Devanagari is classified as an ''abugida'', which means that each character represents a '''syllable''', not a single letter as in English. If the character is a consonant, the implicit vowel following it is assumed to be ''a'', unless modified by special vowel signs added above, below, after or even before the character.
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" !bgcolor=#EEEEEE|Devanagari !bgcolor=#EEEEEE|Transliteration !bgcolor=#EEEEEE|Equivalent !bgcolor=#EEEEEE|Within Word
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" !bgcolor=#EEEEEE|Devanagari !bgcolor=#EEEEEE|Transliteration !bgcolor=#EEEEEE|Equivalent/Comments
? is used here for demonstrative purposes: {| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" !bgcolor=#EEEEEE|Devanagari !bgcolor=#EEEEEE|Transliteration !bgcolor=#EEEEEE|Name !bgcolor=#EEEEEE|Equivalent/Comments
However there are a few special constructions. For many of these, you may also use the previous method though. e.g.
Most often odd forms arise, in consonants without a stem. e.g.
Do not worry to much about conjuncts though, you may always suppress the inherent 'a' with a halant. <br> <br> Another thing which causes problems for new learners is the use of ?, which is treated as a vowel as in Hindi it is a "semi-vowel." There are three forms for conjuncting ?, and one for ?:
1. After a consonant with a stem add a slash from the lower half of the stem (top-down, right-left). e.g.:
note: ?+ ? = ??? and ?? + ? = ???.
2. After a vowel and before a consonant ? is written as a small hook (a good mnemonic trick is to picture a stylized lower case ''r''). This conjunct cannot occur alone, nor begin a word. Therefore, an example shall be given within the context of words:
If followed by ''?'', ''?'', ''e'', ''o'', or ''ai'' the "hook" is moved one letter to the right, e.g. the name ''Marco'' would be written: ??????.
3. In most letters without stems, the ? is joined to the consonant by placing a circumflex-like diacritic below the letter, e.g.:
4. ? when preceded by a consonant is written as a small hook resembling the Polish ogonek attached to the stem. Only occurs in Sanskrit loan words, most notably the word ''Sanskrit" itself: ???????.
Finally, ? has two special forms when followed by '''u''', and '''?''' respectively:
Punctuation is the same as in English, except for the period, or ''full stop'' called the ????? ''vir?m'': "?". When a question is used with a question marker like ???? ''kya'', meaning ''what''; no question mark is needed. In speech when no question marker is used, there is a rise in intonation towards the end of the sentence. Example, ''is he a good boy?'':
???? ?? ????? ????? ??? — kya voh accha la?ka hai? <br> ???? ?? ????? ????? ??? — kya voh accha la?ka hai? <br> ?? ????? ????? ??? — voh accha la?ka hai?
"-a" though usually pronounced short, is always written long at the end of a masculine word (the exception are Sanskrit loan words) as a visible mas. marker ''-?''. The feminine "-?" marker is pronounced as written.
When ? follows an inherent vowel as in ??? ??? (t?j mahal), the 'a' preceding the 'h' becomes an 'e', as in ?? (yeh = this), thus pronounced t?j mehal. Thus the transliteration in such cases is deliberate and not a typo! Another noteworthy aberration is ?? (voh = that). Fortunately these are a few of the only words that aren't phonetically pronounced in Hindi. There is also a diphthong -?? which is pronounced as the 'i' in 'high', e.g. ??? (c?y) = ''tea'''. And a double consonant isn't just there to look pretty, hold that consonant's sound a little longer. Finally, the final -? is purposefully written without the macron, as this is misleading as to the pronunciation, which is more like a schwa sound. If this were Sanskrit, it would be practical, but not here. Just remember the inherent 'a' is always written at the end of a mas. word in Hindi. <br> <br> The semi-vowel "?" is normally transliterated in Roman as an "r" with a diacritical ring below. This semi-vowel is pronounced like "ri", but slightly trilled as in ''rip''. Unfortunately, the proper Roman diacritic doesn't appear to be supported yet by unicode. It can be found in ???? ????? (?r? k???a) - "Lord Krishna"). For now the diacritical bindi (dot) will have to suffice for both of the flapped ''r's''. Ambiguity shouldn't cause too much problems, as the trilled ''r'' in ????? (k???a) or ??? (?i?i) occurs only in Sanskrit loan words, and is very rare in Hindi. In addition; if you are familiar with Devanagari, that should resolve any remaining confusion.