Devanagari Romanized (SIL) Keyboard Help
The Devanagari Romanized (SIL) keyboard maps the Devanagari characters to their respective keys on the US English keyboard. The keyboard layout can be viewed by clicking on the Keyman icon and selecting the On-Screen Keyboard menu item, or by opening the Help documentation. This layout matches the “Devanagari Romanized (SAG)” Windows keyboard layout.
Desktop Keyboard Layout
Note:
You can use Left Ctrl + Left Alt in place of the Right Alt key.
How to type in Devanagari Romanized (SIL) Keyboard? How it is different than other Nepali keyboards?
Most of the alfabetical keys represents the Devnagari letters with similar sounds. For instance,k +i → कि (ह्रस्व)k +Shift +i → की (दीर्घ)
k +u → कु (उकार)k +Shift +u → कू (ऊकार)
k +e → के (एकार)k +Shift +e → कै (ऐकार)
k +o → को (ओकार)k +Shift +o → कौ (औकार)
In the Nepali language there are many letters and symbols, and not all of them will fit on the QWERTY layout. To create more characters, we use a 'dead key'. A 'dead key' produces no output, instead it changes the output of the keys that are pressed immediately afterwards. In this keyboard, we are using the q as a dead key.
q +Shift +a → अq +a → आq +i → इq +Shift +i → ईq +u → उq +Shift +u → ऊq +L-Ctrl +L-Alt +z → ऋq +R-Alt +z → ऋq +e → एq +Shift +e → ऐq +o → ओq +Shift +o → औ
The हलन्त (halanta) looks like this (्) and goes under the base of the consonant. When you add a हलन्त (halanta) to the consonant characters, you cancel their respective vowel sound, for example प्, क्, ट्. The हलन्त (halanta) can be used to join consnants in three different ways:
- The consonants can joined together to make a conjunct
- The first consonant becomes a half-character
- The first consonant is followed by an explicit halanta
संयुक्त/संयोजन (Conjuncts)
In this keyboard we use
k +; → क + ् → क्K +; → ख + ् → ख्
Half-Characters using ZWJ (Zero Width Joiner)
In this keyboard we use
झ + र + ् + ZWJ + य ो → झर्यो र् + ZWJ + य +ा + ल → र्याल ह + ा + न् + ZWJ + न + ु → हान्नु
Forced Halanta using ZWNJ (Zero Width Non Joiner)
In this keyboard we use
श्री + मा + न्(Shift + x ) + को → श्रीमान्को
It is the letter 'र' (ra) with the inherent short vowel dropped. The mark by which it is denoted is placed over the letter following it, such as- कर्म, हर्ष etc. Reph looks like a right-facing sickle.
र +् +क → र्कर +् +म → र्म
Rakar is used to indicate a consonant conjunct ending in "Ra". Rakār looks like a left-facing diagonal dash (sometimes duplicated in some cases). Note that reph will go above the letter while rakār will go beneath. In this keyboard we input rakār by two ways as shown below.
p +Shift +R → प्रp +; +r → प + ् + र → प्र
A conjunct consonant comprises two or more consonants with nothing separating them; in particular there is no vowel between them. In this case we use halanta/virama (्), which tries to combine two or more consonants together. Some of the frequently occuring arrangements are shown below.
त + ् + म → त्म न + ् + त + ् + य → न्त्य म + ् + न → म्न ब + ् + व → ब्व ष + ् + ट → ष्ट द + ् + ग → द्ग ट + ् + ट → ट्ट ङ + ् + क → ङ्क स + ् + न + ् + य → स्न्य ष + ् + ठ + ् + य → ष्ठ्य श + ् + र → श्र द + ् + ध → द्ध (बुद्ध) द + ् + द → द्द (मद्दत) त् + त → त्त ह् + न → ह्न द् + य → द्य ट् + य → ट्य ह् + म → ह्म क + ् + क → क्क क + ् + त → क्त ह + ् + र → ह्र (गाह्रो) ह + ् + य → ह्य (ह्याकुला) ह + ् + व → ह्व (विह्वोल) त + ् + र → त्र * ह + ृ → हृ (हृदय)
Normally the symbols for a conjunct consonants are constructed from their component symbols and are quite obvious to see, and their construction reflects their pronunciation. However, there are two which are quite different from their component parts. In Devanagari, such a sound is represented by concatenating two consonants to form what is known as a ligature.
क + ् + ष → क्ष ज + ् + ञ → ज्ञ
Tablet Keyboard Layout
The layout for tablet version remains same as the phone layout.
Phone Keyboard Layout
All Documentation Versions
- Devanagari Romanized (SIL) Keyboard Help 1.7.1
- Devanagari Romanized (SIL) Keyboard Help 1.7
- Devanagari Romanized (SIL) Keyboard Help 1.6
