Effective communication is a very important tool in letting separate minds meet and agree on a common thought. Nowadays, more and more individuals are interested in not only mastering each details of the mother tongue but also that of other globally-accepted languages. Lets take a look at how Hindi has received a lot of acceptance worldwide and learn a thing or two about its writing system.
Basically India has the terms Hindustani, Urdu, and Hindi when it comes to spoken communication. But each of this three is uniquely distinguished by the way their scripts or writing is done. Urdu texts are usually carried out via the Urdu alphabet which is based on the Perso-Arabic script. Hindi texts are written using the Devanagari script which traces its roots from the Brahmi script of Ancient India. During the past years the Roman alphabet has been utilized for technological purposes and boosting of international status and relations.
Now lets focus the spotlight on the writing system of the Hindi language. Devanagari also identified as Nagari based on its parent writing system is regarded as an abugida alphabet from India and Nepal. The writing is done from left to right wherein there is a lack of letter casing usage and the presence of a recognizable distinctive horizontal line that runs above the letters providing some sort of a link.
As mentioned above Devanagari is the main script for Hindi but it is also part of the writing system of Nepali and Marathi. Ever since the 19th century it is the usual companion of Sanskrit. It is also present in other variances of communication like Santhali, Bhili, Gujari, Konkani, Maithili, Marwari, Pahari, Tharu, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Punjabi, Magahi, and Bhojpuri. It was formerly used to write Gujarati.
The fundamental principle of Devanagari since it is part of the Brahmic abugida is that each of the letters represents a certain consonant but usually carries an inherent vowel a. Furthermore, consonant clusters are commonly written with ligatures. Vowels are written with diacritics called matras but with the exception of inherent a. There are full-letter forms for vowels that are written as an independent syllable. A final consonant is being marked with the diacritic called virama in Sanskrit, Halanta in Hindi, and a killer stroke in English for the purpose of cancelling out the inherent vowel.
Like in any other form of Brahmi script, the letter order of Devanagari is based on phonetic principles which commonly take into consideration the place of articulation and manner of the consonants and vowels being represented. The arrangement being followed is usually tagged as the varnamala or garland of letters. The Sanskrit form used for Devanagari serves as the standard for its application. There are minor variations and additions when other languages come into the scenario.
The way to learn Hindi is not only achieved via speech exercises and activities. More importantly in order to communicate well with the language you have to be well acquainted with the writing system. Like any other foreign system it may pose a challenge at first but in the long run, it will surely present a rewarding experience.
