The Book of Devanagari (Final Version)

THE BOOK

दे वनागरी of

DEVANAGARI

Unveiling the Tapestry of India’s Devanagari Script Over the Years

TABLE OF CONTENTS INDIA & IT’S LANGUAGES

4

BEGINNING OF DEVANAGARI SCRIPT

6

ABOUT DEVANAGARI

8

HISTORY & TIMELINE

10

DEVANAGARI IN INDIA

12

HOW DEVANAGARI WORKS?

24

GUIDE TO WRITE DEVANAGARI

34

PLAY & LEARN

39

INDIA & IT’S LANGUAGES

Assamese Bengali Bodo Dogri Gujarati Hindi Kannada Kashmiri Konkani Maithili Malayalam Manipuri

Marathi Nepali Odhia Punjabi Sanskrit Santali Sindhi Tamil Telugu Urdu In this book, Hindi will be the primary focus.

5.

Beginning of Devanagari Script

from this...

Egyptian hieroglyphs Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic Brahmi Gupta Siddha Nagari Devanagari

to this...

7.

Devanagari script used to write the Sanskrit, Prakrit, Hindi, Marathi, and Nepali languages, developed from the North Indian monumental script known as Gupta and ultimately from the Brahmi alphabet, from which all modern Indian writing systems are derived.

Devanagari script is characterized by long, horizontal strokes at the tops of the letters, usually joined in modern usage to form a continuous horizontal line through the script when written.

The Devanagari writing system is a combination of syllabary and alphabet. One of its more notable characteristics is the convention that a consonantal symbol lacking diacritics is read as the consonant followed by the letter a—that is, the a is implied rather than written as a separate character.

द

This book offers an introduction on understanding the Devanagari script combined with translation in English, a Germanic language written in the Latin script. The emphasis is on grasping the basics of this script, and getting to know the Hindi language primarily spoken across different regions of India.

9.

देव Brahmi Gupta Devanagari

Origin

Birth

Composition

Devanagari is a combination of deva and nagari. Deva means “heavenly”, “divine”, or “deity”. Nagari comes from nagara, a Sanskrit word meaning “town” or “city”.

Hence, devanagari can be translated as “of the city of the gods”.

The use of the name devanagari emerged from the older term nagari. Nagari emerged in the northwest Indian subcontinent around 633 CE, was fully developed by the 11th century CE, and was one of the major scripts used for Sanskrit literature.

The Devanagari script, composed of 48 primary characters, including 14 vowels and 34 consonants, is the fourth most widely adopted writing system in the world, being used for over 120 languages. Unlike the Latin alphabet, the script has no concept of letter case.

नागरी Writing System

Adaption

Epigraphic Evidence

The Devanagari writing system is called Abugida / Syllabic Alphabet. 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 that runs along the top of full letters.

Devanagari is part of the Brahmic family of scripts of India, Nepal, Tibet, and Southeast Asia. Devanāgarī has been widely adopted across India and Nepal to write Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi, Central Indo-Aryan languages, Konkani, Boro, and various Nepalese languages.

Earliest epigraphic evidence attesting to the developing Sanskrit Nagari script in ancient India is from the 1st to 4th century CE inscriptions discovered in Gujarat. Variants of script called nagari, close to Devanagari, are first attested from the 1st century CE in Sanskrit.

11.

A brief walkthrough of Devanagari script in India.

13.

MANUSCRIPTS MANUSCRIPTS

A 19th-century illustrated Sanskrit manuscript from the Bhagavad Gita, composed c. 400 BCE — 200 BCE. Source: British Library

Brahmi script on Ashoka Pillar in Sarnath (c. 250 BCE) Source: British Library

Rigveda, manuscript page sample ii, Sanskrit, Devanagari (1500-1200 BCE) Source: British Library

15.

STREETS STREETS

17.

BOLLYWOOD BOLLYWOOD

19.

Year: 1943

Year: 1975

Year: 2006

Year: 2016

INDIAN MARKET INDIAN MARKET

21.

Social Media: Masaba Gupta(Indian

Bank Branding: Kotak Bank

Indian Newspapers

Carved veil on a wedding outfit

Largest commercial enterprise

Resturant Branding

DESIGNERS DESIGNERS

23.

Khyati Trehan

Chandni Poddar

Kimya Gandhi

How Devanagari works?

In the Latin script, one letter follows right after the other, from left to right. But in Devanagari, symbols are usually grouped into syllables.

There is one vowel at most in each syllable.

Moreover, syllables ought to avoid ending in consonants whenever feasible.

By default, the vowel sound “a” is pronounced after the symbols representing consonants. Thus, we must mark these consonants with additional dots in order to convey the specific sounds.

25.

Devanagari Glossary Mantra Line Final Stem Middle Stem Half Stem Open Counter Closed Counter Vertical Conjuction Akhand Conjuction Horizontal Conjuction Rukar Form Open Loop Angular Terminal Vertical Terminal Horizontal Terminal

Devanagari Type Anatomy

27.

Vowels, diacritics & Pronounciation

अ आ

इ

ई

उ

ऊ

ए

[a]

[aa]

[e]

[i]

[u]

[oo]

[e]

ऐ

ओ औ ऋ

ॠ

अं

अ:

[ai]

[o]

[rr]

[un]

[uh]

[au]

[ri]

Devanagari Alphabets

Consonants & Pronounciation

क

ख

ग

घ

ङ

च

छ

[ka]

[Kha]

[Ga]

[Gha]

[nga]

[cha]

[chha]

ज

झ

ञ

ट

ठ

ड

ढ

[ja]

[jha]

[nja]

[Ta]

[Tha]

[Da]

[Dha]

ण

त

थ

द

ध

न

प

[Na]

[ta]

[tha]

[da]

[dha]

[na]

[pa]

फ

ब

भ

म

य

र

ल

[pha]

[ba]

[bha]

[ma]

[ya]

[ra]

[la]

व

श

ष

स

ह

[va]

[sha]

[shha]

[sa]

[ha] 29.

Differentiation on the basis of speech

क

ख

ग

घ

ङ

[ka]

[Kha]

[Ga]

[Gha]

[nga]

च

छ

ज

झ

ञ

[cha]

[chha]

[ja]

[jha]

[nja]

ट

ठ

ड

ढ

ण

[Ta]

[Tha]

[Da]

[Dha]

[Na]

त

थ

द

ध

न

[ta]

[tha]

[da]

[dha]

[na]

Velar

Paltal

Cerebral

Dental

प

फ

ब

भ

म

[pa]

[pha]

[ba]

[bha]

[ma]

य

र

ल

व

[ya]

[ra]

[la]

[va]

श

ष

स

[sha]

[shha]

[sa]

ह

Labia

Half-Vowels

Spirants

Empty Aspirant

[ha]

31.

Graphic Analysis: “Root letters” and “Dervied letters” based on similarities between structures

आ

उ

ओ औ

अ

इ

ई

इ

ब

व

क

र

श

स

ख

ग

म

न

भ

ज

च

ठ

ढ

द

घ

छ

ध

य

थ

ण

ष

ऊ

ट

प

फ

33.

Guide to write hindi alphabets in seconds...

35.

37.

Learn & play: Who said learning can’t be an adventure?

39.

In English: Hello

In English: Rocket

41.

In English: Coffee

In English: Duck

43.

In English: Flower

In English: Digital

45.

Tip Tap Game

Game Instructions//

Part 1: 1. Make a pair of 2-3 people.

2. Person 1: Put your fingers underneath the outside leaves of the folded square like this and move your fingers in vertical and horizontal directions.

Ask your 2nd friend to pick a color!

2. Spell the color and continue to move your fingers so that the top view when stretched horizontally and vertically looks like this.

Ask your 2nd friend to pick a number!

3. Final step of this part is to open the Tap under the selected number and tell the secret alphabet/ letter written to your 2nd friend.

47.

(ma)

म

(na)

न

(sa)

स

(ha)

ह

Pronounciation

Translation

Word

Letter

Pronounciation

Translation

Word

Letter

Pronounciation

Translation

Word

Letter

Pronounciation

Translation

Word

Letter

माफ़ी

(va)

(ma)

maa

मां

Word

Letter

खाना रात

व (va) म (maa)

kha-na raat

व

(pha)

Food/ फ़ूड नाईट Night/

(va)

मां paani maa

पानी

Pronounciation

Translation

Word

Letter

Pronounciation

Translation

Word

Letter

फ़ (pha)न (na)

Translation

ब (ba)

dhan-ya-vad

धन्यवाद

paani

पानी

Water/ वाटर

व (va)

kha-na

खाना

Food/ फ़ूड

फ़ (pha)

sun-dar

सुन्दर

Beautiful/ ब्यूटीफुल

Pronounciation

सुन्दरमाफ़ी

Word

Letter

थ (tha) Thank you/ थैंक यू

Pronounciation

Translation

Word

Letter

ma-fee sun-dar

फ़

(ba)

Water/ वाटर मदर Mother/

Pronounciation Pronounciation

Translation Translation

Word

Letter

Pronounciation Pronounciation

raat

म (maa)

Translation Translation

Word

Letter Letter

Pronounciation Pronounciation

Word

ब

Beautiful/ ब्यSorry/ ूटीफुल सॉरी

Word

Translation Translation

Word

रात

Mother/ मदर

(na)

वम

(pha)

Night/ नाईट

फ़ न

न (na)

ma-fee

(sa)

Sorry/ सॉरी

Letter

ब (ba)स (sa)

Letter

स (sa)

Pronounciation Pronounciation

धन्यवादनमस्ते

(tha)

थ

Thank you/ थैHello/ ंक यू हेलो

थ (tha) ह (ha)

na-mas-te dhan-ya-vad

नमस्ते

Word

Letter

Translation Translation

Word

Letter

na-mas-te

(ha)

बस (ba)

(tha)

Hello/ हेलो

थह

ह (ha)

Flash Card Game

Game Instructions//

Part 2: 1. Person 2: Pick the secret alphabet/letter card from the deck.

2. Flip the card, read what’s written silently and tell and show your 1st friend the card without saying it out loud.

3. Now, act that word to the 3rd friend and let them guess. Actions over words!

4. Once the word is out, show them the card and end the game by saying it out loud! Say it together!!

49.