Devanagari Tutorial
Devanagari Tutorial - Common for Hindi, Marathi, Nepali and Sanskrit

Hindi, Marathi, Nepali and Sanskrit use the Devanagari Script.

Structure of the Inscript Keyboard

Devanagari Characters Overview

Typing on the Inscript Keyboard

Conjuncts Which are Automatically Formed in iLEAP

Anuswar and the Nasal Consonants

Usage Variations in Devanagari

Alternative Display Variants

Sanskrit Conjuncts


Devanagari | Structure of the Inscript Keyboard
Structure of the Inscript Keyboard

The Inscript overlay is same for all the Indian scripts, and contains the basic characters required for all of them. The Inscript keyboard overlay shown below is for the Devanagari script. The characters which are not used in Devanagari are not shown in the overlay. Devanagari script is used for writing Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit and Nepali languages.

When the Scroll Lock is Off (indicated by an LED), the normal English overlay is active. Scroll Lock has to be put On for selecting Inscript overlay. Characters available in this overlay are shown in the right half of the key tops.

In the Inscript overlay the following English overlay characters are available in their usual places:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 ( ) - , .

Inscript Keyboard overlay has been optimized both for touch-typing as well as sight-typing.

Touch typing is done primarily through characters in the first three rows. The second row is the Home row in which the fingers of both hands rest. This makes the characters in the Home row easiest to type, followed by those in the 3rd row and then in the 1st row.

The characters in the 4th row are primarily meant for sight typing.


Devanagari | Devanagari Characters Overview
Devanagari Characters Overview

The Inscript Keyboard overlay allows the following basic characters in Devanagari to be typed in.

+	+É	<	<Ç	=	>ð	@ñ	B	Bä	Bì	+Éä	+Éè	+Éì

#É	Ê#	#Ò	#Ö 	#Ú 	#Þ	#ä	#è	#ì	#Éä	#Éè	#Éì

#Ä	(Chandrabindu)

#Æ	(Anuswar)

#&   	(Visarg)

Eò	JÉ	MÉ	PÉ	Ró

SÉ	Uô	VÉ	ZÉ	\É

]õ	`ö	b÷	fø	hÉ

iÉ	lÉ	nù	vÉ	xÉ

{É	¡ò	¤É	¦É	¨É

ªÉ	®ú	®úÃ	±É	³ý

´É	¶É	¹É	ºÉ	½þ

#Â 	(Halant)

#Ã 	(Nukta)

*  	(Viram)

The Vowel/Nasal Pad

Left half of the keyboard contains the Vowels, Nasal signs and  Nasal consonants. In touch typing these characters have to be typed by the left hand.

The Vowels

The Home row contains the 5 short vowels in Devanagari.

A  +Éä	S   B	D  +	F   <	G  =	  	Shift

Home Row 	   #Éä	    #ä	   #Â 	   Ê#	   #Ö 	  	Unshift

Notice that a Matra is given in the Unshift position, while the corresponding vowel is given in the Shift position. This is convenient since the Matras are used more often than the vowels.

+ Vowel has got no corresponding Matra as its sound is inherently present in each consonant. A Halant #Â sign has to be used to remove the inherent + sound from a consonant. Halant sign is used quite often for combining consonants, and is thus given in the Unshift position.

Q  +Éè	W  Bä	E  +É	R   <Ç	T  >ð	Long Vowels

3rd Row 	   #Éè	   #è	   #É 	   #Ò	   #Ú

A  +Éä	S  B	D  +	F   <	G  =	Short Vowels

Home Row	   #Éä	   #ä	   #Â 	   Ê#	   #Ö

There are 5 pairs of short and long vowels in Devanagari. All the short vowels are given in the Home row, and the corresponding long vowels are given in the 3rd row. One needs to remember the positions of the short vowels in the Home row. Position of a long vowel is in the key above the corresponding short vowel.

There are three more vowels in Devanagari which are not often used: @ñBì and +Éì. These Vowels and the corresponding Matras (#Þ, #ì and #Éì ) are given on different keys in the 4th row.

4th Row	!    Bì	@  #ì	+   @ñ	Shift

1     	 2     	=   #Þ	Unshift

3rd Row	|   +Éì	Shift

\   #Éì	Unshift

The key containing the +Éì vowel can have different positions on keyboards from different manufacturers. This does not affect touch typing since +Éì is used infrequently.

Nasal Signs and Nasal Consonants

X  #Ä	C   hÉ	V   	Shift

1st Row	    #Æ	    ¨É	    xÉ	Unshift

Anuswar #Æ is given in the Unshift position, while Chandrabindu #Ä which is used less often, is given in the Shift position of the same key.

Devanagari has 5 Nasal consonants Ró, \É, hÉ, xÉ and ¨É. The Nasal consonants  ¨É xÉ and hÉ are provided in the left half of the first row. The Nasal consonants Ró and \É, used infrequently in Devanagari, are provided in the Shift positions of two keys in the right pad.

U  Ró	}  \É	Shift

3rd Row

Consonant Pad

The Consonant Pad is in the right half of the keyboard. The characters in this pad are to be typed by the right hand during touch-typing.

Consonant Vargs

Devanagari has 5 Consonant Vargs, each having 5 consonants. These consonants are accommodated in the right pad of the keyboard.

Primary	Secondary	Nasal

Varg 1:	Eò	JÉ	MÉ	PÉ	Ró

Varg 2:	SÉ	Uô	VÉ	ZÉ	\É

Varg 3:	]õ	`ö	b÷	fø	hÉ

Varg 4:	iÉ	lÉ	nù	vÉ	xÉ

Varg 5:	{É	¡ò	¤É	¦É	¨É

Each Varg contains a pair of Primary consonants, a pair of Secondary consonants and a Nasal consonant. The two pairs of each Varg are kept in two vertical keys as shown below.

varg	varg	varg	varg	 varg

  5   	 1  	  4  	2  	   3

Y   ¦É	U   	I    PÉ	O   vÉ	P   ZÉ  	{   fø	Shift

3rd Row	      ¤É	   MÉ	    nù	   VÉ	[   b÷	Unshift

H  ¡ò	J    	K  JÉ	L    lÉ	:    Uô	"   `ö	Shift

Home Row	     {É	  	   Eò	    iÉ	;    SÉ	'    ]õ	Unshift

This arrangement is not only easy to remember but also places the Primary consonants, which are more used, in the Home row.

The salient feature of this arrangement is that the consonant in the Shift position of a key is the "Aspirated" counterpart of the consonant in the Unshift position. This is possible since the second consonant of each of the Primary or Secondary pair is an Aspirated consonant. An Aspirated consonant has an extra "h" sound in it.

An aspirated consonant is used less frequently than its unaspirated counterpart. So the Unshift position of the keys is quite suitable for them.

 	Primary	Secondary

Varg 1:	 Eò+½þ = JÉ	MÉ+½þ = PÉ

Varg 2:	 SÉ+½þ = Uô	VÉ+½þ = ZÉ

Varg 3:	 ]õ+½þ = `ö	b÷+½þ = fø

Varg 4:	 iÉ+½þ = lÉ	nù+½þ = vÉ

Varg 5:	 {É+½þ = ¡ò	¤É+½þ = ¦É

The above table is just for illustrating the phonetic equivalence, you can't derive an aspirated consonant by typing an unaspirated consonant followed by a ½þ.

Keeping all the aspirated consonants in the Shift position of their unaspirated counterparts, halves the efforts to remember them. This is just like the positioning of upper-case letters in the Shift positions of the lower-case letters in English.

To start with one has to remember the position of the 5 primary unaspirated consonants in the Home row, the positions of the rest of them can be easily learnt in relation to these.

The Non-Varg consonants

After the first 5 Vargs of Devanagari, come the Non-Varg consonants. These are also accommodated in the consonant pad on the right half of the overlay.

ªÉ	®ú	®úÃ	±É	³ý	´É	¶É	¹É	ºÉ	½þ

®ú is the most often used consonant amongst these, and is thus provided in the Home row, for ease of typing.

U

3rd Row	    Z	Unshift

J    ®úÃ	  	Shift

Home Row	    ®ú	Unshift

B    	N   ³ý	M   ¶É	<   ¹É	>  * 	?     	 	Shift

1st Row    	   ´É	    ±É	    ºÉ	 ,     	 .      	/    ªÉ	Unshift

¶É which is similar to ºÉ, though less frequent, is provided on its Shift position. ¹É which has the same pronunciation as ¶É is provided on the Shift position of the adjacent key.

The Marathi ³ý which is similar to ±É, though less frequent, is provided on its Shift position. ®úÃ which is in the Shift position of ®ú, is used in Marathi to obtain the half-Ra ­ .

Nukta

Nukta #Ã character is used for deriving a few consonants in Devanagari:

Fò  KÉ  NÉ  WÉ  c÷  gø  ¢ò

}    \É	Shift

3rd Row	]    #Ã	 	Unshift

Nukta is also used for deriving rarely used characters like: $, Añ and %.

Viram

Viram which is used in place of a full-stop is provided on the Shift position of a full-stop. Modern Devanagari is using full-stop in place of Viram.

>    *	Shift

1st Row	 .      	Unshift

Visarg

Visarg #& which is an aspiration sign, is used infrequently in Devanagari. It is provided in the Shift position of a key in the 4th row.

_  #&	Shift

4th Row	-     	Unshift

Conjunct Keys

For convenience of typing, some Conjunct characters are provided in the Shift positions of some keys in the 4th row. The action of these keys is equivalent to typing the two or three characters comprising each of the corresponding conjuncts.

#   #Å	$   #Ç	%  YÉ	^   jÉ	&  IÉ	*   ¸É	Shift

4th Row	3     	4     	5    	6    	7     	8    	Unshift

These keys are primarily meant for the occasional users. For touch-typing it would be more convenient to use the basic keys provided in the first 3 rows.


Devanagari | Typing on the Inscript Keyboard
Typing on the Inscript Keyboard

Everyone can have their own style of writing, but there has to be only one style for typing. Typing is done using limited number of keys on the keyboard. For typing a word we need to know how to break it up into a sequence of separate keystrokes.

For example:	Eò<Ç will be typed with 2 keys: Eò <Ç

+Eò±É will be typed with 3 keys + Eò ±É

Consonants

Following consonants are present in Devanagari. Each can be typed through a single keystroke.

Eò	JÉ	MÉ	PÉ	Ró

SÉ	Uô	VÉ	ZÉ	\É

]õ	`ö	b÷	fø	hÉ

iÉ	lÉ	nù	vÉ	xÉ

{É	¡ò	¤É	¦É	¨É

ªÉ	®ú	±É	³ý	´É

¶É	¹É	ºÉ	½þ

Vowels

Devanagari has the following vowels:

+	+É	<	<Ç	=	>ð	@ñ	B	Bä	Bì	+Éä	+Éè	+Éì

Each of them, except +, has an associated Matra:

#É	Ê#	#Ò	#Ö 	#Ú 	#Þ 	#ä	#è	#ì	#Éä	#Éè	#Éì

Bì and +Éì vowels are newly introduced into Devanagari for representing English sounds.

Each Vowel is typed separately, even though it may look as if it is a combination of another vowel with a Matra.

Example:

+É{É = +É {É     	and not 	+ #É {É

+Éä®ú = +Éä ®ú     	and not   	+ #Éä ®ú

+Éè®úiÉ = +Éè ®ú iÉ  	and not 	+ #Éè ®ú iÉ

BäxÉEò = Bä xÉ Eò  	and not    	B #ä xÉ Eò

Bì]õ¨É = Bì ]õ ¨É  	and not 	B #ì ]õ ¨É

+Éì]õ¨É = +Éì ]õ ¨É 	and not    	+ #ì #É ]õ ¨É

Matras

A Matra can attach to the top, bottom, left or right side of a consonant:

Eò	EòÉ	ÊEò	EòÒ	EÖò	EÚò	EÞò	Eäò	Eèò	Eìò	EòÉä	EòÉè	EòÉì

It has to be typed immediately after a Consonant. It cannot be typed after a Vowel.

EòÉxÉ will be typed as: Eò #É xÉ

¨ÉÒiÉ will be typed as: ¨É #Ò iÉ

@ñiÉÖ will be typed as: @ñ iÉ #Ö

¦ÉÚ±É will be typed as: ¦É #Ú ±É

°ü{É will be typed as: ®ú #Ú {É

¤Éì]õ will be typed as: ¤É #ì ]õ

¤ÉÉì±É will be typed as: ¤É #Éì ±É and not as  ¤É #ì #É ±É

Note that the same #Ú Matra is used in both ¦ÉÚ±É and °ü{É.

The computer logic is responsible for attaching it correctly.

ºÉä¤É 	= ºÉ #ä ¤É

¨Éè±É 	= ¨É #è ±É

¡òÒiÉä 	= ¡ò #Ò iÉ #ä

iÉÉè±ÉÉä 	= iÉ #Éè ±É #Éä and not as  iÉ #É #è ±É #É #ä

EÞò{ÉÉ 	= Eò #Þ {É #É

ÊEò 	= Eò Ê#

VÉÉÊiÉ 	= VÉ #É iÉ Ê#

Note that the Ê# Matra is also typed after a consonant according to its pronunciation. The computer logic will display it properly before the consonant.

Anuswar

An Anuswar #Æ is used to denote a nasal sound.

{ÉÆ{É 	= {É #Æ {É

¨Éå 	= ¨É #ä #Æ

+ÆMÉ 	= + #Æ MÉ

JÉÓSÉ 	= JÉ #Ò #Æ SÉ

Ë½þnùÒ 	= ½þ Ê# #Æ nù #Ò

Note that an Anuswar has got to be placed after a Matra, Otherwise the Matra will not attach:

½ÆþÊ#nùÒ 	= ½þ #Æ Ê# nù #Ò

Note that if a Matra is present, the Anuswar will always follow it according to the pronunciation order.

¤ÉíEò 	= ¤É #ì #Æ Eò

Note that this word is often written wrongly as

¤ÉÄEò 	= ¤É #Ä Eò	In Hindi this word is also written as ¤ÉéEò.

¤ÉÉíb÷ 	= ¤É #Éì #Æ b÷

Chandrabindu

Chandrabindu #Ä is added to indicate nasalization of a vowel.

+ÉÄJÉ 	= +É #Ä JÉ

>Äð]õ 	= >ð #Ä ]õ

ºÉÉÄ{É 	= ºÉ #É #Ä {É and not ºÉÄ#É{É = ºÉ #Ä #É {É

Note that the Anuswar is often used instead of Chandrabindu in Hindi.

Visarg

A Visarg #& can be used to indicate an aspiration sound:

+iÉ& 	= + iÉ #&

nÖù&JÉ 	= nù #Ö #& JÉ and not nù&#ÖJÉ = nù #& #Ö JÉ

The Visarg is many times confused with an English colon sign ":". The common mistake is to type a colon instead of a Visarg. The Visarg can be distinguished easily from a colon as it has a connecting line at the top.

Note that only one of Anuswar, Chandrabindu or Visarg can attach on a character.

Halant

Halant #Â is typed to indicate a half character.

xÉ¨ÉxÉÂ 	= xÉ ¨É xÉ #Â

{ÉÎ]Âõ]õEòÉ 	= {É ]õ #Â ]õ Ê# Eò #É

Note that Ê# Matra is typed in the pronunciation order and gets displayed before the ]Âõ]õ combination.

¤ÉÖbÂ÷føÉ 	= ¤É #Ö b÷ #Â fø #É

´ÉÉRÂó¨ÉªÉ 	= ´É #É Ró #Â ¨É ªÉ

+nÂù¦ÉÖiÉ 	= + nù #Â ¦É #Ö iÉ

Note that a Halant can be attached only on a consonant, and not on a vowel. It will be shown separately if placed in the wrong position:

EÖò#Â 	ÊEò#Â 	EÆò#Â 	Eò&#Â

Furthermore only a consonant can come after a Halant, otherwise there would be no combination:

EÂò+ 	EÂòÊ#	EÂò#Æ

Half Consonants

A Halant between two consonants disappears when the first consonant joins with the second one.

CªÉÉ 	= Eò #Â ªÉ #É

b÷ÉìC]õ®ú 	= b÷ #Éì Eò #Â ]õ ®ú

®úÉVªÉ 	= ®ú #É VÉ #Â ªÉ

ÊEò¶iÉ 	= Eò Ê# ¶É #Â iÉ

½þÎºiÉ 	= ½þ ºÉ #Â iÉ Ê#

ÊVÉ¼´ÉÉ 	= VÉ Ê# ½þ #Â ´É #É

¨ÉSUô®ú 	= ¨É SÉ #Â Uô ®ú

Ê´É·É 	= ´É Ê# ¶É #Â ´É

Eò¶ªÉ{É 	= Eò ¶É #Â ªÉ {É

Note that ¶É #Â joins in different ways with ´É and ªÉ in the above examples.

Conjuncts

The Halant can cause the adjoining consonants to assume a separate "conjunct" shape.

uùÉ®ú 	= nù #Â ´É #É ®ú

¶ÉÖrù 	= ¶É #Ö nù #Â vÉ

Note that many of these conjuncts show the first consonant in the full form, with a small form of the second consonant attached below.

Note that due to visual similarity the word ¶ÉÖrù is often mis-spelled as:

¶ÉÖvnù 	= ¶É #Ö vÉ #Â nù

Some conjuncts can have a shape different from the constituent consonants:

{ÉzÉÉ 	= {É xÉ #Â xÉ #É

®úIÉÉ 	= ®ú Eò #Â ¹É #É and not ®ú Eò #Â ¶É #É (®úC¶ÉÉ)

Eò #Â ¶É is distinct and is used in words like -

Ê®úC¶ÉÉ 	= ®ú Ê# Eò #Â ¶É #É

Ê´ÉtÉ 	= ´É Ê# nù #Â ªÉ #É

YÉÉxÉ 	= VÉ #Â \É #É xÉ and not MÉ #Â ªÉ #É xÉ (MªÉÉxÉ)

YÉ is not made of MÉ #Â ªÉ

¦ÉHò 	= ¦É Eò #Â iÉ

MÉqùÉ 	= MÉ nù #Â nù #É

Conjunct Keys

Some of the conjuncts can be typed in a single keystroke. These keystrokes are equivalent to typing the constituent consonants with the Halant in between:

IÉ 	= Eò #Â ¹É

®úIÉÉ 	= ®ú IÉ #É = ®ú Eò #Â ¹É #É

jÉ 	= iÉ #Â ®ú

Ê¨ÉjÉ = ¨É Ê# jÉ = ¨É Ê# iÉ #Â ®ú

¸É 	= ¶É #Â ®ú

Ê´É¸ÉÉ¨É = ´É Ê# ¸É #É ¨É = ´É Ê# ¶É #Â ®ú #É ¨É

YÉ 	= VÉ #Â \É

YÉÉxÉ = YÉ #É xÉ = VÉ #Â \É #É xÉ

Note that these Conjunct keys are given only for convenience of an occasional user. For touch-typing it might be easier to type in without these Conjunct keys, using the basic keystrokes.

A Half consonant can be present before a conjunct:

¶ÉÉºjÉ = ¶É #É ºÉ #Â jÉ = ¶É #É ºÉ #Â iÉ #Â ®ú

A Half "conjunct" can be present before a consonant:

EÖòjªÉÉ = Eò #Ö jÉ #Â ªÉ #É = Eò #Ö iÉ #Â ®ú #Â ªÉ #É

Rakar

When #Â is followed by a ®ú, a Rakar #Å gets formed. This #Å is also available directly as a Conjunct key, for providing convenience to an occasional user.

bÅ÷¨É 	= b÷ #Å ¨É 	= b÷ #Â ®ú ¨É

]ØõlÉ 	= ]õ #Å #Ö lÉ 	= ]õ #Â ®ú #Ö lÉ

BCº]ÅõÉ 	= B Eò #Â ºÉ #Â ]õ #Å #É  =  B Eò #Â ºÉ #Â ]õ #Â ®ú #É

Note that four consonants join in the above example to form a conjunct; this is the maximum for Devanagari.

The Rakar can have a single left-ward stroke along with many consonants.

Gò¨É 	= Eò #Å ¨É 	= Eò #Â ®ú ¨É

{ÉjÉ 	= {É iÉ #Å 	= {É iÉ #Â ®ú

Note: it can also be typed directly as {É jÉ

Ê¨É¸É 	= ¨É Ê# ¶É #Â ®ú

Note: it can also be typed directly as ¨É Ê# ¸É

pùÉè{ÉnùÒ 	= nù #Â ®ú #Éè {É nù #Ò

¿º´É 	= ½þ #Â ®ú ºÉ #Â ´É

For touch typing it may be easier to type Rakar without the Conjunct key, as two separate keystrokes.

Reph

When ®ú is followed by a #Â, a Reph #Ç gets formed. This Reph is also available directly as a Conjunct key. The Reph has to be typed before the consonant on which it is shown.

If the Reph #Ç is not followed by a consonant, it changes to its  equivalent : ®Âú

¤É¡Çò 	= ¤É #Ç ¡ò  	=  ¤É ®ú #Â ¡ò

MÉ¨ÉÔ 	= MÉ #Ç ¨É #Ò  	=  MÉ ®ú #Â ¨É #Ò

SÉÌSÉiÉ 	= SÉ #Ç SÉ Ê# iÉ  =  SÉ ®ú #Â SÉ Ê# iÉ

Note that #Ç and Ê# are entered in the order of their pronunciation although they are displayed in a different order.

Reph on a conjunct has to be typed in before the two or more consonants comprising it.

MÉ´Éx¨Éç]õ 	= MÉ ´É #Ç xÉ #Â ¨É #ä #Æ ]õ = MÉ ´É ®ú #Â xÉ #Â ¨É #ä #Æ ]õ

Nukta

A Nukta #Ã character can be attached to some consonants, to get a consonant which has a slightly modified sound.

¤Éc÷É 	= ¤É b÷ #Ã #É

MÉgø´ÉÉ±É 	= MÉ fø #Ã ´É #É ±É

KÉªÉÉ±É 	= JÉ #Ã ªÉ #É ±É

K´ÉÉ¤É 	= JÉ #Ã #Â ´É #É ¤É

Note that the Nukta is attached immediately after a consonant, even when Halant  #Â also has to be attached to it.

Fèònù 	= Eò #Ã #è nù

EòÉNÉWÉ 	= Eò #É MÉ #Ã VÉ #Ã

¢òÒ]õ 	= ¡ò #Ã #Ò ]õ

£ÃéòSÉ 	= ¡ò #Ã #Â ®ú #è #Æ SÉ

As shown in the examples, Nukta can only be shown on the following seven consonants:

Fò KÉ NÉ WÉ c÷ gø ¢ò

Additional Consonants for Marathi

³ý is used in Marathi as a hard form of ±É as in:

Ê]õ³ýEò

There is an additional Half Ra ­ which is formed through an additional character ®úÃ as shown. It is always used in its half form ­ .

´ÉÉ­ªÉÉ 	= ´É #É ®úÃ #Â ªÉ #É

Note this word cannot be written as

´ÉÉªÉÉÇ 	= ´É #É ®ú #Â ªÉ #É

­½º´É 	= ®úÃ #Â ½þ ºÉ #Â ´É

Eò¨ÉÇSÉÉ­ªÉÉÆxÉÉ 	= Eò ®ú #Â ¨É SÉ #É ®úÃ #Â ªÉ #É #Æ xÉ #É

Note that #Ç and ­ are both used in this word, in a distinct manner.

Additional Characters Required for Sanskrit

There are some characters which are infrequently used in Sanskrit text. These are thus not directly provided on the keyboard, but are generated instead by attaching a Nukta:

Añ 	= @ñ #Ã

Eßò 	= Eò #Þ #Ã

±ÉÞ 	= < #Ã

±Éß 	= <Ç #Ã

% 	= * #Ã

$ 	= #Ä #Ã

If Have Sanskrit as one of the language on Installed on your Computer Read the Sanskrit Conjuncts Tutorial.

Alternative Composition of Words

Some special ways of typing are provided to achieve variations in display of a word.

These special ways should be used only in exceptional cases, as they change the basic spelling of a word.

Invisible Consonant INV

Sometimes it becomes necessary to show characters like

#Å	#Ç	#é  	C

These can be formed only by attaching them to a consonant. If we type these directly we will get for the previous examples:

#Â®ú	®Âú 	#è#Æ	EÂò

An Invisible Consonant called INV is provided for forming these. This INV Consonant is located in the Shift position of the ESCAPE key, and is available only when the Inscript overlay has been selected.

 	INV	Shift

ESC	Unshift

The INV Consonant can be used in the following ways:

#Å 	= INV #Â ®ú

#Ç 	= ®ú #Â INV

#é 	= INV #è #Æ

C 	= Eò #Â INV

INV can be used for obtaining alternative spellings of some words, by preventing formation of conjuncts.

Ê´É·É 	= ´É Ê# ¶É #Â ´É

Ê´É¶´É 	= ´É Ê# ¶É #Â INV ´É

{ÉzÉÉ 	= {É xÉ #Â xÉ #É

{ÉxxÉÉ 	= {É xÉ #Â INV xÉ #É

INV can be used for preventing formation of conjunct, so long as there is no Ê# Matra on the conjunct.

{ÉÊkÉªÉÉÆ 	= {É iÉ #Â iÉ Ê# ªÉ #É #Æ

{ÉiÊiÉªÉÉÆ 	= {É iÉ #Â INV iÉ Ê# ªÉ #É #Æ

In the previous word the Ê# Matra is in the wrong position. This could be corrected by typing it differently:

{ÉÎiiÉªÉÉÆ 	= {É iÉ #Â INV Ê# iÉ ªÉ #É #Æ

Soft Halant (Or Halant-Nukta)

There is a more elegant way of preventing formation of conjuncts by adding a Nukta #Ã sign after the appropriate Halant sign. All the Matras would now attach properly.

Ê´É¶´É 	= ´É Ê# ¶É #Â #Ã ´É

{ÉÎiiÉªÉÉÆ 	= {É iÉ #Â #Ã iÉ Ê# ªÉ #É #Æ

ÊuùiÉÒªÉ 	= nù #Â ´É Ê# iÉ #Ò ªÉ

ÎnÂù´ÉiÉÒªÉ 	= nù #Â #Ã ´É Ê# iÉ #Ò ªÉ

Explicit Halant (Or Double Halant)

Apart from preventing formation of a conjunct, sometimes it may be desirable to show an explicit Halant, rather than the Half form of a consonant. This can be achieved by just typing the Halant twice:

oùC{ÉlÉ 	= nù #Þ Eò #Â {É lÉ

oùEÂò{ÉlÉ 	= nù #Þ Eò #Â #Â {É lÉ

¶ÉÊHò 	= ¶É Eò #Â iÉ Ê#

¶ÉEÂòÊiÉ 	= ¶É Eò #Â #Â iÉ Ê#

Note that the Ê# Matra is displayed after the Explicit Halant.

|É¼±ÉÉnù 	= {É #Â ®ú ½þ #Â ±É #É nù

|É½Âþ±ÉÉnù 	= {É #Â ®ú ½þ #Â #Â ±É #É nù


Devanagari | Conjuncts Automatically Formed
Conjuncts Which are Automatically Formed in iLEAP

Following conjuncts are automatically formed in iLEAP.

IÉ 	= Eò #Â ¹É	Hò 	= Eò #Â iÉ	Gò 	= Eò #Â ®ú

LÉ 	= JÉ #Â ®ú

OÉ 	= MÉ #Â ®ú

QÉ 	= PÉ #Â ®ú

TÉ 	= SÉ #Â ®ú

YÉ 	= VÉ #Â \É	XÉ 	= VÉ #Â ®ú

[É 	= ZÉ #Â ®ú

kÉ	= iÉ #Â iÉ	jÉ 	= iÉ #Â ®ú

mÉ 	= lÉ #Â ®ú

qù 	= nù #Â nù	rù 	= nù #Â vÉ	t = nù #Â ªÉ	  pù = nù #Â ®ú	uù 	= nù #Â ´É

zÉ 	= xÉ #Â xÉ	yÉ 	= xÉ #Â ®ú

|É 	= {É #Â ®ú

£ò 	= ¡ò #Â ®ú

¥É 	= ¤É #Â ®ú

§É 	= ¦É #Â ®ú

©É 	= ¨É #Â ®ú

«É 	= ªÉ #Â ®ú

µÉ 	= ´É #Â ®ú

¸É 	= ¶É #Â ®ú	·É = ¶É #Â ´É

»É 	= ºÉ #Â ®ú

¿ 	= ½þ #Â ®ú

®ú #Â combines with all the consonants to form a Reph. Example: ¨ÉÇ = ®ú #Â ¨É .

A Soft Halant (#Â#Ã ) can be used instead of Halant, to prevent the combination of a conjunct. An Explicit Halant (#Â#Â ) can be used to show the first consonant with an explicit Halant.


Devanagari | Anuswar and the Nasal Consonants
Anuswar and the Nasal Consonants

Anuswar can many times denote a half-nasal consonant. This provides two ways of writing the same word:

Ë½þnùÒ with Anuswar and Ê½þxnùÒ with xÉÂ

SÉÆ{ÉÉ with Anuswar and SÉ¨{ÉÉ with ¨ÉÂ

+Æb÷É with Anuswar and +hb÷É with hÉÂ

In general the spelling with Anuswar is to be preferred, since it is more compact.

In Devanagari the Nasal consonants Ró and \É occur mostly in their half form- allowing them to be always represented with an Anuswar:

MÉÆMÉÉ 	instead of 	MÉRÂóMÉÉ

{ÉÆVÉÉ 	instead of 	{É\VÉÉ

When a Half Nasal consonant comes before the same Nasal consonant, it can't be substituted with an Anuswar:

ºÉ¨¨Éä±ÉxÉ 	and not 	ºÉÆ¨Éä±ÉxÉ

{ÉzÉÉ 	and not 	{ÉÆxÉÉ

+hhÉÉ 	and not 	+ÆhÉÉ

In general a Half Nasal consonant can be converted to an Anuswar only if it comes before a Non-nasal consonant belonging to the same Varg. Example:

Varg 1:	+ÆEò = +RÂóEò	{ÉÆJÉ = {ÉRÂóJÉ	MÉÆMÉÉ = MÉRÂóMÉÉ	ºÉÆPÉ = ºÉRÂóPÉ

Varg 2:	¨ÉÆSÉ = ¨É\SÉ	{ÉÆUôÒ = {É\UôÒ	{ÉÆVÉÉ = {É\VÉÉ	ºÉÉÆZÉ = ºÉÉ\ZÉ

Varg 3:	PÉÆ]õÉ = PÉh]õÉ	EÆò`ö = Eòh`ö	ZÉÆb÷É = ZÉhb÷É 	fÚÆøfø = fÚøhgø

Varg 4: 	ºÉÆiÉ = ºÉxiÉ	{ÉÆlÉ = {ÉxlÉ	¤ÉÆnù = ¤Éxnù	MÉÆvÉ = MÉxvÉ

Varg 5: 	EÆò{É = Eò¨{É	MÉÖÆ¡ò = MÉÖ¨¡ò	JÉÆ¤ÉÉ = JÉ¨¤ÉÉ	ºiÉÆ¦É =ºiÉ¨¦É

The Anuswar can't be changed to a Nasal consonant in the following words, as it is followed by a Non-Varg consonant:

ºÉÆªÉ¨É, ºÉÆ®úIÉhÉ, ºÉÆ´ÉÉnù, ´ÉÆ¶É, ½ÆþºÉ, ºÉÆ½þÉ®ú

Similarly the following half Nasal consonants can't be changed to an Anuswar:

+xªÉ, ºÉÉ¨ªÉ, ´ÉÉRÂó¨ÉªÉ, {Éäx]õ

Finally, an Anuswar can't be followed by a half Nasal consonant, so the following words are wrong:

EÆò¨{ªÉÚ]õ®ú, ºÉÆxvÉÒ

Chandrabindu Confusion

Anuswar is used instead of Chandrabindu #Ä in Hindi, whenever the Chandrabindu comes along with a Matra which also attaches on the top of the character. In this case, due to lack of space, the Chandrabindu is substituted with the more compact Anuswar.

½éþ 	instead of 	½èþ#Ä

¨Éå 	instead of 	¨Éä#Ä

Eò½þÓ 	instead of 	Eò½þÒ#Ä

In general in Devanagari when there is no risk of any confusion, Anuswar is used instead of Chandrabindu, even when there is no clash with a Matra.

+ÉÆJÉ 	instead of 	+ÉÄJÉ

½Öþ¨ÉÉªÉÚÆ 	instead of 	½Öþ¨ÉÉªÉÚÄ

Chandrabindu should however be used where the word can assume a different meaning with an Anuswar. Example:

½ÆþºÉ 	and 	½ÄþºÉ

+ÆMÉxÉÉ 	and 	+ÄMÉxÉÉ


Devanagari | Usage Variations in Devanagari
Usage Variations in Devanagari

Every consonant in Indian script has an implicit + vowel within it. The + vowel can be removed by adding a halant to the consonant. Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, require a Halant to be added at the end of a word, for indicating consonantal ending without the + vowel sound. Example:

¨É½þÉxÉÂ 	+lÉÉÇiÉÂ 	Ê´ÉuùÉxÉÂ 	{ÉÞlÉEÂò

The North Indian languages, including Hindi and Marathi assume that + is absent at the end of a word with a consonant ending. So they don't need the halant at the end for denoting the absence of + sound. It is not necessary for the words originating from Sanskrit to be still written in their traditional forms, with the halant ending:

¨É½þÉxÉ	+lÉÉÇiÉ 	Ê´ÉuùÉxÉ	{ÉÞlÉEò

Hindi has got no method to indicate an + vowel at the end of a word. Marathi, can do so by using an Anuswar (Bimb) at the end of a word. Example:

iÉÖZÉ 	iÉÖZÉÆ	EòºÉ	EòºÉÆ

tujh	tujha	kas	kasa

In colloquial Marathi Anuswar is also used to indicate an extra stress on a vowel:

MÉ´ÉÆiÉ 	= MÉ ´É #Æ iÉ

The + vowel in ´É has more stress.

+ÉÆiÉ 	= +É #Æ iÉ

The +É vowel has more duration.

iÉÖZÉÆ 	= iÉ #Ö ZÉ #Æ

The Anuswar indicates a presence of + sound at the end, which wouldn't have been there otherwise at a word ending.

In the modern Marathi, however, use of Anuswar for non-nasal and non-disambiguating purposes is discouraged. The above words should be written as:

iÉÖZÉä	EòºÉä

Unlike Hindi and Sanskrit, ½þ consonant comes later in conjuncts in Marathi:

Hindi:	ÊSÉ¼xÉ	¥ÉÉ¼¨ÉhÉ	¿º´É	|É¼±ÉÉnù

Marathi:	ÊSÉx½þ	¥ÉÉ¨½þhÉ	­½º´É	|É±½þÉnù

Marathi does not use any Nukta characters.

In Marathi Bä is a pronounced like +<Ç (ai). In Hindi this same pronunciation exists for some words like ¦ÉèªÉÉ. In modern Hindi, however, it is pronounced as a longer form of B vowel, in words like BäxÉEò and ¤Éè±É. Marathi uses the new Bì vowel, for depicting this sound in the English words. Thus:

Hindi:	Bä]õ¨É,	¤Éè]õ,	Eèò{É

Marathi:	Bì]õ¨É,	¤Éì]õ,	Eìò{É

Marathi does not use Chandrabindu. Because of this some people tend to use #Ä sign wrongly to indicate an Anuswar combination with #ì Matra.

Example: ¤ÉíEò is wrongly written as ¤ÉÄEò.

For English "V" sound, Hindi uses ´É, while Marathi uses ´½þ at the beginning or middle of a word. Thus:

Victoria	Service	Everest

Marathi:	Î´½þC]õÉäÊ®úªÉÉ	ºÉÐ´½þºÉ	B´½þ®äúº]õ

Hindi:	Ê´ÉC]õÉäÊ®úªÉÉ	ºÉÌ´ÉºÉ	B´É®äúº]õ

For English "W" sound, both Hindi and Marathi use ´É.

Wait	Runway	Whip

´Éä]õ	®úxÉ´Éä	Î´½þ{É


Devanagari | Alternative Display Variants
Alternative Display Variants

There are vowels and combinations of consonants and matras that have more than one written form. Example :

{É]Âõ]õ	and 	{É^õ

Bì{É±É	and	+ì{É±É

The Alternative forms are obtained as shown in the table below.

Default	Alternative

]Âõ]õ	=	]õ #Â ]õ	^õ	=	]õ #Â #Â #Â ]õ

]Âõ`ö	=	]õ #Â `ö	_ö	=	]õ #Â #Â #Â `ö

`Âö`ö	=	`ö #Â `ö	aö	=	`ö #Â #Â #Â `ö

bÂ÷b÷	=	b÷ #Â b÷	d÷	=	b÷ #Â #Â #Â b÷

bÂ÷fø	=	b÷ #Â fø	e÷	=	b÷ #Â #Â #Â fø

]õ¬	=	]õ #Â ªÉ 	]ÂõªÉ	=	]õ #Â #Â ªÉ

`ö¬	=	`ö #Â ªÉ 	`ÂöªÉ	=	`ö #Â #Â ªÉ

b÷¬	=	b÷ #Â ªÉ	bÂ÷ªÉ	=	b÷ #Â #Â ªÉ

fø¬	=	fø #Â ªÉ	fÂøªÉ	=	fø #Â #Â ªÉ

¼¨É	=	½þ #Â ¨É 	À	=	½þ #Â #Â #Â ¨É

¼ªÉ	=	½þ #Â ªÉ 	Á	=	½þ #Â #Â #Â ªÉ

¶ÉÞ	=	ºÉ #Þ 	ÉÞ	=	¶É #Þ #Þ

¶SÉ	=	¶É #Â SÉ	SÉ	=	¶É #Â #Â #Â SÉ

Bì	+ì	=	Bì #Ã


Inscript Keyboard Tutorials | Sanskrit Conjuncts
Sanskrit Conjuncts

Sanskrit Devanagari facility has been provided for the purpose of rendering Sanskrit texts in the traditional manner. Besides the standard conjuncts available in modern Devanagari, the following traditional conjuncts and variations for Sanskrit have been made available.

Sanskrit Devanagari has been treated as a seperate script.

The typing sequence for the conjuncts is given below.

Gò = Fò #Æ Fò

Fíò = Fò #Æ �Ì

Iò = Fò #Æ ¡ô

Jò = Fò #Æ ¥Ì

OÌî = OÌ #Æ �Ì

P = OÌ #Æ ¡ô

QÌï = QÌ #Æ �Ì

Só = Ró #Æ Fò

Vó = Ró #Æ LÌ

Wó = Ró #Æ OÌ

Xó = Ró #Æ QÌ

Tó = Ró #Æ Fò #Æ tÌ

[Ì = ZÌ #Æ ZÌ

ZÌî = ZÌ #Æ �Ì

] = \ô #Æ �Ì

^ = \ô #Æ ¡ô

_ = \ô #Æ ¥Ì

aÌ = `Ì #Æ `Ì

`Ìî = `Ì #Æ �Ì

fÌ = eÌ #Æ ZÌ

gÌ = eÌ #Æ `Ì

iõ = hõ #Æ hõ

jö = hõ #Æ lö

kõ = hõ #Æ ¥Ì

mö = lö #Æ lö

o÷ = n÷ #Æ n÷

p÷ = n÷ #Æ qø

rø = qø #Æ qø

vÌ = tÌ #Æ �Ì

x = tÌ #Æ œú #Æ ¥Ì

yÌï = yÌ #Æ �Ì

‹ù = zù #ß

~ù = zù #Æ zù

{ù = zù #Æ OÌ

}ù = zù #â QÌ

�ù = zù #Æ �Ì

‚ù = zù #Æ Ì

„ù = zù #Æ Ì

‰ = zù #Æ Ì #Æ ™Ì

Š = zù #Æ ¥Ì #Æ ™Ì

ŒÌï = ŒÌ #Æ �Ì

�Ì = �Ì #Æ tÌ

õ = �Ì #Æ hõ

ö = �Ì #Æ lö

�Ìî = �Ì #Æ �Ì

 = �Ì #Æ ¡ô

Ìí = Ì #Æ �Ì

Ìî = Ì #Æ �Ì

˜Ìî = ˜Ì #Æ �Ì

¢ô = ¡ô #Æ ¡ô

¥Ìí = ¥Ì #Æ �Ì

¦ = ¥Ì #Æ ¡ô

©Ì = ¨Ì #Æ ZÌ

§Ìî = ¨Ì #Æ �Ì

ªô = ¨Ì #Æ ¡ô

®õ = ­Ì #Æ hõ

¯ö = ­Ì #Æ lö

°õ = ­Ì #Æ hõ #Æ ¥Ì

±ö = ­Ì #Æ lö #Æ ¥Ì

µÌ = ²Ì #Æ tÌ #Æ œú

´Ì = ²Ì #Æ �Ì

¸þ = ·þ #Æ sÌ

¹þ = ·þ #Æ �Ì

º = ·þ #Æ ˜Ì

» = ·þ #Æ ™Ì

¾þ = ·þ #Æ ¥Ì

½þ = ·þ #Æ ¡ô

¿þ = ·þ #Æ ¤ý

Bô = <   ] (Nukta - Right square bracket)

Cô = <Ê  ] (Nukta)

#Ã =  Í# ] (Nukta)	FÃò = Fò Í# Nukta

#Ä =  #Õ ] (Nukta)	FÄò = Fò #Õ Nukta

$ = #Ç ] (Nukta)

% = * ] (Nukta)