Editing Devanagari (section)

{{Short description|Script used to write Indian and Nepalese languages}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox writing system
| name        = Devanagari <br> Devanāgarī
| altname     = {{lang|inc-Deva|देवनागरी}}
| sample      = Devanagari letters.svg
| caption     = Devanāgarī script (vowels top three rows, consonants below)
| type        = [[Abugida]]
| languages   = [[Apabhramsha]], [[Angika language|Angika]], [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]], [[Bajjika language|Bajjika]], [[Bhili language|Bhili]], [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]], [[Boro language (India)|Boro]], [[Braj Bhasha|Braj]], [[Chhattisgarhi language|Chhattisgarhi]], [[Dogri language|Dogri]], [[Fiji Hindi]], [[Garhwali language|Garhwali]], [[Haryanvi language|Haryanvi]], [[Hindi language|Hindi]], [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]], [[Khandeshi language|Khandeshi]], [[Konkani language|Konkani]], [[Kumaoni language|Kumaoni]], [[Magahi language|Magahi]], [[Maithili language|Maithili]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Marwari language|Marwari]], [[Mundari language|Mundari]], [[Nagpuri language|Nagpuri]], [[Newar language|Newari]], [[Nepali language|Nepali]], [[Pāli]], [[Pahari languages|Pahari]], [[Prakrit]], [[Rajasthani languages|Rajasthani]], [[Sanskrit]], [[Santali language|Santali]], [[Sarnámi Hindustáni|Sarnami]], [[Sherpa language|Sherpa]], [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], [[Surjapuri language|Surjapuri]], and many more.
| time        = 11th century to present
| official script = *[[Fiji]]
*[[India]]
*[[Nepal]]
*[[South Africa]]
| fam1        = [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]<ref>Himelfarb, Elizabeth J. "First Alphabet Found in Egypt", Archaeology 53, Issue 1 (January/February 2000): 21.</ref>
| fam2        = [[Proto-Sinaitic script|Proto-Sinaitic]]{{efn|name=sem|A Semitic origin for the Brāhmī script is not universally accepted.}}
| fam3        = [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]]{{efn|name=sem}}
| fam4        = [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]]{{sfn|Salomon|1996|p=378}}<ref name="Salomon 1995">{{Citation |last=Salomon |first=Richard |title=On The Origin Of The Early Indian Scripts: A Review Article. ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' 115.2 (1995), 271–279 |url=https://indology.info/papers/salomon/ |access-date=27 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522210705/https://www.indology.info/papers/salomon/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 May 2019}}</ref>{{efn|name=sem}}
| fam5        = [[Brāhmī script|Brāhmī]]
| fam6        = [[Gupta script|Gupta]]
| fam7        = [[Siddhaṃ script|Siddhaṃ]]<ref name="daniels">{{Cite book |last=Daniels |first=P.T. |title=Language in South Asia |date=January 2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521786539 |editor-last=B. Kachru |location=Cambridge |pages=285–308 |chapter=Writing systems of major and minor languages |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511619069.017 |editor-last2=Y. Kachru |editor-last3=S. Sridhar}}</ref><ref name="masica">{{Cite book |last=Masica |first=Colin |title=The Indo-Aryan languages |date=1993 |page=143}}</ref>
| fam8        = [[Nāgarī script|Nāgarī]]
| sisters     = [[Nandināgarī]]<br />[[Kaithi script|Kaithi]]<br />[[Gujarati script|Gujarātī]]<br />[[Moḍī script|Moḍī]]
| children    = 
| unicode     = [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0900.pdf U+0900–U+097F] Devanagari,<br />[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/UA8E0.pdf U+A8E0–U+A8FF] Devanagari&nbsp;Extended,<br />[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U11B00.pdf U+11B00–11B5F] Devanagari&nbsp;Extended-A,<br />[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1CD0.pdf U+1CD0–U+1CFF] Vedic&nbsp;Extensions
| iso15924    = Deva
| footnotes   = {{notelist}}
}}
{{Brahmic}}
{{Writing systems in India}}

'''Devanagari''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|d|eɪ|v|ə|ˈ|n|ɑː|ɡ|ə|r|i}} {{respell|DAY|və|NAH|gə|ree}};<ref>{{Cite OED|Devanagari|access-date=30 September 2024}}</ref> in script: {{lang|sa|देवनागरी}}, {{IAST3|'''Devanāgarī'''}}, {{IPA|sa|deːʋɐˈnaːɡɐriː}}) is an [[Indic script]] used in the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref name="kathleen">{{Cite book |first=Kathleen |last=Kuiper |date=2010 |title=The Culture of India |location=New York |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |isbn=978-1615301492 |page=83}}</ref> It is a left-to-right [[abugida]] (a type of segmental [[Writing systems#Segmental systems: alphabets|writing system]]),<ref name="georgec" /> based on the ancient ''[[Brāhmī script|Brāhmī]]'' script.<ref name=gazett/> It is one of the [[official scripts of India|official scripts]] of [[India]] and [[Nepal]]. It was developed in, and was in regular use by, the 8th century CE.<ref name=kathleen/> It had achieved its modern form by 1000 CE.<ref name=salomon1000/> The Devanāgarī script, composed of 48 primary characters, including 14 vowels and 34 consonants,<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/B978-0-444-70113-8.50062-X |quote=Devanagari has 48 letters: 34 consonants (plus a few additional borrowed consonants according to Oommen, 1973), 10 vowels, and 4 diphthongs. |chapter=Synchronic Description of Present-Day Writing Systems: Some Implications for Reading Research |title=Eye Movements from Physiology to Cognition |date=1987 |last1=Holender |first1=Daniel |pages=397–420 |isbn=978-0-444-70113-8 |chapter-url=https://dipot.ulb.ac.be/dspace/bitstream/2013/22523/1/Holender-EM-1987.pdf |via=ULB |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120163816/https://dipot.ulb.ac.be/dspace/bitstream/2013/22523/1/Holender-EM-1987.pdf |archive-date= Jan 20, 2025 }}</ref> is the fourth most widely [[List of writing systems by adoption|adopted writing system]] in the world,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vaughan |first=Don |title=The World's 5 Most Commonly Used Writing Systems |url=https://www.britannica.com/list/the-worlds-5-most-commonly-used-writing-systems |access-date=15 September 2024 |website=Britannica}}</ref><ref name="mostused1">{{Cite web |last=Templin |first=David |title=The Devanagari Script |url=https://www.omniglot.com/language/articles/devanagari.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401062015/https://www.omniglot.com/language/articles/devanagari.htm |archive-date=1 April 2015 |access-date=5 April 2015 |website=Omniglot }}</ref> being used for over 120 languages, the most popular of which is [[Hindi]] ({{Lang|hi|हिंदी|size=120%}}).<ref name="devasilusa">{{Citation |url=https://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/page.php?item_id=script_detail&key=Deva |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702003440/https://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/page.php?item_id=script_detail&key=Deva |archive-date=2 July 2017 |title= Devanagari (Nagari) |publisher=[[SIL International]] |website=ScriptSource  |location=United States}}</ref>

The [[orthography]] of this script reflects the pronunciation of the language.<ref name=devasilusa/> Unlike the Latin alphabet, the script has no concept of [[letter case]], meaning the script is a [[unicase|unicameral alphabet]].<ref>{{Cite book |first=Akira |last=Nakanishi |title=Writing systems of the World |isbn=978-0804816540 |page=48}}</ref> 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 {{lang|hi|शिरोरेखा}} {{IAST|śirorekhā}}, that runs along the top of full letters.<ref name=georgec/> In a cursory look, the Devanāgarī script appears different from other [[Indic scripts]], such as [[Bengali–Assamese script|Bengali-Assamese]] or [[Gurmukhi]], but a closer examination reveals they are very similar, except for angles and structural emphasis.<ref name="georgec">{{Cite encyclopedia |last1=Salomon |first1=Richard |title=Writing systems of the Indo-Aryan languages |editor1-last=Cardona |editor1-first=George |editor2-last=Jain |editor2-first=Danesh  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OtCPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA72 |encyclopedia=The Indo-Aryan Languages |date=26 July 2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-79710-2 |page=72 |quote=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... <!--[quoted text located 7 lines above the character grid on p. 72]--> |access-date=1 July 2023 }}</ref>

Among the languages using it as a primary or secondary script are [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Pali|Pāḷi]], [[Sanskrit]],<ref name=george/> [[Hindi]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/hindi.htm |title=Hindi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528075558/https://www.omniglot.com/writing/hindi.htm |archive-date=28 May 2012 |publisher=Omniglot Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages}}</ref> [[Boro language (India)|Boro]], [[Nepali language|Nepali]], [[Sherpa language|Sherpa]], [[Prakrit]], [[Apabhramsha]], [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]], [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]], [[Braj Bhasha]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Snell |first=Rupert |title=The Hindi classical tradition : a Braj Bhāṣā reader |date=1991 |publisher=School of Oriental and African studies |isbn=0-7286-0175-3 |location=London |oclc=24794163}}</ref> [[Chhattisgarhi language|Chhattisgarhi]], [[Haryanvi language|Haryanvi]], [[Magahi language|Magahi]], [[Sadri language|Nagpuri]], [[Rajasthani languages|Rajasthani]], [[Khandeshi language|Khandeshi]], [[Bhili language|Bhili]], [[Dogri language|Dogri]], [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]], [[Maithili language|Maithili]], [[Konkani language|Konkani]], [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], [[Newar language|Nepal Bhasa]], [[Mundari language|Mundari]], [[Angika]], [[Bajjika]] and [[Santali language|Santali]].<ref name=devasilusa/> The Devanāgarī script is closely related to the [[Nandināgarī]] script commonly found in numerous ancient [[manuscripts]] of [[South India]],<ref>{{Cite book |first1=George |last1=Cardona |first2=Danesh |last2=Jain |date=2003 |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415772945 |page=75}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Reinhold |last=Grünendahl |date=2001 |title=South Indian Scripts in Sanskrit Manuscripts and Prints |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3447045049 |pages=xxii, 201–210}}</ref> and it is distantly related to a number of Southeast Asian scripts.<ref name=devasilusa/>