Chapter 6 of 16 · Explore the Nepali path
Optional reference · Chapter 6 of 16
The Devanagari alphabet: find a letter and its sound
Open this when a letter you have not met blocks a word. It holds every consonant and vowel, the vowel marks, the Nepali digits, and the four pairs that trip the eye.
≈ 7 min of reading · Practise at your own pace
What’s in this chapter
- Open this when a letter you have not met blocks a word; the two stories at the end do not need any of it.
- The consonants are laid out by where in the mouth they are made — that is why the look-alike rows sit together.
- A vowel has two shapes: a full letter where no consonant carries it, and a mark everywhere else.
- Nepali has its own digits, and a book may print either these or the European ones.
- Four pairs of letters are genuinely easy to confuse by eye; they are listed at the end.
You do not need this section to finish the lesson. Open it when a letter the path never taught stops you, or when you want the whole set in one place. Both stories at the end are readable without it.
Find a consonant and its sound
Find the letter that is blocking you and take its sound. Nothing here has to be learnt in one sitting.
- कka — k, no puff
- खkha — k with a puff
- गga — g as in go
- घgha — g with a puff
- ङṅa — ng as in sing; never starts a word
- चca — ch as in church, no puff
- छcha — the same with a puff
- जja — j as in jam
- झjha — j with a puff
- ञña — ny; only inside stacks
- टṭa — t, tongue curled back
- ठṭha — the same with a puff
- डḍa — d, tongue curled back
- ढḍha — the same with a puff
- णṇa — n, tongue curled back; Sanskrit words only
- तta — t on the teeth
- थtha — the same with a puff
- दda — d on the teeth
- धdha — the same with a puffThe one that catches everybody: ध dha and घ gha are near twins. ध has a small closed loop on the left; घ’s left piece stays open.
- नna — n as in no
- पpa — p, no puff
- फpha — p with a puff; in some words an f
- बba — b as in bed
- भbha — b with a puff
- मma — m as in me
- यya — y as in yes
- रra — a single tapped r
- लla — l as in let
- वva — usually said as b; sometimes w
- शśa — s, leaning towards sh in careful speech
- षṣa — s; a Sanskrit spelling
- सsa — s as in see
- हha — h as in hat
Read down: back of the mouth, then the hard palate, then the curled-back row, then the teeth, then the lips. Within each group the order is plain, puffed, voiced, voiced-and-puffed, nasal.
Vowels written as whole letters
A vowel has two shapes. This is the one it takes when no consonant is carrying it.
- अa — the small vowel in about
- आā — the a in father, held
- इi — the i in sit
- ईī — the ee in see
- उu — the u in put
- ऊū — the oo in moon
- एe — the e in bed, a little longer
- ऐai — near the ai in aisle
- ओo — the o in more
- औau — near the ow in now
These full letters appear where no consonant is carrying the vowel: at the start of a word, and after another vowel — which is why एउटा
The vowel marks, shown on क
This is the other shape: the mark a vowel wears when a consonant carries it. The third column tells you where to look for it.
| Mark | On क | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| ा | का | an upright stroke on the right |
| ि | कि | a hook on the left, said after the letter |
| ी | की | the same hook on the right |
| ु | कु | a curl underneath |
| ू | कू | a longer curl underneath |
| े | के | a stroke on the roof |
| ै | कै | two strokes on the roof |
| ो | को | roof stroke plus upright |
| ौ | कौ | two roof strokes plus upright |
| ् | क् | a hook below: no vowel at all |
Read Nepali numerals
A Nepali book may print page numbers and dates in these digits. Read across each pair to match one to the digit you know.
| Nepali | Ours | Nepali | Ours |
|---|---|---|---|
| ० | 0 | ५ | 5 |
| १ | 1 | ६ | 6 |
| २ | 2 | ७ | 7 |
| ३ | 3 | ८ | 8 |
| ४ | 4 | ९ | 9 |
Two mislead an English eye: १ looks like a 9, and ४ passes for an 8. ७ and ८ look like nothing you would guess, which at least stops you guessing. Modern Nepali books and newspapers print both sets.
Four pairs that trip the eye
These pairs look almost the same on the page. The second column gives you the one detail that separates them.
| Pair | What tells them apart |
|---|---|
| ब | ब has a small stroke inside the bowl |
| घ | ध closes into a loop on the left, घ stays open |
| ड | ढ carries the extra stroke of the puff |
| भ | म has a closed loop where भ has an open one |