The Devanagari Script

Devanagari is a writing system used in India and Nepal. It is used to write Hindi, which is one of the most spoken languages in the world. It is also used for the ancient language Sanskrit. Devanagari has a special look. All the letters hang from a line at the top.

How It Looks

Devanagari letters all hang from a long horizontal line. This makes Hindi writing look like it is dangling from a clothesline. The script has 11 vowels and 33 consonants. Letters can join together to make new sounds. Devanagari is written from left to right, like English.

Languages That Use It

Hindi is the most famous language written in Devanagari. Other languages like Marathi and Nepali use it too. Sanskrit, an ancient language of India, was also written this way. Sanskrit is more than 3,000 years old. Many religious books of Hinduism were written in Sanskrit using Devanagari.

Fun Facts

• The name 'Devanagari' means 'script of the gods.'
• Hindi is spoken by more than 600 million people.
• Devanagari has no capital or small letters.

Did You Know?

Yoga words like 'asana' and 'namaste' come from Sanskrit. They were first written in the Devanagari script long ago.