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Basic Lessons on
How To Read & Write Kashmiri in Devanagari
M.K.Raina
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How to Read & Write Kashmiri in Devanagari 1 M.K.Raina
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How to Read & Write Kashmiri in Devanagari 2 M.K.Raina
www.mkraina.com
Basic Lessons on
How To Read & Write Kashmiri in Devanagari
M.K.Raina, Mumbai
Lesson 1.
About Kashmiri language and Devanagari-Kashmiri Script:
Introduction:
In olden times, Kashmiri was written in Sharada, one of the oldest
scripts which was developed around 10th century. Some scholars
are of the view that Sharada used to be our script for writing Sanskrit,
which we subsequently used to write Kashmiri. Indo-Roman type
was used for writing Kashmiri for quite some time, but it could not
become popular. The Persio-Arabic script has been recognised
as the official script for Kashmiri by the government. Devanagari-
Kashmiri did not receive any official patronage but it continued to
be used by Kashmiri Pandits as a medium of writing. However
there was one lacuna. Writers used different set of diacritical marks
to represent peculiar Kashmiri sounds and this resulted in chaos
and confusion among the readers.
In 1995, a committee of scholars agreed upon adapting a
particular set of diacritical marks for the peculiar Kashmiri sounds.
This set of diacritical marks continued to be used in Devanagari-
Kashmiri till the year 2002, when another committee of experts
led by Dr. Roop Krishen Bhat, under the auspices of Northern
Regional Language Centre of the Central Institute of Indian
Languages (Ministry of Human Resources Development), decided
to further modify some of the diacritical marks. The said Committee
agreed upon a new set of modified vowels and diacritical marks,
leading to finalisation of the Standardised Devanagari-Kashmiri
script towards end of the year 2002. This Script is now being
used worldwide for uniformity in writing Kashmiri in Devanagari.
How to Read & Write Kashmiri in Devanagari 3 M.K.Raina
...............................................................................................................................
The Standardised Devanagari-Kashmiri Alphabet has the
following set of Vowels and Consonants: (Listen to Audio LK-1)
Vowels (mJçj)
Dç, Dç@, Dç,e Dç,ó Dçç, Dçç@, F, F,& G, T, $çÝ, S, S,ô S,í Dçç,í Dçç,ô Dçç,Ì
Dçb
You will observe, the Matras in two Vowels Sô andDççôare bent what
we call sarpaakaar or serpent-like, thus a different pronunciation.
As a result, the sounds of S and Dççí are shortened in S ô and Dççô
Now please listen to the audio Audio LK-1 again and observe the
difference.
Dç@, Dç,e Dç,ó Dçç@, S,ô and Dççô have been introduced in Kashmiri
Vowels to represent the peculiar Kashmiri sounds which are strange
to Nagari. There is no place for Visarga (Dç:) in Kashmiri. ³ç and
Jç are considered vowels when they represent second members
of a conjunct (as in y³çuç and KJçj ) (Audio LK-2)
———————————————————————————————————
How to Read & Write Kashmiri in Devanagari 4 M.K.Raina
Lesson 2.
Consonants (J³çpb çvç) (Audio LK-3)
kçÀ, Kç, iç ®ç, s, pç ®] ç, æ s, ] pç
ì, þ, [ lç, Lç, o, vç Hç, HçÀ, yç, cç
³ç, j, uç, Jç Mç, mç, n $ç
There are three affricative consonants in Kashmiri which are
strange to the Nagari alphabet. They are, as you see above ®æ ç ,
sæ and p] ç
Kashmiri has no aspirated sonants like Iç, Pç, {, Oç and Yç
So Iççì can be written as iççì and Yç³ç as yç³ç in Kashmiri.
<ç, #ç %ç
Similarly and are also not part of the Kashmiri alphabet.
They are often but not always retained in Kashmiri to write words
directly borrowed from Sanskrit and Hindi. * and Cç are generally
replaced by Anusvara ( b ) in Kashmiri, but can also be used to
represent words borrowed from Sanskrit and Hindi. For example
yçc´ ççCç[ can also be written as yçc´ çç[b (Listen to Audio LK-4)
Now we know the set of Vowels in Kashmiri language (mJçj)
Dç, Dç@, Dç,e Dç,ó Dçç, Dçç@, F, F,& G, T, $çÝ, S, S,ô S,í Dçç,í Dçç,ô Dçç,Ì
b
Dç and ³ç & Jç (when they represent second members of a
Conjunct). (Listen again to Audio LK-1 and Audio LK-2)
We all know how to read and pronounce the Vowels which already
exist in Hindi alphabet viz:
Dç, Dçç, F, F,& G, T, $çÝ, S, S,í Dçç,í Dçç,Ì Dç,b -³ç, -Jç
How to Read & Write Kashmiri in Devanagari 5 M.K.Raina
Some illustrations using these vowels (and their matras) in Kashmiri
are given here: (Audio LK-5)
DçVç, DçKç, Dçjoçn, Dçþ
Dç :
DççMç, Dççiçjá , Dççsjá , Dççj
Dçç:
jçpç, Mççcç, oçvç, Jççob já
ç :
FMìçcç, Fpççp] çLç
F :
çkÆ çÀpç, çoÆ Jçlçç, çyÆ ç®ççjí , çyÆ çlçjá
çÆ :
Fc& ççvç, Fé& çj
F& :
mççjÇ , MççvÇ ç, lççjÇ
çÇ :
GpçjLç, GuçHçÀLç
G :
Jçsá , kçÀjvá ç, niçjá
á :
T³ç,& TvççÇ
T :
mçjÓ , ªo, kçÀÓ vç
Ó :
$çÝiJçoí
$çÝ :
kçÀ= <Cç, lçH= lç
= :
(Listen to audio for correct pronunciation. Audio LK-6)
SçlÆ çjçp] ç
S :
cçKí ç, nuçuí ç, cçþí
í :
Syí ç
Sí :
JçkÌ çÀbá þ
Ì :
Dççmí ç, Dççìí , Dççuí çJá ç
Dççí :
iççKí ç, cççjí , DçHççjí
çí :
How to Read & Write Kashmiri in Devanagari 6 M.K.Raina
DççMÌ ço, Dççp]Ì ççj
DççÌ :
iççÌ
çÌ :
Dçib ç, jib ç
Dçb :
içob Ká ç, yçob vç, yçç[b
b :
o³d çKç (ÐçKç), n³d çkçÀLç (¿çkçÀLç)
-³ç:
oJd ço (Üo), yJço, oJd çKç (ÜKç)
-Jç :
———————————————————————————————————
My Language
is
My Passport
to
My Motherland
How to Read & Write Kashmiri in Devanagari 7 M.K.Raina
Lesson 3.
Note: Translation of Kashmiri words into English wherever given, is only to
help the learner to understand the Kashmiri word.
Now, we will learn reading and pronouncing the Vowels which have
specially been introduced in the Standardised Devanagari-Kashmiri
alphabet to represent some peculiar sounds of the Kashmiri
language viz (Audio LK-7 & Audio LK-8):
Dç@, Dç,e Dç,ó Dçç@, S,ô Dççô
Now let us study the usage of first diacritical mark Dç@
(Audio LK-9)
Dç@ :
(Listen to audio for correct pronunciation. Audio LK-10)
Dç@[ vç@j
(half), (arm)
o@pç o@j
(a piece of cloth) (hard),
Dç@uççuÇ ç kç@ÀçlÆ çpç
(ill) (swallow),
lç@n@j iç@jçyÇ çç Ç
(yellow rice) (poverty),
kç@ÀçcÆ çmç
(whom)
Let us study the usage of second diacritical mark Dçe
(Audio LK-11)
Dçe :
(Listen to audio for correct pronunciation. Audio LK-12)
kç@Àoue ç ìKe ç
(bridge), (run)
How to Read & Write Kashmiri in Devanagari 8 M.K.Raina
yç e cçme çuç e
(me), (skin)
JJçuç e Jççj e Jççj e
(come), (slowly)
iJç[ e Kçje
(first), (slip)
omá ç e
(a type of shawl)
Let us study the usage of third diacritical mark Dç ó (Audio LK-13)
Dçó :
(Listen to audio for correct pronunciation. Audio LK-14)
Dççó þÆ cç, Dçþó îçcá ç Kçcó ç
(eighth), e (tent)
lçjó oHó ç cççuçç
(cold), (deep mala)
içibó çþ KçKbó ç
(veil), (one who speaks through nose)
Let us study the usage of fourth diacritical mark Dçç@
(Audio LK-15)
Dçç@
:
(Listen to audio for correct pronunciation. Audio LK-16)
Dçç@mç Dçç@j
(mouth), (plum)
oç@j nç@j
(window), (maina)
uçç@j yçç@Mç
(cucumber), (similarity)
Let us study the usage of fifth diacritical mark Sô
(Audio LK-17)
Sô
:
(Listen to audio for correct pronunciation. Audio LK-18)
How to Read & Write Kashmiri in Devanagari 9 M.K.Raina
Snô mççvç jnô
(favour), (flame)
onô lççô uÆ ç
(body), (then)
ñçnô yçnô´
(wetness), (sparks)
Let us study the usage of sixth diacritical mark Dççô
(Audio LK-19)
Dççô
:
(Listen to audio for correct pronunciation. Audio LK-20)
Dççyô çjá Dççvô ç
(clouds), (blind)
Dççsæô kçÀçsæô
(frail), (bribe)
K³ççuô ç
(flock)
———————————————————————————————————
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