Devanagari

Devanāgari
देवनागरी
Devanāgarī script (vowels top three rows, consonants below)
Script type
Time period
11th century to present
DirectionLeft-to-right Edit this on Wikidata
Official script
LanguagesApabhramsha, Angika, Awadhi, Bajjika, Bhili, Bhojpuri, Boro, Braj, Chhattisgarhi, Dogri, Garhwali, Haryanvi, Hindi, Kashmiri, Khandeshi, Konkani, Kumaoni, Magahi, Maithili, Marathi, Marwari, Mundari, Nagpuri, Newari, Nepali, Pāli, Pahari, Prakrit, Rajasthani, Sanskrit, Santali, Sherpa, Sindhi, Surjapuri, and many more.
Related scripts
Parent systems
Sister systems
Nandināgarī
Kaithi
Gujarātī
Moḍī
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Deva (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.
Brahmic scripts
The Brahmi script and its descendants
Northern Brahmic
Southern Brahmic
Part of a series on
Writing systems used in India
Brahmic scripts
Arabic derived scripts
Alphabetical scripts
Related

Devanagari (/ˌdeɪvəˈnɑːɡəri/ DAY-və-NAH-gə-ree;[6] देवनागरी, IAST: Devanāgarī, Sanskrit pronunciation: [deːʋɐˈnaːɡɐriː]) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. Also simply called Nāgari (Sanskrit: नागरि, Nāgari),[7] it is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system),[8] based on the ancient Brāhmi script.[9] 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[7] and achieved its modern form by 1000 CE.[10] The Devanāgari script, composed of 48 primary characters, including 14 vowels and 34 consonants,[11] is the fourth most widely adopted writing system in the world,[12][13] being used for over 120 languages.[14]

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.[8] 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.[8]

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]

  1. ^ Himelfarb, Elizabeth J. "First Alphabet Found in Egypt", Archaeology 53, Issue 1 (January/February 2000): 21.
  2. ^ Salomon 1996, p. 378.
  3. ^ Salomon, Richard, On The Origin Of The Early Indian Scripts: A Review Article. Journal of the American Oriental Society 115.2 (1995), 271–279, archived from the original on 22 May 2019, retrieved 27 March 2021
  4. ^ Daniels, P.T. (January 2008). "Writing systems of major and minor languages". In B. Kachru; Y. Kachru; S. Sridhar (eds.). Language in South Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 285–308. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511619069.017. ISBN 9780521786539.
  5. ^ Masica, Colin (1993). The Indo-Aryan languages. p. 143.
  6. ^ "Devanagari". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 30 September 2024. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  7. ^ a b Kuiper, Kathleen (2010). The Culture of India. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 83. ISBN 978-1615301492.
  8. ^ a b c Salomon, Richard (26 July 2007). "Writing systems of the Indo-Aryan languages". In Cardona, George; Jain, Danesh (eds.). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-135-79710-2. Retrieved 1 July 2023. Each Brāhmī-derived script has a characteristic stylistic format or ductus, which tends to exaggerate their apparent differences and mask their underlying similarities. For example, Nagari has a strong preference for symmetrical shapes, especially squared outlines and right angles...
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference gazett was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference salomon1000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Devanagari – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics". www.sciencedirect.com. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  12. ^ Vaughan, Don. "The World's 5 Most Commonly Used Writing Systems". britannica.com. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  13. ^ Templin, David. "Devanagari script". omniglot.com. Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  14. ^ a b c d Devanagari (Nagari), Script Features and Description, United States: SIL International, 2013, archived from the original on 2 July 2017
  15. ^ Nakanishi, Akira. Writing systems of the World. p. 48. ISBN 978-0804816540.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference george was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ "Hindi". Omniglot Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012.
  18. ^ Snell, Rupert (1991). The Hindi classical tradition : a Braj Bhāṣā reader. London: School of Oriental and African studies. ISBN 0-7286-0175-3. OCLC 24794163.
  19. ^ Cardona, George; Jain, Danesh (2003). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 75. ISBN 978-0415772945.
  20. ^ Grünendahl, Reinhold (2001). South Indian Scripts in Sanskrit Manuscripts and Prints. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. xxii, 201–210. ISBN 978-3447045049.