Devanagari numerals
The Devanagari numerals are the number symbols used in the Devanagari script, which is mainly used for writing languages like Hindi, Marathi, and Sanskrit. These numerals are part of the decimal system, just like Western Arabic numerals (0–9), but they have different shapes. Instead of using the commonly known 1, 2, 3, etc., Devanagari uses its own symbols for each number.
Table
[change | change source]| 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
[change | change source]
Devanagari digits shapes may vary depending on geographical area or epoch. Some of the variants are also seen in older Sanskrit literature.[2]
| १ |  Common |
 Nepali |
1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ५ |  "Bombay" Variant |
 "Calcutta" Variant |
5 |
| ८ |  "Bombay" Variant |
 "Calcutta" Variant |
8 |
| ९ |  Common |
 Nepali Variant |
9 |
References
[change | change source]- ↑ "zero - Origin and meaning of zero by Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com.
- ↑ "Alternate digits in Devanagari". Scriptsource.org. Retrieved 13 September 2017.