Zaban
Chapter 2 of 16 · Explore the Nepali path

The script · Chapter 2 of 16

Your first reading job: one letter is a whole syllable

A Devanagari consonant already carries a vowel, so one letter gives you a syllable. Learn twelve of them, how a mark changes the vowel, and when that built-in vowel goes quiet.

≈ 4 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter
  • Every consonant already contains a vowel: क is not “k”, it is “ka”.
  • To change it you hang a mark on the letter: काkā, किki, कोko.
  • At the end of a word that built-in a usually goes quiet: घर is written gha-ra and said ghar.
  • A hook under a letter, ्, cuts its vowel off entirely.
  • Words hang from a line, so where the line breaks, the word ends.

The task before you see a full alphabet: stop reading a Nepali word letter by letter and read it syllable by syllable.

Twelve consonants, each with its built-in a

Each of these twelve letters already carries a vowel, so one letter gives you a whole syllable to say.

  • क
    ka — k as in skate, with no puff of air
    कोko
    “who”
  • ख
    kha — the same k with a puff of air after it
    रूखrūkh
    “tree”
  • घ
    gha — g with a puff of air after it
    बाघbāgh
    “tiger”
  • ट
    ṭa — t with the tongue curled back to the roof of the mouth
    The shape curls back on itself, which is exactly what the tongue does.
    बाटोbāṭo
    “road”
  • द
    da — d with the tongue flat against the back of the top teeth
    दिनdin
    “day”
  • न
    na — n as in no
    नामnām
    “name”
  • प
    pa — p with no puff of air
    पानीpānī
    “water”
  • ब
    ba — b as in bed
    बनban
    “forest”
  • म
    ma — m as in me
    मुसाmusā
    “mouse”
  • र
    ra — r tapped once against the ridge behind the teeth
    घरghar
    “house”
  • स
    sa — s as in see
    सानोsāno
    “small”
  • ह
    ha — h as in hat
    होho
    “is”

Change the built-in vowel with a mark

Hang a mark on the consonant to change its vowel. The first column has no mark, which is the built-in a; the bottom row is the vowel alone.

Row(no mark) aा āि iी īु uू ūे eै aiो oौ au
क kकkaकाkāकिkiकीkīकुkuकूkūकेkeकैkaiकोkoकौkau
on its ownअaआāइiईīउuऊūएeऐaiओoऔau

र reshapes the two u marks: रूखrūkh“tree”.

When the built-in a goes quiet

Compare each written word with the way it is said, and hear which built-in a survives.

घ + र
घरghar“house”
two syllables on the page, one in the mouth
सत्य
सत्यsatya“truth”
two consonants stuck together at the end keep it
छ
छcha“is, there is”
a whole word of one letter keeps it too
हुन्छ
हुन्छhuncha“it happens”
the hook empties न, and the pair protects the last a
गाउ
गाउँgāũ“village”
the moon-and-dot ँ sends the vowel through the nose, as the plain dot ं does; the guide writes a tilde

Say the syllables before you say the word

Name each syllable, then decide whether the last a survives. Then reveal.

  1. नाम

    nā, then ma. Two syllables written.

    Show answer +
    नामnām“name” — one syllable said.
  2. दिन

    The hook on the left belongs to the letter on its right.

    Show answer +
    दिनdin“day”
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