Devanagari
Script used to write Indian and Nepalese languages / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Devanagari (/ˌdeɪvəˈnɑːɡəri/ DAY-və-NAH-gər-ee; देवनागरी, IAST: Devanāgarī, Sanskrit pronunciation: [deːʋɐˈnaːɡɐriː]) is an Indic script used in the northern Indian subcontinent. Also simply called Nāgari (Sanskrit: नागरि, Nāgari),[8] it is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system),[9] based on the ancient Brāhmi script.[10] It is one of the official scripts of the Republic of India and Nepal. It was developed and in regular use by the 8th century CE[8] and achieved its modern form by 1200 CE.[11] The Devanāgari script, composed of 48 primary characters, including 14 vowels and 34 consonants,[12] is the fourth most widely adopted writing system in the world,[13] being used for over 120 languages.[14]
Devanāgari देवनागरी | |
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Script type | |
Time period | 12th century CE to present[1][2] |
Direction | Left-to-right |
Region | India and Nepal (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, Saraiki, Sherpa, Sindhi, Surjapuri, and many more. |
Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Sister systems | Nandināgarī Kaithi Gujarātī Moḍī |
ISO 15924 | |
ISO 15924 | Deva (315), Devanagari (Nagari) |
Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Devanagari |
U+0900–U+097F Devanagari, U+A8E0–U+A8FF Devanagari Extended, U+11B00–11B5F Devanagari Extended-A, U+1CD0–U+1CFF Vedic Extensions | |
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. |
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Writing systems used in India | |
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The orthography of this script reflects the pronunciation of the language.[14] Unlike the Latin alphabet, the script has no concept of letter case.[15] 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 शिरोरेखा śirorekhā, that runs along the top of full letters.[9] 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.[9]
Among the languages using it as a primary or secondary script are Marathi, Pāḷi, Sanskrit,[16] Hindi,[17] Boro, Nepali, Sherpa, Prakrit, Apabhramsha, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Braj Bhasha,[18] Chhattisgarhi, Haryanvi, Magahi, Nagpuri, Rajasthani, Khandeshi, Bhili, Dogri, Kashmiri, Maithili, Konkani, Sindhi, Nepal Bhasa, Mundari, Angika, Bajjika and Santali.[14] The Devanāgarī script is closely related to the Nandināgarī script commonly found in numerous ancient manuscripts of South India,[19][20] and it is distantly related to a number of southeast Asian scripts.[14]