IPA, Template:Lang Template:IPA, Template:Lang Template:IPA, Template:Lang Template:IPA.
- Aspirated sonorants may be represented as conjuncts/ligatures with Template:Lang Template:IAST: Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST.
- Template:Harvcoltxt notes Marwari as using Template:Lang for Template:IAST Template:IPA (while Template:Lang represents Template:IPA).
- When used to write Avestan, Devanagari uses letters like Template:Lang /ʒ/ to represent its sounds.
Vowel diacritics
[edit]
The table below shows consonants with common vowel diacritics and their ISO 15919 transliteration. Vowels in their independent form on the top and in their corresponding dependent form (vowel sign) combined with the consonant 'Template:Transliteration' on the bottom. 'Template:Transliteration' is without any added vowel sign, where the vowel 'Template:Transliteration' is inherent.
| a | ā | i | ī | u | ū | e | ê | ē | ai | o | ô | ō | au | r̥ | r̥̄ | l̥ | l̥̄ | ṁ | ḥ | m̐ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| अ | आ | इ | ई | उ | ऊ | ऎ | ॲ | ए | ऐ | ऒ | ऑ | ओ | औ | ऋ | ॠ | ऌ | ॡ | अं | अः | अँ | |
| ा | ि | ी | ु | ू | ॆ | ॅ | े | ै | ॊ | ॉ | ो | ौ | ृ | ॄ | ॢ | ॣ | ं | ः | ् | ँ | |
| ka | kā | ki | kī | ku | kū | ke | kê | kē | kai | ko | kô | kō | kau | kr̥ | kr̥̄ | kl̥ | kl̥̄ | kaṁ | kaḥ | k | kam̐ |
| क | का | कि | की | कु | कू | कॆ | कॅ | के | कै | कॊ | कॉ | को | कौ | कृ | कॄ | कॢ | कॣ | कं | कः | क् | कँ |
A vowel combines with a consonant in their diacritic form. For example, the vowel Template:Lang (Template:IAST) combines with the consonant Template:Lang (Template:IAST) to form the syllabic letter Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration), with halant (cancel sign) removed and added vowel sign which is indicated by diacritics. The vowel Template:Lang (Template:IAST) combines with the consonant Template:Lang (Template:IAST) to form Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration) with halant removed. But the diacritic series of Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang (Template:IAST, respectively) is without any added vowel sign, as the vowel Template:Lang (Template:IAST) is inherent.
Template:Anchor The combinations of all Sanskrit consonants and vowels, each in alphabetical order, are laid out in the Template:IAST (Template:Lang) or Template:IAST (Template:Lang) table. In the following Template:Transliteration table, the IAST transliteration of each combination will appear on mouseover:
Old forms
[edit]
The following letter variants are also in use, particularly in older texts and in specific regions:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
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Conjunct consonants
[edit]
As mentioned, successive consonants lacking a vowel in between them may physically join as a conjunct consonant or ligature. 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 word Template:IAST is written Template:Lang (Template:IAST).<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> 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 the Unicode used on this page is just one scheme. The following are a number of rules:
- 24 out of the 36 consonants contain a vertical right stroke (Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST etc.). As first or middle fragments/members of a cluster (when letters are to be written as half pronounced), they lose that stroke. e.g. Template:Lang + Template:Lang = Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang + Template:Lang = Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang + Template:Lang = Template:Lang Template:IAST. In Unicode, as in Hindi, these consonants without their vertical stems are called "half forms".<ref name="Unicode ch. 9">Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Lang Template:IAST appears as a different, simple ribbon-shaped fragment preceding Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, and Template:Lang Template:IAST, causing these second members to be shifted down and reduced in size. Thus Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, and Template:Lang Template:IAST.
- Template:Lang Template:IAST as a first member takes the form of a curved upward dash above the final character or its Template:IAST diacritic. e.g. Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST. In Marathi and Nepali, Template:Lang Template:IAST as a first member of a conjunct also takes on an eyelash form when in front of glides and semivowels. e.g. Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST. As a final member with Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, it is two lines together below the character pointed downwards. Thus Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST. Elsewhere as a final member it is a diagonal stroke extending leftwards and down. e.g. Template:Lang. Template:Lang Template:IAST is shifted up to make the conjunct Template:Lang Template:IAST.
- As first members, remaining characters lacking vertical strokes such as Template:Lang Template:IAST and Template:Lang Template:IAST may have their second member, reduced in size and lacking its horizontal stroke, placed underneath. Template:Lang Template:IAST, Template:Lang Template:IAST, and Template:Lang Template:IAST shorten their right hooks and join them directly to the following member.
- The conjuncts for Template:IAST and Template:IAST are not clearly derived from the letters making up their components. The conjunct for Template:IAST is Template:Lang (Template:Lang + Template:Lang) and for Template:IAST it is Template:Lang (Template:Lang + Template:Lang).
Accent marks
[edit]The pitch accent of Vedic Sanskrit is written with various symbols depending on shakha. In the Rigveda, Template:IAST is written with a bar below the line (Template:Lang), Template:IAST with a stroke above the line (Template:Lang) while Template:IAST is unmarked.
Punctuation
[edit]The end of a sentence or half-verse may be marked with the "Template:Script" symbol (called a Template:IAST, meaning "bar", or called a Template:IAST, meaning "full stop/pause"). The end of a full verse may be marked with a double-Template:IAST, a "Template:Script" symbol. A comma (called an Template:IAST, meaning "short stop/pause") is used to denote a natural pause in speech.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref name="ijetr">Template:Citation</ref> Punctuation marks of Western origin, such as the colon, semicolon, exclamation mark, dash, and question mark have been in use in Devanāgarī script since at least the 1900s,Template:Citation needed matching their use in European languages.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
Fonts
[edit]A variety of Unicode fonts are in use for Devanāgarī. These include Akshar,<ref>Akshar Unicode Template:Webarchive South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)</ref> Annapurna,<ref>Annapurna SIL Unicode Template:Webarchive, SIL International (2013)</ref> Arial,<ref>Arial Unicode Template:Webarchive South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)</ref> CDAC-Gist Surekh,<ref name="surekhfont">CDAC-GIST Surekh Unicode Template:Webarchive South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)</ref> CDAC-Gist Yogesh,<ref>CDAC-GIST Yogesh Template:Webarchive South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)</ref> Chandas,<ref name="hindimeguide">Sanskrit Devanagari FontsTemplate:Dead link Harvard University (2010); see Chanda and Uttara ttf Template:Webarchive 2010 archive (Accessed: July 8, 2015)</ref> Gargi,<ref>Gargi Template:Webarchive South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)</ref> Gurumaa,<ref>Gurumaa Unicode – a sans font Template:Webarchive KDE (2012)</ref> Jaipur,<ref>Jaipur Template:Webarchive South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)</ref> Jana,<ref>Jana Template:Webarchive South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)</ref> Kalimati,<ref>Kalimati Template:Webarchive South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)</ref> Kanjirowa,<ref>Kanjirowa Template:Webarchive South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)</ref> Lohit Devanagari, Mangal,<ref>Mangal Template:Webarchive South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)</ref> Kokila,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> ,Preeti,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Raghu,<ref>Raghu Template:Webarchive South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)</ref> Sanskrit2003,<ref>Sanskrit Ashram Template:Webarchive South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)</ref> Santipur OT,<ref name="harvard">Sanskrit Devanagari FontsTemplate:Dead link Harvard University (2010); see Chanda and Uttara ttf Template:Webarchive 2010 archive (Accessed: July 8, 2015)</ref> Siddhanta, and Thyaka.<ref>Thyaka Template:Webarchive South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)</ref>
The form of Devanāgarī fonts vary with function. According to Harvard College for Sanskrit studies:<ref name="harvard" />
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.
Numerals
[edit]Transliteration
[edit]
There are several methods of Romanisation or transliteration from Devanāgarī to the Roman script.<ref name="ref17yebif">Template:Cite book</ref>
Hunterian system
[edit]The Hunterian system is the national system of romanisation in India, officially adopted by the Government of India.<ref name="ref04xufam">Template:Citation</ref><ref name="ref48luvep">Template:Citation</ref><ref name="ref65puqac">Template:Citation</ref>
ISO 15919
[edit]Template:Main 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.<ref name=scriptsource/>
IAST
[edit]The International 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 the Congress of Orientalists at Athens in 1912. The ISO 15919 standard of 2001 codified the transliteration convention to include an expanded standard for sister scripts of Devanāgarī.<ref name="scriptsource">Template:Cite web</ref>
The National Library at Kolkata romanisation, intended for the romanisation of all Indic scripts, is an extension of IAST.
Harvard-Kyoto
[edit]Compared to IAST, Harvard-Kyoto looks 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.<ref name=translitwijastyk/> This makes typing in Harvard-Kyoto much easier than IAST. Harvard-Kyoto uses capital letters that can be difficult to read in the middle of words.
ITRANS
[edit]ITRANS is a lossless transliteration scheme of Devanāgarī into ASCII that is widely used on Usenet. It is an extension of the Harvard-Kyoto scheme. In ITRANS, the word Template:IAST is written "devanaagarii" or "devanAgarI". ITRANS is associated with an application of the same name that enables typesetting in Indic 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 of ITRANS is 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.<ref name="translitwijastyk">Template:Cite web</ref>
Velthuis
[edit]The disadvantage of the above ASCII schemes is case-sensitivity, implying that transliterated names may not be capitalised. This difficulty is avoided with the system developed in 1996 by Frans Velthuis for TeX, loosely based on IAST, in which case is irrelevant.
ALA-LC Romanisation
[edit]ALA-LC<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> romanisation 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,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> one for Sanskrit and Prakrit,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> etc.
WX
[edit]Template:Main WX is a Roman transliteration scheme for Indian languages, widely used among the natural language processing community in India. It originated at IIT Kanpur for 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 a prefix 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
[edit]ISCII
[edit]ISCII is an 8-bit encoding. The lower 128 codepoints are plain ASCII, the upper 128 codepoints are ISCII-specific.
It has been designed for representing not only Devanāgarī but also various other Indic scripts as 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
[edit]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).
Template:Unicode chart Devanagari Template:Unicode chart Devanagari Extended Template:Unicode chart Devanagari Extended-A Template:Unicode chart Vedic Extensions
Devanāgari keyboard layouts
[edit]InScript layout
[edit]InScript is the standard keyboard layout for Devanāgarī as standardized by the Government of India. It is inbuilt in all modern major operating systems. Microsoft Windows supports the InScript layout, which can be used to input unicode Devanāgarī characters. InScript is also available in some touchscreen mobile phones.
Typewriter
[edit]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
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Such tools work on phonetic transliteration. The user writes in the Latin alphabet and the IME automatically converts it into Devanāgarī. Some popular phonetic typing tools are Akruti, Baraha IME and Google IME.
The Mac OS X operating system includes two different keyboard layouts for 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 use InScript, the majority uses either Google phonetic transliteration or the input facility Universal Language Selector provided 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 by Universal Language Selector (ULS), that offers both phonetic keyboard (Aksharantaran, Marathi: Template:Lang, Hindi: Template:Lang) and InScript keyboard (Marathi: Template:Lang).
The Ubuntu Linux operating system supports several keyboard layouts for 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. Template:Clear
See also
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References
[edit]Citations
[edit]General sources
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Census and catalogues of manuscripts in Devanāgarī
[edit]Thousands of manuscripts of ancient and medieval era Sanskrit texts in Devanāgarī have been discovered since the 19th century. Major catalogues and census include:
- Template:Google books, Medical Hall Press, Princeton University Archive
- Template:Google 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 code De.)
- 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)
- Template:Google 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 Society Template:Webarchive, Manuscripts in various Indic scripts including Devanāgarī
External links
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- Devnagari Unicode Legacy Font Converters Template:Webarchive
- Digital Nāgarī fonts, University of Chicago
- Devanāgarī in different fonts, Wazu, Japan (Alternate collection: Luc Devroye's comprehensive Indic Fonts Template:Webarchive, McGill University)
- Template:Google 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 Devanāgarī Template:Webarchive, 9th century temple in Gwalior Madhya Pradesh, India, Current Science
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