.svg)
Devanagari numerals
Devanagari numerals are the symbols utilised to represent numbers in the Devanagari script, which is primarily employed for Northern Indian languages. These numerals are specifically used for writing decimal numbers, distinguishing themselves from the International format of Indian numerals.
Table[edit]
| Modern Devanagari |
International form of Indian numerals |
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 शून्य, 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]
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 |
In Nepali language ५, ८, ९ (5, 8, 9) - these numbers are slightly different from modern Devanagari numbers. In Nepali language uses old Devanagari system for writing these numbers, like ५, ८, ९
References[edit]
- ↑ "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.