Introduction to the Hindi Alphabet: Devanagari Script

Study Notes

Introduction to the Hindi Alphabet

The Hindi alphabet is known as Devanagari, which means 'the city of the gods' in Sanskrit. It originated from Brahmi script and has evolved over time into its present form, with approximately 87 characters used in modern Hindi writing. This script represents all sounds in modern standard Hindi and other languages using it, such as Marathi, Konkani, and some Malayalam dialects.

The Shapes of Letters

Devanagari letters have distinct shapes that can be broken down into two main types: vowels and consonants. Vowel signs generally consist of a horizontal line representing the mouth cavity, with vertical lines running upwards or downwards indicating the pitch of the voice. Consonant signs resemble Roman letters, except they contain extra strokes and have curved forms with sound value indicated by their shape. These symbols do not match their English counterparts exactly; for instance, the Sanskrit letter for 'S' looks more like our 'F' when written in Devanagari.

General Features

Some common features of Devanagari include:

A vertical stroke called the "Virama" (or Visarga), which indicates that the previous consonant takes a short vowel 'a'. In practice, this consists of a small loop attached to the top of the preceding consonant.
A dot above or below certain consonants to indicate nasality.
Diacritic marks called "Yogavahka Kastha", which represent various aspirations of consonants, making it easier to pronounce them correctly when reading.

Example Words

Here are three examples of how different words look in Devanagari:

The word for "India" is written as भारत (Bharat) in Devanagari.
The word for "God" is represented as ईश्वर (Īśvara).
The word for "University" is shown as विश्वविद्यालय (Viśvavidyālaya).

Description

Learn about the history, shapes, and features of the Hindi alphabet, known as Devanagari. Explore how vowels and consonants are represented, common features like 'Virama' and diacritic marks, and see examples of words written in Devanagari script.