Devanagari#Unicode

{{IAST|Devanāgarī}} is formed by the addition of the word {{IAST|deva}} ({{lang|sa|देव}}) to the word {{IAST|nāgarī}} ({{lang|sa|नागरी}}). {{IAST|Nāgarī}} is an adjective derived from {{IAST|nagara}} ({{lang|sa|नगर}}), a Sanskrit word meaning "town" or "city", and literally means "urban" or "urbane".{{MWSD|nagara|page=525}} The word {{IAST|Nāgarī}} (implicitly modifying {{IAST|lipi}}, "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 {{IAST|Devanāgarī}} is attested later, at least by the 18th century.{{Cite journal |last=Maurer |first=Walter H. |date=1976 |title=On the Name Devanāgarī |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/599893 |url-status=live |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=96 |issue=1 |pages=101–104 |doi=10.2307/599893 |issn=0003-0279 |jstor=599893 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522070843/https://www.jstor.org/stable/599893 |archive-date=22 May 2021 |access-date=22 May 2021}} The name of the Nandināgarī script is also formed by adding a prefix to the generic script name {{IAST|nāgarī}}. The precise origin and significance of the prefix {{IAST|deva}} remains unclear.

{{Further|Sanskrit epigraphy}}

Devanāgarī is part of the Brahmic family of scripts of India, Nepal, Tibet, and Southeast Asia.{{Cite book |first1=George |last1=Cardona |first2=Danesh |last2=Jain |date=2003 |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415772945 |pages=68–69}}{{Cite book |last=Fischer |first=Steven Roger |title=A History of Writing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ywo0M9OpbXoC |date=2004 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200307151643/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ywo0M9OpbXoC |url-status=live |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=978-1-86189-167-9 |quote=(p. 110) "{{omission}} an early branch of this, as of the fourth century CE, was the Gupta script, Brahmi's first main daughter. {{omission}} The Gupta alphabet became the ancestor of most Indic scripts (usually through later Devanagari). {{omission}} Beginning around AD 600, Gupta inspired the important Nagari, Sarada, Tibetan and Pāḷi scripts. Nagari, of India's northwest, first appeared around AD 633. Once fully developed in the eleventh century, Nagari had become Devanagari, or "heavenly Nagari", since it was now the main vehicle, out of several, for Sanskrit literature." |archive-date=7 March 2020}} 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.{{Cite book |url={{Google books|0bkMAAAAIAAJ|Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency|plainurl=yes}} |chapter=Rudradaman's inscription from 1st through 4th century CE found in Gujarat, India |title=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency |publisher=Stanford University Archives |pages=30–45, particularly Devanāgarī inscription on Jayadaman's coins (pp. 33–34)}} Variants of script called {{IAST|nāgarī}}, 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.{{Cite book |first=Richard |last=Salomon |date=2014 |title=Indian Epigraphy |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195356663 |pages=40–42}}{{Cite book |first=Krishna Chandra |last=Sagar |date=1993 |title=Foreign Influence on Ancient India |publisher=South Asia Books |isbn=978-8172110284 |page=137}} 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.{{Cite book |first=Richard |last=Salomon |date=2014 |title=Indian Epigraphy |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195356663 |page=71}}

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-century Udayagiri inscriptions in Madhya Pradesh,{{Cite journal |first=Michael |last=Willis |date=2001 |title=Inscriptions from Udayagiri: locating domains of devotion, patronage and power in the eleventh century |journal=South Asian Studies |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=41–53|doi=10.1080/02666030.2001.9628591 |s2cid=161258027 }} and an inscribed brick found in Uttar Pradesh, dated to be from 1217 CE, which is now held at the British Museum.{{Cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/asia/b/brick_with_sanskrit_inscriptio.aspx |title=Brick with Sanskrit inscription in Nāgarī script, 1217 CE, found in Uttar Pradesh, India (British Museum) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019091410/https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/asia/b/brick_with_sanskrit_inscriptio.aspx |archive-date=19 October 2015}} 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 {{IAST|Siddhaṃ matrika}} script (considered as the closest precursor to Nāgarī) was in use by Buddhists.{{Cite book |first=Wayan |last=Ardika |date=2009 |title=Form, Macht, Differenz: Motive und Felder ethnologischen Forschens |editor-first=Elfriede |editor-last=Hermann |display-editors=et al. |publisher=Universitätsverlag Göttingen |isbn=978-3940344809 |language=de |pages=251–252|quote="Nagari script and Sanskrit language in the inscription at Blangjong suggests that Indian culture was already influencing Bali (Indonesia) by the 10th century CE."}} Nāgarī has been the {{lang|la|primus inter pares}} of the Indic scripts.{{Cite book |first1=George |last1=Cardona |first2=Danesh |last2=Jain |date=2003 |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415772945 |pages=75–77}} 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.{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Isaac |url=https://archive.org/stream/alphabet00unkngoog#page/n348/mode/2up/ |title=History of the Alphabet: Aryan Alphabets, Part 2 |publisher=Kegan Paul, Trench & Co |date=1883 |isbn=978-0-7661-5847-4 |pages=324, 333 |quote={{omission}} In the Kutila this develops into a short horizontal bar, which, in the Devanagari, becomes a continuous horizontal line {{omission}} three cardinal inscriptions of this epoch, namely, the Kutila or Bareli inscription of 992, the Chalukya or Kistna inscription of 945, and a Kawi inscription of 919 {{omission}} the Kutila inscription is of great importance in Indian epigraphy, not only from its precise date, but from its offering a definite early form of the standard Indian alphabet, the Devanagari {{omission}}}} 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.{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Witzel |first= Michael |author-link=Michael Witzel |title=17. Brahmanical Reactions to Foreign Influences and to Social and Religious Change |date=2006 |encyclopedia=Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE |editor-last=Olivelle |editor-first= Patrick |editor-link=Patrick Olivelle |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195305326 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305326.003.0017 |pages=477–480 with footnote 60}};
Original manuscript, dates in Saka Samvat, and uncertainties associated with it: {{Citation |url=https://archive.org/stream/vykaraamahbhshy00kielgoog#page/n8/mode/2up |title=Mahabhasya of Patanjali |year=1880 |publisher=Bombay, Government central Book depôt |editor-first=F. |editor-last=Kielhorn}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5263/|title=Sinja valley - UNESCO World Heritage Centre|last=Centre|first=UNESCO World Heritage|website=whc.unesco.org|language=en|access-date=2018-10-23}}

{{Gallery

| mode = packed

| height = 120

| align = center

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

|File:Isha Upanishad Verses 1 to 3, Shukla Yajurveda, Sanskrit, Devanagari.jpg|

|File:13th-century Shatapatha Brahmana 14th Khanda Prapathaka 3-4, page 1 front, Sanskrit, Devanagari script.jpg|

|File:Yajurveda 44.8, page 1 front and back, Sanskrit, Devanagari lipi (script).jpg|

|File:1593 CE, Adi Shankara bhasya Aitareya Upanishad, Varanasi Jain temple bhandara, Sanskrit, Devanagari, MS Add.2092.jpg|

}}{{Devanagari abugida sidebar}}

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.{{Cite book |first=William Woodville |last=Rockhill |url={{Google books|avFDAQAAMAAJ|Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution|page=671|plainurl=yes}} |title=Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution |publisher=United States National Museum |page=671}}

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.{{Cite book |first=David |last=Quinter |date=2015 |title=From Outcasts to Emperors: Shingon Ritsu and the Mañjuśrī Cult in Medieval Japan |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9004293397 |pages=63–65 with discussion on Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra}}{{Cite book |first=Richard |last=Salomon |date=2014 |title=Indian Epigraphy |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195356663 |pages=157–160}}

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.{{Cite book |last=Teselkin |first=Avenir S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJ1kAAAAMAAJ |title=Old Javanese (Kawi) |publisher=Cornell University Press |date=1972 |pages=9–14 |access-date=28 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126234553/https://books.google.com/books?id=xJ1kAAAAMAAJ |archive-date=26 January 2020 |url-status=live}}{{Cite book |last1=de Casparis |first1=J. G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cLUfAAAAIAAJ |title=Indonesian Palaeography: A History of Writing in Indonesia from the Beginnings to c. AD 1500 |publisher=BRILL Academic |date=1975 |isbn=90-04-04172-9 |pages=35–43 |access-date=28 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313164916/https://books.google.com/books?id=cLUfAAAAIAAJ |archive-date=13 March 2020 |url-status=live}}

Some of the old-Devanāgarī inscriptions are found in Hindu temples of Java, such as the Prambanan temple.{{Cite book |last=Zurbuchen |first=Mary S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4kOAAAAYAAJ |title=Introduction to Old Javanese Language and Literature: A Kawi Prose Anthology |publisher=Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan |date=1976 |isbn=978-0-89148-053-2 |pages=xi–xii |access-date=28 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227150848/https://books.google.com/books?id=y4kOAAAAYAAJ |archive-date=27 February 2020 |url-status=live}} 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.{{Cite journal |last=Briggs |first=Lawrence Palmer |date=1950 |title=The Origin of the Sailendra Dynasty: Present Status of the Question |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |publisher=JSTOR |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=79–81 |doi=10.2307/595536 |issn=0003-0279 |jstor=595536}} The term kawi in Kawi script is a loan word from {{IAST|kāvya}} (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.{{Cite book |last1=Miksic |first1=John Norman |last2=Yian |first2=Goh Geok |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjklDwAAQBAJ |title=Ancient Southeast Asia |publisher=Taylor & Francis |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-317-27904-4 |pages=177–179, 314–322 |author-link=John N. Miksic |access-date=28 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200306072439/https://books.google.com/books?id=zjklDwAAQBAJ |archive-date=6 March 2020 |url-status=live}}{{Gallery

| mode = packed

| align = center

|File:Falongsibeiye.png| Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra in Siddhaṃ on palm leaf in 609 CE found in Hōryū-ji, Japan. The last line is a complete Sanskrit syllabary in Siddhaṃ script.

}}{{Brahmi-Gupta-Devanagari}}

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 {{IAST|varṇamālā}} ("garland of letters").{{Harvcoltxt|Salomon|2003|p=71}} The format of Devanāgarī for Sanskrit serves as the prototype for its application, with minor variations or additions, to other languages.{{Harvcoltxt|Salomon|2003|p=75}}

The vowels and their arrangement are:{{Harvcoltxt|Wikner|1996|pp=13, 14}}

1. Arranged with the vowels are two consonantal diacritics, the final nasal {{IAST|anusvāra}} {{lang|inc-Deva|ं|size=140%}} {{IAST|ṃ}} and the final fricative {{IAST|visarga}} {{lang|inc-Deva|ः|size=140%}} {{IAST|ḥ}} (called {{lang|inc-Deva|अं|size=140%}} {{IAST|aṃ}} and {{lang|inc-Deva|अः|size=140%}} {{IAST|aḥ}}). {{Harvcoltxt|Masica|1991|p=146}} notes of the {{IAST|anusvāra}} in Sanskrit that "there is some controversy as to whether it represents a homorganic nasal stop {{omission}}, a nasalised vowel, a nasalised semivowel, or all these according to context". The {{IAST|visarga}} represents post-vocalic voiceless glottal fricative {{IPA|[h]}}, in Sanskrit an allophone of {{IAST|s}}, or less commonly {{IAST|r}}, usually in word-final position. Some traditions of recitation append an echo of the vowel after the breath:{{Harvcoltxt|Wikner|1996|p=6}} {{lang|inc-Deva|इः|size=140%}} {{IPA|[ihi]}}. {{Harvcoltxt|Masica|1991|p=146}} considers the {{IAST|visarga}} along with letters {{lang|inc-Deva|ङ|size=140%}} {{IAST|ṅa}} and {{lang|inc-Deva|ञ|size=140%}} {{IAST|ña}} for the "largely predictable" velar and palatal nasals to be examples of "phonetic overkill in the system".
2. Another diacritic is the {{IAST|candrabindu}}/{{IAST|anunāsika}} {{lang|inc-Deva|ँ|size=140%}} {{lang|inc-Deva|अँ|size=140%}}. {{Harvcoltxt|Salomon|2003|pp=76–77}} describes it as a "more emphatic form" of the {{IAST|anusvāra}}, "sometimes {{omission}} used to mark a true [vowel] nasalization". In a new Indo-Aryan language such as Hindi the distinction is formal: the {{IAST|candrabindu}} indicates vowel nasalisation{{Harvcoltxt|Snell|2000|pp=44–45}} while the {{IAST|anusvār}} indicates a homorganic nasal preceding another consonant:{{Harvcoltxt|Snell|2000|p=64}} e.g., {{lang|hi|हँसी}} {{IPA|[ɦə̃si]}} "laughter", {{lang|hi|गंगा}} {{IPA|[ɡəŋɡɑ]}} "the Ganges". When an {{IAST|akṣara}} has a vowel diacritic above the top line, that leaves no room for the {{IAST|candra}} ("moon") stroke {{IAST|candrabindu}}, which is dispensed with in favour of the lone dot:{{Harvcoltxt|Snell|2000|p=45}} {{lang|hi|हूँ|size=140%}} {{IPA|[ɦũ]}} "am", but {{lang|hi|हैं|size=140%}} {{IPA|[ɦɛ̃]}} "are". Some writers and typesetters dispense with the "moon" stroke altogether, using only the dot in all situations.{{Harvcoltxt|Snell|2000|p=46}}
3. The {{IAST|avagraha}} ({{lang|inc-Deva|ऽ|size=140%}} {{lang|inc-Deva|अऽ|size=140%}}) (usually transliterated with an apostrophe) is a Sanskrit punctuation mark for the elision of a vowel in sandhi: {{lang|sa|एकोऽयम्}} {{IAST|eko'yam}} ( ← {{lang|sa|एकस्}} {{IAST|ekas}} + {{lang|sa|अयम्}} {{IAST|ayam}}) ("this one"). An original long vowel lost to coalescence is sometimes marked with a double {{IAST|avagraha}}: {{lang|sa|सदाऽऽत्मा}} {{IAST|sadā'tmā}} ( ← {{lang|sa|सदा}} {{IAST|sadā}} + {{lang|sa|आत्मा}} {{IAST|ātmā}}) "always, the self".{{Harvcoltxt|Salomon|2003|p=77}} In Hindi, {{Harvcoltxt|Snell|2000|p=77}} states that its "main function is to show that a vowel is sustained in a cry or a shout": {{lang|hi|आईऽऽऽ!}} {{IAST|āīīī!}}. In Madhyadeshi languages like Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Maithili, etc. which have "quite a number of verbal forms that end in that inherent vowel",{{Harvcoltxt|Verma|2003|p=501}} the {{IAST|avagraha}} is used to mark the non-elision of word-final inherent {{IAST|a}}, which otherwise is a modern orthographic convention: {{lang|inc-Deva|बइठऽ}} {{IAST|baiṭha}} "sit" versus {{lang|inc-Deva|बइठ}} {{IAST|baiṭh}}
4. The syllabic consonants {{lang|inc-Deva|ॠ|size=140%}} {{IAST|ṝ}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ऌ|size=140%}} {{IAST|ḷ}}, and {{lang|inc-Deva|ॡ|size=140%}} {{IAST|ḹ}} are specific to Sanskrit and not included in the {{IAST|varṇamālā}} of other languages. The sound represented by {{IAST|ṛ}} has also been largely lost in the modern languages, and its pronunciation now ranges from {{IPA|[ɾɪ]}} (Hindi) to {{IPA|[ɾu]}} (Marathi).
5. {{IAST|ḹ}} 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.
6. There are non-regular formations of {{lang|inc-Deva|रु|size=140%}} {{IAST|ru}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|रू|size=140%}} {{IAST|rū}}, and {{lang|inc-Deva|हृ|size=140%}} {{IAST|hṛ}}.
7. There are two more vowels in Marathi, {{lang|mr|ॲ|size=140%}} and {{lang|mr|ऑ|size=140%}}, that respectively represent [{{IPA|æ}}], similar to the RP English pronunciation of {{angbr|a}} in act, and [{{IPA|ɒ}}], similar to the RP pronunciation of {{angbr|o}} in cot. These vowels are sometimes used in Hindi too, as in {{Langx|hi|डॉलर|label=none}} {{IAST|dôlar}} ("dollar").{{Cite web |title=Hindi Translation of "dollar" |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-hindi/dollar |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512040722/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-hindi/dollar |archive-date=12 May 2019 |access-date=2019-05-12 |website=Collins English-Hindi Dictionary |language=en}} IAST transliteration is not defined. In ISO 15919, the transliteration is {{transliteration|sa|ISO|ê}} and {{transliteration|sa|ISO|ô}}, respectively.
8. Kashmiri Devanagari uses letters like {{lang|inc-Deva|ॳ|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ॴ|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ॶ|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ॷ|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ऎ|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ऒ|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|औ|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ॵ}} to represent its vowels (see Kashmiri language#Devanagari).

The table below shows the consonant letters (in combination with inherent vowel {{IAST|a}}) and their arrangement. To the right of the Devanāgarī letter it shows the Latin script transliteration using International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration,{{Harvcoltxt|Wikner|1996|p=73}} and the phonetic value (IPA) in Hindi.{{Cite book |last=Sandahl |first=Stella |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hm0aAQAAIAAJ |title=A Hindi reference grammar |publisher=Peeters |date=2000 |isbn=978-9042908802 |pages=1–4 |access-date=26 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427114134/https://books.google.com/books?id=Hm0aAQAAIAAJ |archive-date=27 April 2017 |url-status=live}}{{Cite book |last=Bhatia |first=Tej K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJOXzRXsSK0C |title=A History of the Hindi Grammatical Tradition |publisher=BRILL Academic |date=1987 |isbn=90-04-07924-6 |pages=51–63, 77–94 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610230915/https://books.google.com/books?id=jJOXzRXsSK0C |archive-date=10 June 2016 |url-status=live}}

• Additionally, there is {{lang|inc-Deva|ळ|size=140%}} {{IAST|ḷa}} (IPA: {{IPAblink|ɭ}} or {{IPAblink|ɭ̆}}), 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.{{Harvcoltxt|Masica|1991|p=97}}
• Beyond the Sanskritic set, new shapes have rarely been formulated. {{Harvcoltxt|Masica|1991|p=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 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 ({{IAST|nuqtā}}) {{lang|inc-Deva|़|size=140%}}. Hindi uses it for the Persian, Arabic and English sounds {{lang|hi|क़|size=140%}} {{IAST|qa}} /q/, {{lang|hi|ख़|size=140%}} {{IAST|xa}} /x/, {{lang|hi|ग़|size=140%}} {{IAST|ġa}} /ɣ/, {{lang|hi|ज़|size=140%}} {{IAST|za}} /z/, {{lang|hi|झ़|size=140%}} {{IAST|zha}} /ʒ/, and {{lang|hi|फ़|size=140%}} {{IAST|fa}} /f/, and for the allophonic developments {{lang|hi|ड़|size=140%}} {{IAST|ṛa}} /ɽ/ and {{lang|hi|ढ़|size=140%}} {{IAST|ṛha}} {{IPA|/ɽʱ/}}.{{Cite book |last1=Pandey |first1=Dipti |last2=Mondal |first2=Tapabrata |last3=Agrawal |first3=S. S. |last4=Bangalore |first4=Srinivas |title=2013 International Conference Oriental COCOSDA held jointly with 2013 Conference on Asian Spoken Language Research and Evaluation (O-COCOSDA/CASLRE) |chapter=Development and suitability of Indian languages speech database for building watson based ASR system |date=2013 |page=3 |doi=10.1109/ICSDA.2013.6709861 |isbn=978-1-4799-2378-6 |s2cid=26461938 |quote=Only in Hindi 10 Phonemes व /v/ क़ /q/ ञ /ɲ/ य /j/ ष /ʂ/ ख़ /x/ ग़ /ɣ/ ज़ /z/ झ़ /ʒ/ फ़ /f/}} (Although {{lang|inc-Deva|ऴ|size=140%}} {{transliteration|inc|ISO|ḻa}} {{IPA|/ɻ/}} could also exist, it is not used in Hindi.)
• Devanagari used to write Mahl dialect of Dhivehi uses nukta on {{lang|inc-Deva|च़|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|त़|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|द़|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ल़|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|श़|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|स़|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ह़|size=140%}} 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: {{lang|sd-Deva|ॻ|size=140%}} {{IPA|[ɠə]}}, {{lang|sd-Deva|ॼ|size=140%}} {{IPA|[ʄə]}}, {{lang|sd-Deva|ॾ|size=140%}} {{IPA|[ɗə]}}, {{lang|sd-Deva|ॿ|size=140%}} {{IPA|[ɓə]}}.
• Aspirated sonorants may be represented as conjuncts/ligatures with {{lang|inc-Deva|ह|size=140%}} {{IAST|ha}}: {{lang|inc-Deva|म्ह|size=140%}} {{IAST|mha}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|न्ह|size=140%}} {{IAST|nha}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ण्ह|size=140%}} {{IAST|ṇha}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|व्ह|size=140%}} {{IAST|vha}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ल्ह|size=140%}} {{IAST|lha}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ळ्ह|size=140%}} {{IAST|ḷha}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|र्ह|size=140%}} {{IAST|rha}}.
• {{Harvcoltxt|Masica|1991|p=147}} notes Marwari as using {{lang|mwr-Deva|ॸ|size=140%}} for {{IAST|ḍa}} {{IPA|[ɗə]}} (while {{lang|mwr-Deva|ड|size=140%}} represents {{IPA|[ɽə]}}).
• When used to write Avestan, Devanagari uses letters like {{lang|inc-Deva|ॹ|size=140%}} /ʒ/ to represent its sounds.

File:Devanagari matras.svg on {{lang|inc-Deva|क|size=140%}}]]

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 '{{transliteration|hi|ISO|k}}' on the bottom. '{{transliteration|hi|ISO|ka}}' is without any added vowel sign, where the vowel '{{transliteration|hi|ISO|a}}' is inherent.

A vowel combines with a consonant in their diacritic form. For example, the vowel {{lang|inc-Deva|ऊ|size=140%}} ({{IAST|ū}}) combines with the consonant {{lang|inc-Deva|छ्|size=140%}} ({{IAST|ch}}) to form the syllabic letter {{lang|inc-Deva|छू|size=140%}} ({{transliteration|hi|ISO|chū}}), with halant (cancel sign) removed and added vowel sign which is indicated by diacritics. The vowel {{lang|inc-Deva|अ|size=140%}} ({{IAST|a}}) combines with the consonant {{lang|inc-Deva|छ्|size=140%}} ({{IAST|ch}}) to form {{lang|inc-Deva|छ|size=140%}} ({{transliteration|hi|ISO|cha}}) with halant removed. But the diacritic series of {{lang|inc-Deva|च|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|छ|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ज|size=140%}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|झ|size=140%}} ({{IAST|ca, cha, ja, jha}}, respectively) is without any added vowel sign, as the vowel {{lang|inc-Deva|अ|size=140%}} ({{IAST|a}}) is inherent.

File:1765 Saka, 1843 CE, Jnanesvari Jnandeva Dnyaneshwar manuscript page 1 and 2, Devanagari Marathi.jpg, dated to 1290 CE. It is in written in Marathi using the Devanāgarī script.]]

{{anchor|Barakhadi}} The combinations of all Sanskrit consonants and vowels, each in alphabetical order, are laid out in the {{IAST|bārākhaḍī}} ({{lang|mr|{{linktext|बाराखडी}}}}) or {{IAST|bārahkhaṛī}} ({{lang|hi|{{linktext|बारहखड़ी}}}}) table. In the following {{transliteration|inc|barakhadi}} table, the IAST transliteration of each combination will appear on mouseover:

File:10th century college foundation grant Devanagari inscription in Sanskrit on stone, Kaladgi Karnataka.jpg.{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/TheIndianAntiquaryVol.1/The-Indian-Antiquary%2CVol.%201#page/n219/mode/2up |chapter=Salotgi Inscription |title=The Indian Antiquary: A Journal of Oriental Research |first=S.P. |last=Pandit |date=1872 |pages=205–211 |quote="The inscription of which a translation is given below, is engraved on a stone pillar about 4 feet 10 inches in height, 1 foot 2 inches thick, and 1 foot 9 inches broad. It is cut in Devanagari characters on three of its four sides, and {{omission}}"}}]]

The following letter variants are also in use, particularly in older texts and in specific regions:{{Cite book |last=Bahri |first=Harder |title=Hindi-Angrezi Shabdkosh |date=2004 |page=xiii}}

{{main|Devanagari conjuncts}}

File:Devanagari ligatures Monier-Williams 1846.png (1846).]]

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 {{IAST|karnā}} is written {{lang|hi|करना}} ({{IAST|ka-ra-nā}}).{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Saloman |first=Richard |date=2007 |url=https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/9640 |title=Typological Observations on the Indic Scripts |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104170021/https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/9640 |archive-date=4 November 2018 |encyclopedia=The Indic Scripts: Paleographic and Linguistic Perspectives |publisher=D.K. Printworld Ltd. |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-812460406-9 |page=33}} 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:

File:Devanagari letter forms.svg

• 24 out of the 36 consonants contain a vertical right stroke ({{lang|inc-Deva|य|size=140%}} {{IAST|ya}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|न|size=140%}} {{IAST|na}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ग|size=140%}} {{IAST|ga}} 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. {{lang|inc-Deva|त्|size=140%}} + {{lang|inc-Deva|व|size=140%}} = {{lang|inc-Deva|त्व|size=140%}} {{IAST|tva}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ण्|size=140%}} + {{lang|inc-Deva|ढ|size=140%}} = {{lang|inc-Deva|ण्ढ|size=140%}} {{IAST|ṇḍha}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|स्|size=140%}} + {{lang|inc-Deva|थ|size=140%}} = {{lang|inc-Deva|स्थ|size=140%}} {{IAST|stha}}. In Unicode, as in Hindi, these consonants without their vertical stems are called "half forms".{{Cite web |title=The Unicode Standard, chapter 9, South Asian Scripts I |url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode6.0.0/ch09.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803120834/https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode6.0.0/ch09.pdf |archive-date=3 August 2019 |access-date=Feb 12, 2012 |website=The Unicode Standard, v. 6.0 |publisher=Unicode, Inc}} {{lang|inc-Deva|श|size=140%}} {{IAST|śa}} appears as a different, simple ribbon-shaped fragment preceding {{lang|inc-Deva|व|size=140%}} {{IAST|va}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|न|size=140%}} {{IAST|na}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|च|size=140%}} {{IAST|ca}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ल|size=140%}} {{IAST|la}}, and {{lang|inc-Deva|र|size=140%}} {{IAST|ra}}, causing these second members to be shifted down and reduced in size. Thus {{lang|inc-Deva|श्व|size=140%}} {{IAST|śva}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|श्न|size=140%}} {{IAST|śna}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|श्च|size=140%}} {{IAST|śca}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|श्ल|size=140%}} {{IAST|śla}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|श्र|size=140%}} {{IAST|śra}}, and {{lang|inc-Deva|शृ|size=140%}} {{IAST|śṛi}}.
• {{lang|inc-Deva|र|size=140%}} {{IAST|ra}} as a first member takes the form of a curved upward dash above the final character or its {{IAST|ā-}} diacritic. e.g. {{lang|inc-Deva|र्व|size=140%}} {{IAST|rva}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|र्वा|size=140%}} {{IAST|rvā}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|र्स्प|size=140%}} {{IAST|rspa}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|र्स्पा|size=140%}} {{IAST|rspā}}. In Marathi and Nepali, {{lang|inc-Deva|र|size=140%}} {{IAST|ra}} as a first member of a conjunct also takes on an eyelash form when in front of glides and semivowels. e.g. {{lang|inc-Deva|र्‍य|size=140%}} {{IAST|rya}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|र्‍व|size=140%}} {{IAST|rva}}. As a final member with {{lang|inc-Deva|ट|size=140%}} {{IAST|ṭa}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ठ|size=140%}} {{IAST|ṭha}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ड|size=140%}} {{IAST|ḍa}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ढ|size=140%}} {{IAST|ḍha}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ड़|size=140%}} {{IAST|ṛa}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|छ|size=140%}} {{IAST|cha}}, it is two lines together below the character pointed downwards. Thus {{lang|inc-Deva|ट्र|size=140%}} {{IAST|ṭra}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ठ्र|size=140%}} {{IAST|ṭhra}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ड्र|size=140%}} {{IAST|ḍra}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ढ्र|size=140%}} {{IAST|ḍhra}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|ड़्र|size=140%}} {{IAST|ṛra}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|छ्र|size=140%}} {{IAST|chra}}. Elsewhere as a final member it is a diagonal stroke extending leftwards and down. e.g. {{lang|inc-Deva|क्र ग्र भ्र ब्र|size=140%}}. {{lang|inc-Deva|त|size=140%}} {{IAST|ta}} is shifted up to make the conjunct {{lang|inc-Deva|त्र|size=140%}} {{IAST|tra}}.
• As first members, remaining characters lacking vertical strokes such as {{lang|inc-Deva|द|size=140%}} {{IAST|da}} and {{lang|inc-Deva|ह|size=140%}} {{IAST|ha}} may have their second member, reduced in size and lacking its horizontal stroke, placed underneath. {{lang|inc-Deva|क|size=140%}} {{IAST|ka}}, {{lang|inc-Deva|छ|size=140%}} {{IAST|cha}}, and {{lang|inc-Deva|फ|size=140%}} {{IAST|pha}} shorten their right hooks and join them directly to the following member.
• The conjuncts for {{IAST|kṣa}} and {{IAST|jña}} are not clearly derived from the letters making up their components. The conjunct for {{IAST|kṣa}} is {{lang|inc-Deva|क्ष|size=140%}} ({{lang|inc-Deva|क्|size=140%}} + {{lang|inc-Deva|ष|size=140%}}) and for {{IAST|jña}} it is {{lang|inc-Deva|ज्ञ|size=140%}} ({{lang|inc-Deva|ज्|size=140%}} + {{lang|inc-Deva|ञ|size=140%}}).

{{Main|Vedic accent#Notation}}

The pitch accent of Vedic Sanskrit is written with various symbols depending on shakha. In the Rigveda, {{IAST|anudātta}} is written with a bar below the line ({{lang|sa|◌॒|size=140%}}), {{IAST|svarita}} with a stroke above the line ({{lang|sa|◌॑|size=140%}}) while {{IAST|udātta}} is unmarked.

The end of a sentence or half-verse may be marked with the "{{script|Deva|।}}" symbol (called a {{IAST|daṇḍa}}, meaning "bar", or called a {{IAST|pūrṇa virām}}, meaning "full stop/pause"). The end of a full verse may be marked with a double-{{IAST|daṇḍa}}, a "{{script|Deva|॥}}" symbol. A comma (called an {{IAST|alpa virām}}, meaning "short stop/pause") is used to denote a natural pause in speech.{{Citation |author=Unicode Consortium |title=The Unicode Standard, Version 3.0, Volume 1 |year=2000 |isbn=978-0201616330 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |pages=221–223}}{{Citation |url=https://www.ijetr.org/finalpdf/1386305476.pdf |title=Transliteration from Hindi Script to Meetei Mayek |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206062848/https://www.ijetr.org/finalpdf/1386305476.pdf |archive-date=6 February 2016 |last1=Watham |last2=Vimal |date=2013 |publisher=IJETR |page=550}} 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,{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} matching their use in European languages.{{Cite encyclopedia |first=Michael |last=Shapiro |date=2014 |title=The Devanagari Writing System |encyclopedia=A Primer of Modern Standard Hindi |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-8120805088 |page=26}}

A variety of Unicode fonts are in use for Devanāgarī. These include Akshar,[https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/akshar.shtml Akshar Unicode] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709144453/https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/akshar.shtml|date=9 July 2015}} South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009) Annapurna,[https://software.sil.org/annapurna/ Annapurna SIL Unicode] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924160930/https://software.sil.org/annapurna/|date=24 September 2015}}, SIL International (2013) Arial,[https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/arialunicode.shtml Arial Unicode] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709131928/https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/arialunicode.shtml|date=9 July 2015}} South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009) CDAC-Gist Surekh,[https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/surekh.shtml CDAC-GIST Surekh Unicode] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709135457/https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/surekh.shtml|date=9 July 2015}} South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009) CDAC-Gist Yogesh,[https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/yogesh.shtml CDAC-GIST Yogesh] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709154256/https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/yogesh.shtml|date=9 July 2015}} South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009) Chandas,[https://hindimeguide.blogspot.com/keyword=k21214&pageid=icb.page104271 Sanskrit Devanagari Fonts]{{Dead link|date=January 2020|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} Harvard University (2010); see [https://www.sanskritweb.net/cakram/ Chanda and Uttara ttf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150310144046/https://www.sanskritweb.net/cakram/|date=10 March 2015}} 2010 archive (Accessed: July 8, 2015) Gargi,[https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/gargi.shtml Gargi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709150622/https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/gargi.shtml|date=9 July 2015}} South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009) Gurumaa,[https://kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=16645 Gurumaa Unicode – a sans font] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711005342/https://kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=16645|date=11 July 2015}} KDE (2012) Jaipur,[https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/jaipur.shtml Jaipur] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709143501/https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/jaipur.shtml|date=9 July 2015}} South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009) Jana,[https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/janahindi.shtml Jana] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709140706/https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/janahindi.shtml|date=9 July 2015}} South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009) Kalimati,[https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/kalimati.shtml Kalimati] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709143109/https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/kalimati.shtml|date=9 July 2015}} South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009) Kanjirowa,[https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/kanjirowa.shtml Kanjirowa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709125349/https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/kanjirowa.shtml|date=9 July 2015}} South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009) Lohit Devanagari, Mangal,[https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/mangal.shtml Mangal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709143607/https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/mangal.shtml|date=9 July 2015}} South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009) Kokila,{{Cite web |last=alib-ms |title=Kokila font family – Typography |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/font-list/kokila |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003042113/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/font-list/kokila |archive-date=3 October 2020 |access-date=2020-09-19 |website=Microsoft Learn |language=en-us}} ,Preeti,{{Cite web |title=Preeti Font |url=https://shikshasanjal.com/preeti-to-unicode-converter |website=shikshasanjal}} Raghu,[https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/raghindi.shtml Raghu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709145319/https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/raghindi.shtml|date=9 July 2015}} South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009) Sanskrit2003,[https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/sanskrit2003.shtml Sanskrit Ashram] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709131926/https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/sanskrit2003.shtml|date=9 July 2015}} South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009) Santipur OT,[https://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k21214&pageid=icb.page104271 Sanskrit Devanagari Fonts]{{Dead link|date=July 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} Harvard University (2010); see [https://www.sanskritweb.net/cakram/ Chanda and Uttara ttf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150310144046/https://www.sanskritweb.net/cakram/|date=10 March 2015}} 2010 archive (Accessed: July 8, 2015) Siddhanta, and Thyaka.[https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/thyakarabison.shtml Thyaka] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709125244/https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/thyakarabison.shtml|date=9 July 2015}} South Asia Language Resource, University of Chicago (2009)

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

{{blockquote|text=Uttara [companion to Chandas] 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 2003[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0900.pdf Devanagari font] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113210320/https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0900.pdf |date=13 November 2014 }} Unicode Standard 8.0 (2015) is a good all-around font and has more ligatures than most fonts, though students will probably find the spacing of the CDAC-Gist Surekh font 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.

{{See also|Devanagari numerals|Indian numerals|Brāhmī numerals|Hindu–Arabic numeral system}}

{{Main|Devanagari transliteration}}

File:Examples.of.complex.text.rendering.svg

There are several methods of Romanisation or transliteration from Devanāgarī to the Roman script.{{Cite book |last=Sharma |first=Daya Nand |title=Transliteration into Roman and Devanagari of the languages of the Indian group |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HWJJAAAAYAAJ |date=1972 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603120418/https://books.google.com/books?id=HWJJAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live |publisher=Survey of India, 1972 |quote={{omission}} With the passage of time there has emerged a practically uniform system of transliteration of Devanagari and allied alphabets. Nevertheless, no single system of Romanisation has yet developed {{omission}} |archive-date=3 June 2016}}

{{Main|Hunterian transliteration}}

The Hunterian system is the national system of romanisation in India, officially adopted by the Government of India.{{Citation |author=United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs |title=Technical reference manual for the standardisation of geographical names |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mh8u32ANQxAC |date=2007 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424091625/https://books.google.com/books?id=mh8u32ANQxAC |url-status=live |publisher=United Nations Publications, 2007 |isbn=978-92-1-161500-5 |quote={{omission}} ISO 15919 {{omission}} There is no evidence of the use of the system either in India or in international cartographic products {{omission}} The Hunterian system is the actually used national system of romanisation in India {{omission}} |archive-date=24 April 2016}}{{Citation |author=United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs |title=United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Far East, Volume 2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKsvAAAAYAAJ |date=1955 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427154047/https://books.google.com/books?id=QKsvAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live |publisher=United Nations, 1955 |quote={{omission}} In India the Hunterian system is used, whereby every sound in the local language is uniformly represented by a certain letter in the Roman alphabet {{omission}} |archive-date=27 April 2016}}{{Citation |author=National Library (India) |title=Indian scientific & technical publications, exhibition 1960: a bibliography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8VYEAQAAIAAJ |date=1960 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427232617/https://books.google.com/books?id=8VYEAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live |publisher=Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, Government of India, 1960 |quote={{omission}} The Hunterian system of transliteration, which has international acceptance, has been used {{omission}} |archive-date=27 April 2016}}

{{Main|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.

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.{{Cite web |url=https://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/page.php?item_id=script_detail_sort&key=Deva |title=Devanagari IAST conventions |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151114045204/https://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/page.php?item_id=script_detail_sort&key=Deva |archive-date=14 November 2015 |author=Script Source |date=2009 |publisher=SIL International |location=United States}}

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

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. 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 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 {{IAST|devanāgarī}} 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.{{Cite web |url=https://indology.info/email/members/wujastyk/ |title=Transliteration of Devanāgarī |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606204758/https://indology.info/email/members/wujastyk/ |archive-date=6 June 2007 |first=D. |last=Wujastyk |date=1996}}

{{Main|Velthuis}}

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{{Cite web |title=LOC.gov |url=https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/roman.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106232607/https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/roman.html |archive-date=6 November 2020 |access-date=2011-06-13 |publisher=LOC.gov}} 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,{{Cite web |title=0001.eps |url=https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/hindi.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217052605/https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/hindi.pdf |archive-date=17 February 2017 |access-date=2011-06-13 |website=Library of Congress}} one for Sanskrit and Prakrit,{{Cite web |title=LOC.gov |url=https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/sanskrit.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413080838/https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/sanskrit.pdf |archive-date=13 April 2018 |access-date=2011-06-13 |website=Library of Congress}} etc.

{{main|WX notation}}

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.

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.

{{Main|Devanagari (Unicode block)|Devanagari Extended|Devanagari Extended-A|Vedic Extensions|l2=Devanagari Extended (Unicode block)|l3=Devanagari Extended-A (Unicode block)|l4=Vedic 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).

{{Unicode chart Devanagari}}

{{Unicode chart Devanagari Extended}}

{{Unicode chart Devanagari Extended-A}}

{{Unicode chart Vedic Extensions}}

{{Hatnote|For a list of Devanāgari input tools and fonts, please see Help:Multilingual support (Indic).}}

File:इन्स्क्रिप्ट कळपाटाची ओळख.ogg

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.

File:Devanagari INSCRIPT Keyboard.JPG

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.

File:AKphonetic.jpg

File:Devanagari ULS input.webm) or "{{lang|hi|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 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: {{lang|inc-Deva|अक्षरांतरण}}, Hindi: {{lang|hi|लिप्यंतरण, बोलनागरी}}) and InScript keyboard (Marathi: {{lang|mr|मराठी लिपी}}).

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.

{{clear}}

{{Portal|Linguistics|Writing}}

{{columnslist|colwidth=30em|

• {{Annotated link |Languages of India}}
• {{Annotated link |Clip font}}
• {{Annotated link |Devanagari transliteration|Devanāgarī transliteration}}
• {{Annotated link |Devanagari Braille|Devanāgarī Braille}}
• {{Annotated link |ISCII}}
• {{Annotated link |Nagari Pracharini Sabha}}
• {{Annotated link |Nepali language|Nepali}}
• {{Annotated link |Schwa deletion in Indo-Aryan languages}}
• {{Annotated link |Shiksha}}

}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Citation |last=Lambert |first=Hester Marjorie |title=Introduction to the Devanagari Script: For Students of Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali |date=1953 |place=London |publisher=Geoffrey Cumberlege (Oxford University Press)}}.
• {{Citation |last=Masica |first=Colin |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J3RSHWePhXwC&q=indo-aryan+languages |date=1991 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-29944-2 |author-link=Colin Masica}}.
• {{Citation |last=Snell |first=Rupert |title=Teach Yourself Beginner's Hindi Script |date=2000 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |isbn=978-0-07-141984-0}}.
• {{Cite book |last=Salomon |first=Richard |title=The World's Writing Systems |title-link=The World's Writing Systems |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1996 |isbn=0-19-507993-0 |editor-last=Daniels, Peter T. |chapter=Brahmi and Kharoshthi |editor-last2=Bright, William}}
• {{Citation |last=Salomon |first=Richard |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |pages=67–103 |date=2003 |editor-last=Cardona |editor-first=George |chapter=Writing Systems of the Indo-Aryan Languages |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-77294-5 |editor2-last=Jain |editor2-first=Dhanesh}}.
• {{Citation |last=Verma |first=Sheela |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |pages=498–514 |date=2003 |editor-last=Cardona |editor-first=George |chapter=Magahi |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-77294-5 |editor2-last=Jain |editor2-first=Dhanesh}}.
• {{Citation |last=Wikner |first=Charles |title=A Practical Sanskrit Introductory |url=https://sanskritdocuments.org/learning_tutorial_wikner/index.html |date=1996}}.

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

• {{Google books|JjxFAAAAYAAJ|A Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in Private Libraries}}, Medical Hall Press, Princeton University Archive
• {{Google books|QD-Qmb2XIr8C|A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts}}, Vol 1: Upanishads, Friedrich Otto Schrader (Compiler), University of Michigan Library Archives
• [https://archive.org/stream/preliminarylisto00adya#page/n3/mode/2up 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.)
• [https://archive.org/stream/p1a4catalogueofs01greauoft#page/n7/mode/2up Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts], Part 1: Vedic Manuscripts, Harvard University Archives (mostly Devanāgarī)
• [https://archive.org/stream/catalogueofsansk04wind#page/n15/mode/2up Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts], Part 4: Manuscripts of Hindu schools of Philosophy and Tantra, Harvard University Archives (mostly Devanāgarī)
• [https://archive.org/stream/catalogueofsansk04wind#page/n15/mode/2up 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)
• {{Google books|6nooAAAAYAAJ|Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts}}, 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, [https://www.dianepublishing.net/SearchResults.asp?Search=david+pingree&Search.x=0&Search.y=0 American Philosophical Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211124520/https://www.dianepublishing.net/SearchResults.asp?Search=david+pingree&Search.x=0&Search.y=0 |date=11 February 2022 }}, Manuscripts in various Indic scripts including Devanāgarī

{{Wikibooks|Devanagari}}

{{Commons}}

{{Wikivoyage|Learning Devanagari}}

• [https://hindi-store.tipsadda.com/search/label/tools Devnagari Unicode Legacy Font Converters] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927051525/http://hindi-store.tipsadda.com/search/label/tools |date=27 September 2021 }}
• [https://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/ Digital Nāgarī fonts], University of Chicago
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090318134358/https://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Devanagari.html Devanāgarī in different fonts], Wazu, Japan (Alternate collection: [https://luc.devroye.org/indic.html Luc Devroye's comprehensive Indic Fonts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125175027/http://luc.devroye.org/indic.html |date=25 January 2022 }}, McGill University)
• {{Google books|0bkMAAAAIAAJ|Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency|page=30}}, Rudradaman's inscription in Sanskrit Nāgarī script from 1st through 4th century CE (coins and epigraphy), found in Gujarat, India, pages 30–45
• [https://www.currentscience.ac.in/cs/Volumes/100/02/0150.pdf Numerals and Text in Devanāgarī] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122093529/https://www.currentscience.ac.in/cs/Volumes/100/02/0150.pdf |date=22 November 2020 }}, 9th century temple in Gwalior Madhya Pradesh, India, Current Science
• {{Cite journal |last=Maurer |first=Walter H. |date=1976 |title=On the Name Devanāgarī |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=96 |issue=1 |pages=101–104 |doi=10.2307/599893 |jstor=599893}}

{{Devanagari abugida}}

{{Navboxes|title=Other related articles|state=autocollapse|list=

{{Sanskrit language topics}}

{{Hindi topics}}

{{Marathi language topics}}

{{Nepali language}}

{{list of writing systems}}

}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Articles containing video clips

Category:Brahmic scripts

Category:Hindi

Category:Hindustani orthography