The Devanagari numerals are the symbols used to write numbers in the Devanagari script, predominantly used for northern Indian languages. They are used to write decimal numbers, instead of the Western Arabic numerals.
Table edit
| Modern Devanagari |
Western Arabic |
Words for the cardinal number | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanskrit (wordstem) |
Hindi | Marathi | Nepali | ||
| ० | 0 | शून्य (śūnya) | शून्य (śūny) | शून्य (śūnya) | शून्य (śūnya) |
| १ | 1 | एक eka | एक (ek) | एक (ek) | एक (ek) |
| २ | 2 | द्वि dvi | दो (do) | दोन (don) | दुइ (dui) |
| ३ | 3 | त्रि tri | तीन (tīn) | तीन (tīn) | तिन (tīn) |
| ४ | 4 | चतुर् catur | चार (cār) | चार (cār) | चारि (cāri) |
| ५ | 5 | पञ्च pañca | पाँच (pāñc) | पाच (pāch) | पाँच (pānch) |
| ६ | 6 | षट् ṣaṭ | छह (chah) | सहा (sahā) | छअ (chaā) |
| ७ | 7 | सप्त sapta | सात (sāt) | सात (sāt) | सात (sāt) |
| ८ | 8 | अष्ट aṣṭa | आठ (āṭh) | आठ (āṭh) | आठ (āṭha) |
| ९ | 9 | नव nava | नौ (nau) | नऊ (naū) | नअ (nā) |
The word śūnya for zero was calqued into Arabic as صفر sifr, meaning 'nothing', which became the term "zero" in many European languages via Medieval Latin zephirum.[1]
Variants edit
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2017) |
Devanagari digits shapes may vary depending on geographical area or epoch. Some of the variants are also seen in older Sanskrit literature.[2][3]
| १ |  Common |
 Nepali |
1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ५ |  "Bombay" Variant |
 "Calcutta" Variant |
5 |
| ८ |  "Bombay" Variant |
 "Calcutta" Variant |
8 |
| ९ |  Common |
 Nepali Variant |
9 |
See also edit
References edit
- Notes
- ^ "zero - Origin and meaning of zero by Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com.
- ^ Devanagari for TEX version 2.17, page 22
- ^ "Alternate digits in Devanagari". Scriptsource.org. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- Sources