



Unlike the Latin alphabet, the script has no concept of letter case. The orthography of this script reflects the pronunciation of the language. The Devanāgarī script, composed of 47 primary characters, including 14 vowels and 33 consonants, is the fourth most widely adopted writing system in the world, being used for over 120 languages. It was developed and in regular use by the 7th century CE. It is one of the official scripts of the Republic of India and Nepal. Devanāgarī or Devanagari ( / ˌ d eɪ v ə ˈ n ɑː ɡ ər i/ DAY-və- NAH-gər-ee देवनागरी, IAST: Devanāgarī, Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nāgarī ( Sanskrit: नागरी, Nāgarī), is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ancient Brāhmī script, used in the northern Indian subcontinent.
