Saral Nāgarī
Nāgarī (नागरी; naagaree) is also known as ĐevaNāgarī (देवनागरी). It is the name of a script used for writing many of the South Asian (mainly Indian & Nepali) languages. Saral (सरल) means simple.
In Nāgarī, it is possible to form many conjuncts. Scholars often enjoy handling complex things, so they may appreciate the abundance of conjuncts. However, having lots of conjuncts can be counterproductive for the reasons mentioned on this page.
Why we should keep things simple?
Following are my opinions, findings and some short of research. If you don't agree please let me know why you don't agree.
| 1. | For the general public, it makes no sense to master many aspects of the script they use. For most, a script is simply a means or medium for communication, recording or storing information, not a subject of expertise. |
| 2. | There are rules for forming syllables using consonants and vowels. |
| 3. | It may require a little more processing time to write or analyse a relatively complex syllable. |
| 4. | Most people who regularly use Nāgarī can't recite or recall the Nāgarī Varṇamālā (वर्णमाला; alphabet) because there are more Akṣhar/s (letters) in Nāgarī than there are letters in English. |
| 5. | There are modified (altered) consonants and vowels for accommodating Arabic and European pronunciations. |
No typographer or engineer can simultaneously satisfy the desire of a few scholars for numerous conjuncts and the general public's expectation of a simple script.
Conjuncts do not convey any additional information, and avoiding them does not result in any loss of information.
So, except for those conjuncts which are in general use, we can avoid using unusual conjuncts. Otherwise, Hinđī-baiters may argue that Nāgarī is not suitable for regular use!
Therefore, I have never included odd conjuncts in my font files!
The alphabet presented here is a logically complete set of regular Devanāgarī characters. It includes all Akṣhar/s (अक्षर) and māŧrā/s (मात्रा; vowel marks) representing unique phonemes. For a simplified alphabet, Nāgarī seems like an appropriate term! If you disagree, you may refer to the alphabet provided here as 'Saral Nāgarī'!
The Basic Nāgarī Varṇamālā lists all the consonants and the vowels (but no 'māŧrā/s' or stress signs). It includes very few commonly used conjuncts (also known as Akhand/s). If we were to collect all the conjuncts ever used, there would be more than a hundred.
It is indeed crucial and urgent that we take necessary steps to make typing and reading Devanāgarī as easy as possible on various types of computers and devices.
Please let me know if I made any mistake in the above text.
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