The xNagari Scheme
In Indic scripts, there are two forms of vowels -
| # | those which are applied as marks (maatraa) are called dependent vowels. |
| # | those which are written as letters (akshar) are called independent vowels ('svar'). |
And, there are two forms of consonants -
| # | Full-form: those which can be written as independent letters. |
| # | Half-form: those which joins to the next consonant. |
In fact the 'half-forms' are pure consonant while 'full-forms' are actually combination of corresponding half-forms and trailing (inherent) vowel 'A'.
The 'xNagari' scheme is specified as per the varNNamaalaa (varnamala), the alphabet of DevaNagari.
1. _svar
Independent vowels are called svar (स्वर). These are written as base-letters (अक्षर; akshar). As per this scheme we will use Latin vowels in uppercase form to represent svar.
2. _maatraa
Dependent vowels are called maatraa (मात्रा; matra). These are applied over consonants (base-letters) in form of marks. As per this scheme we will use Latin vowels in lowercase form to represent maatraa.
I have used '_' as there is no _maatraa_ for 'A'. It is because every Nagari consonant has an inherent (trailing) vowel 'a'. When we apply another matra, we need to remove the inherent matra 'a'.
3. _vyaNjan (Full Form)
Consonants are called vyaNjan ('व्यंजन'; vyanjan) in Nagari. The regular forms of vyaNjan are pronounced with inherent vowel 'a'.
Most of the vyaNjan are written as letters (akshar). The only exception is 'र' ('ra') which is applied as maatraa when it is used in a conjunct.
So all the independent 'vyaNjan akshar' are written with 'a'.
ळ is used in Marathi and Sanskrit but not in Hindi.
The vertical line which is present in most of the vyaNjan is called aakaar (आकार; akar). The aakaar generally represent the inherent vowel 'a'.
In Nagari, when we apply maatraa, it is assumed/implied that the inherent 'a' is removed. We will not be writing 'a' in that case. 'की' will be written as 'kee' and not as 'kaee'.
4. _shuddh _vyaNjan (Half Form)
_shuddh vyaNjan means pure consonants. These are those vyaNjan which are pronounced without the inherent vowel 'a'. So while transliterating these vyaNjan we won't write trailing 'a'. While typing Nagari we get these pure consonants by typing halant after the regular form.
The aakaar (vertical line) is generally removed when we write these shuddh vyaNjan.
र् is used only in Marathi.
In Hindi 'र्' always becomes 'ref', which is a mark over subsequent consonant. But in Marathi, there is an alternate (independent/inline) form of 'र्', which is called eyelash-r ( र् ).
5. _nuktaa _vyaNjan
_nuktaa (नुक्ता; nukta; ़) is a diacritic mark. Following two vyaNjan are very common in Hindi.
Pronunciation of ड़ (used in Hindi) is similar to ळ (retroflex Da).
_nuktaa is also used to accommodate Consonants used in other languages viz. Urdu, English etc.
Take out 'a' to get pure consonants with _nuktaa.
6. _chandra-bindu
_chandra-bindu (चंद्र-बिंदु; ँ) is a nasalization mark. It is to be written as 'Nn'.
7. Anusvaar
Though Anusvaar (अनुस्वार; anusvar) is the most simple form i.e. just a dot (bindu) but we need to understand its proper use. It is a mark used to represent any one of the five Nasal Consonants.
We, should use either 'N' or 'M' as the case may be!
The simplest rule, I can think of -
If the consonant after the Anusvaar is either 'प' (p), 'फ' (ph), 'ब' (b), 'भ' (bh) or 'म' (m) then we have to use 'M'. In all other cases we have to use 'N'.
संग (saNg) = सङ्ग (saNGg)
संबंधी (saMbaNdhee) = सम्बन्धी (sambandhee).
8. _joDda_AkShar
_joDda ('जोड़'; joda) means join or joint. So combined letters (conjuncts) are called joDda_AkShar.
* ‘gnya’ or ‘jnya’ for Hindi text, 'dnya' for Marathi text and ‘jnya’ for Sanskrit text.
When we make conjuncts, we drop this inherent 'a'. In contemporary Nagari Languages like Hindi, Marathi, etc. we generally do not pronounce the inherent 'a', if it is at the end of a word, so we may not write it. But we need to write the last 'a' if it is after 'y' (for य) as in kaavya (काव्य). If we write 'kaavy' instead of 'kaavya'; people will tend to pronunce it as कावि ('kaavee') instead of काव्य (kaavya).
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