नमस्ते
I
began studying Introduction to Hindi
Grammar by author Usha R. Jain so that I can get a head start before traveling
to Jaipur, north India. This is the
grammar book that I will be utilizing for 8 hours daily during my cultural
immersion in India. It discussed the
origin of the Devanagari script: (देवनागरी लिपि) which represents the sounds of the Hindi language with
remarkable consistency. There are 39
consonants and 11 vowels in the Devangari script, which is written from left to
right.
Devanagari
is not actually an alphabet, but a so-called alphasyllabary. An alphasyllabary
is a writing system which is primarily based on consonants, and in which vowel
symbols are requisite yet secondary. As such, the fundamental genius of
Devanagari is that every letter represents a consonant which is followed by an
inherent schwa vowel, अ. For example, the letter स
is read "sa". In order to suppress the inherent vowel, one of two
methods is required: a diacritical mark called a halant, or a ligature, called
a conjunct. In order to indicate a vowel other than the inherent vowel,
diacritical marks called maatraas are used. For vowels independent of
consonants, there exist full letters to transcribe vowels.
Wish me luck on mastering this book, or should I say:
Wish me luck on mastering this book, or should I say:
मुझेशुभकामनाएँ
Vowels
| Vowel | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| अ | as in "but", "again" | |
| आ | as in father, far | |
| इ | as in "fit", "hit" | |
| ई | as in "feet", "heat" | |
| उ | as in "put", "pull" | |
| ऊ | as in "pool", "shoot" | |
| ऋ | as is "rip", "rib" | |
| ए | as in "ate", "day" | |
| ऐ | as in "man", "bat" | |
| ओ | as in "go", "boat" | |
| औ | as in "saw", "taught" |
| Independent | Dependent | With क |
|---|---|---|
| अ | (none) | क |
| आ | ा | का |
| इ | ि | कि |
| ई | ी | की |
| उ | ु | कु |
| ऊ | ू | कू |
| ऋ | ृ | कृ |
| ए | े | के |
| ऐ | ै | कै |
| ओ | ो | को |
| औ | ौ | कौ |
