Glossary

akṣara means a syllabic writing unit in devanagari—typically a vowel (अ) or a consonant with its vowel (क = ka), and it can include vowel sign (mātrā) (कि, का) or conjuncts (क्त, स्त) as one written unit.

bāhrakharī is the traditional devanāgarī practice sequence that drills consonants with their vowel forms (especially the twelve vowels), helping learners memorize letter–vowel combinations for reading and writing.

bindu (ं) is a nasalization mark written above a letter that signals a nasal sound in the syllable (e.g., गंगा gaṅgā).

candrabindu (ँ) is a nasalization mark written above a letter that shows the vowel is nasalized (e.g., हाँ hā̃).

Conjuncts are combined consonant forms in devanāgarī used to write consonant clusters (e.g., क्त, त्र, क्ष, ज्ञ).

devanāgarī is the script used to write Nepali (and several other languages), in which most consonant letters include an inherent “a” vowel unless modified by vowel signs.

halanta (्) is the devanāgarī sign that removes a consonant’s built-in vowel, so the consonant is read without any vowel sound (e.g., क ka → क् k).

janā is a Nepali numeral classifier used when counting people, roughly meaning “person(s)” (e.g., kati janā? “how many people?”).

mātrā is a vowel sign (vowel diactritics) added to a consonant in Devanāgarī to change its vowel sound (e.g., क ka → का kā, कि ki, कु ku).

pūrṇa wirām is the punctuation mark (।) placed at the end of a complete sentence; full stop; period.

reph is special mark used when र (ra) comes first in a consonant cluster. In devanāgarī, र् + another consonant is written as a curved mark above the following consonant. For example, र् + क = र्क, read as rka.

In Nepali devanāgarī , schwa is the built-in “a” sound in most consonant letters (e.g., क = ka) unless a vowel sign changes it or a halant/consonant cluster cancels it.

shwa syncope is the phonological process in which the inherent swara vowel (अ) is reduced or dropped in pronunciation, even though it may still be present in the written devanāgarī form.

śirorekhā is the horizontal “headline” at the top of many devanāgarī letters that often joins across a word, visually linking the letters together.

waṭā is a Nepali numeral classifier used with countable objects, roughly meaning “piece/item,” especially in questions and counts (e.g., kati waṭā? “how many (items)?”).

wisarga is a devanagari sign written as ः. In Nepali, it appears mainly in Sanskrit-derived words and represents a breathy sound after a vowel.