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Hindi script is called Devnāgrī. Devnāgrī script (or known as “Lipi” in Hindi) consists of 13 vowels (swar) and 33 consonants (vyañjan). Beginners need not learn conjunct consonants at this point. |
Vowels (Swar) |
अ |
आ |
इ
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ई |
उ |
ऊ |
ऋ |
ए |
ऐ |
ओ |
औ |
अं |
अः |
a
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ā |
i |
ī |
u |
ū |
r |
e |
ai |
o |
au |
añ |
ah |
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Consonants (Vyañjan) |
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Note: |
| 1. |
Click on Reading & Writing Devnāgrī to learn the correct pronunciation of the alphabets. |
| 2. |
You will notice both श and ष are indicated as “sha” in English. There is a slight difference in pronunciation of the two alphabets. This will be shown to you in your next lesson - Reading Devnāgrī. |
| 3. |
Originally there were no “za” or “fa” in Hindi. Now “za’ is written as ज़ (the alphabet ‘ja’ with a dot at the bottom) and “fa” as फ़ (the alphabet ‘pha’ with a dot at the bottom). |
| 4. |
There is no distinction in Hindi between capital and lower case (small) letters. |
| 5. |
Punctuation marks are called virām cinha in Hindi. Modern punctuation marks in Devnāgrī script are similar to English punctuation marks except for full stop. A short vertical line at the end of the sentence marks a full stop. |
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For example: मैं एक लड़का हूँ । |
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However some modern publishers prefer to use a full stop (.) in place of the vertical line (|). |
