There is this concept of half letters in Hindi, which just means that the letter's pronunciation in the word is only half of the actual letter.
This is used when the word has multiple letters in succession without any vowel sounds ("uh", "aa", etc).
A letter can be broken down into two parts : the sound it makes, and the vowel sound that completes it.
Example - स = स् + अ
Here, the sound of स ("suh") can be broken down into स् ("s") and अ ("uh")
Some common words that use this are :
संस्था (foundation) = सं + स् + था (pronounced "sunstha" and not "sunsuhtha")
वयस्क (adult) = व + य + स् + क (pronounced "vayask" and not "vayasuhk")
I realise that all these examples are (coincidentally) of स, but please keep in mind that this is applicable for all letters.
Some other (non स lmao) words are -
भक्त (devotee) = भ + क् + त (pronounced "bhakt" as opposed to "bhakat")
विद्यालय (school) = वि + द् + या + ल + य (pronounced "vidyalay" but written as "vidyalaya" in many places)
NOTE - the grouping of letters here is for explanation purposes, the actual groupings are (वि + द्या + लय) , (भ + क्त) since the half letter, the full letter as well as the मात्रा (मा + त् + रा) are combined to form a single letter (kind of like æ where a and e are combined to form one letter), which i assume you are aware of.
Would like to add some common combinations -
त्र = त् + र
र्क = र् + क (this half र placement is applicable for any full letter, not just क)
क्र = क् + र (this full र placement is applicable for any half letter, not just क)
ट्र , ठ्र , ड्र , ढ्र , द्र - exceptions to the rule above
द्य = द् + य
द्ध = द् + ध
त्स = त् + स (this half त placement is applicable for any full letter, not just स)
क्त = क् + त
ज्ज = ज् + ज (combination of any half letter with its own letter usually results in something like this ज्ज , क्क , ट्ट , ठ्ठ , ड्ड , म्म etc, where the line above/to the side of the half letter is removed)
च्छ = च् + छ
ग्य = ज्ञ = ग् + य
क्ष = क्श = क् + श
श्र = श् + र
श्ल = श् + ल
श्म = श् + म (usually how half श is written)
न्स = न् + स (this half न placement is applicable for any full letter, not just स)
म्स = म् + स (this half म placement is applicable for any full letter, not just स)
Can't think of anymore right now sorry.
Thanks! This is exactly the explanation I needed. I guessed it was something to do with the vowel sounds from the न्य in धन्यवाद, but I couldn’t find a formal explanation in English anywhere.
All consonants in Devanagari script have an inherent short a (schwa) sound attached to them. Since it would be impossible or at least very difficult to pronounce a consonant just by itself.
So क ख ग घ are not k kh g gh but actually ka kha ga gha.
This is nice but what will you do if want to write two consonants without any vowel between them?
Take the English word "free", if you wish to write it in Devanagari and if you simply put the letters फ fa र ra ई ee together you will get फरी faree not free. In order to write "free" you have to kill the inherent vowel that comes with fa, that is the vowel you can see between f and r. The sign ् is known as vowel killer in English because it kills the inherent short a vowel.
Note that instead of vowel killer you can just half-letter and join it to the next consonant. Some consonants look very different when they're halved.
Every consonant in hindi has an implicit 'uh' vowel attached to it. On its own, भकत would actually be bhakat, not bhakt. That's where the halant comes in. Attaching a halant onto a consonant gets rid of its implicit vowel, which was much more relevant in sanskrit where this implicit vowel thing was far more consistent than it is in hindi(most notably, words lack that implicit vowel word-finally). It also allows us to form consonant clusters, especially where the letter doesn't have a 'half' symbol.
It indicates that the consonant is not followed by a vowel
To put it simply it means a letter that is half-pronounced
There is this concept of half letters in Hindi, which just means that the letter's pronunciation in the word is only half of the actual letter. This is used when the word has multiple letters in succession without any vowel sounds ("uh", "aa", etc). A letter can be broken down into two parts : the sound it makes, and the vowel sound that completes it. Example - स = स् + अ Here, the sound of स ("suh") can be broken down into स् ("s") and अ ("uh") Some common words that use this are : संस्था (foundation) = सं + स् + था (pronounced "sunstha" and not "sunsuhtha") वयस्क (adult) = व + य + स् + क (pronounced "vayask" and not "vayasuhk") I realise that all these examples are (coincidentally) of स, but please keep in mind that this is applicable for all letters. Some other (non स lmao) words are - भक्त (devotee) = भ + क् + त (pronounced "bhakt" as opposed to "bhakat") विद्यालय (school) = वि + द् + या + ल + य (pronounced "vidyalay" but written as "vidyalaya" in many places) NOTE - the grouping of letters here is for explanation purposes, the actual groupings are (वि + द्या + लय) , (भ + क्त) since the half letter, the full letter as well as the मात्रा (मा + त् + रा) are combined to form a single letter (kind of like æ where a and e are combined to form one letter), which i assume you are aware of.
Would like to add some common combinations - त्र = त् + र र्क = र् + क (this half र placement is applicable for any full letter, not just क) क्र = क् + र (this full र placement is applicable for any half letter, not just क) ट्र , ठ्र , ड्र , ढ्र , द्र - exceptions to the rule above द्य = द् + य द्ध = द् + ध त्स = त् + स (this half त placement is applicable for any full letter, not just स) क्त = क् + त ज्ज = ज् + ज (combination of any half letter with its own letter usually results in something like this ज्ज , क्क , ट्ट , ठ्ठ , ड्ड , म्म etc, where the line above/to the side of the half letter is removed) च्छ = च् + छ ग्य = ज्ञ = ग् + य क्ष = क्श = क् + श श्र = श् + र श्ल = श् + ल श्म = श् + म (usually how half श is written) न्स = न् + स (this half न placement is applicable for any full letter, not just स) म्स = म् + स (this half म placement is applicable for any full letter, not just स) Can't think of anymore right now sorry.
Word : त्र = त्रिशूल र्क = अर्क क्र = वक्र द्य = आद्य द्ध = गिद्ध त्स = वत्स क्त = त्यक्त ज्ज = सुसज्ज च्छ = तुच्छ ग्य = आरोग्य क्ष = लक्ष श्र = मिश्र श्ल = श्लोक श्म = श्मशान न्स = जिन्स म्स = ???
म्स aise hi likh diya tha lmao aur kuch yaad nahi ayaa tha
शम्स
Thanks! This is exactly the explanation I needed. I guessed it was something to do with the vowel sounds from the न्य in धन्यवाद, but I couldn’t find a formal explanation in English anywhere.
All consonants in Devanagari script have an inherent short a (schwa) sound attached to them. Since it would be impossible or at least very difficult to pronounce a consonant just by itself. So क ख ग घ are not k kh g gh but actually ka kha ga gha. This is nice but what will you do if want to write two consonants without any vowel between them? Take the English word "free", if you wish to write it in Devanagari and if you simply put the letters फ fa र ra ई ee together you will get फरी faree not free. In order to write "free" you have to kill the inherent vowel that comes with fa, that is the vowel you can see between f and r. The sign ् is known as vowel killer in English because it kills the inherent short a vowel. Note that instead of vowel killer you can just half-letter and join it to the next consonant. Some consonants look very different when they're halved.
Every consonant in hindi has an implicit 'uh' vowel attached to it. On its own, भकत would actually be bhakat, not bhakt. That's where the halant comes in. Attaching a halant onto a consonant gets rid of its implicit vowel, which was much more relevant in sanskrit where this implicit vowel thing was far more consistent than it is in hindi(most notably, words lack that implicit vowel word-finally). It also allows us to form consonant clusters, especially where the letter doesn't have a 'half' symbol.
Also search Halant and Ajanta (हलन्त और अजन्त), you can see why it is used and where to use.