Before practicing learning the vowels and root syllables, we expect you to have some basic familiarity
of how they sound. Please go to the 'Characters' link above first if you are a complete
beginner to Nepali, or, if, for you, the 'black letters as same as the buffaloes', as they say in
Nepali.
Once you have some familiarity, you can start playing by pressing the start button. Play now?
अ
आ
इ
ई
उ
ऊ
ए
ऐ
ओ
औ
अं
अ:
क
ख
ग
घ
ङ
च
छ
ज
झ
ञ
ट
ठ
ड
ढ
ण
त
थ
द
ध
न
प
फ
ब
भ
म
य
र
ल
व
स
ष
श
ह
क्ष
त्र
ज्ञ
Vowels and Root Syllables
Nepali is based on 12 vowels, 36 root syllables and decimal numerical system. We will explore the
numerical system later in the lessons.
Vowels
अ/a
आ/aa
इ/i
ई/ee
उ/u
ऊ/oo
ए/e
ऐ/eih
ओ/o
औ/au
अं/ahm
अ:/aha
Pay particular attention to the making of the root syllables. They are composed of vowels and root
consonants. For example, क (ka) is made up of क् (k) + अ (a). Same
goes with
other root syllables.
Ultimately,
each of the root syllables are expanded into 12 versions depending on which vowels they are combined
with. This means, once you know how to compose 12-iterations of one root syllables, you will be able to
do that for all others.
Root Syllables
क/ka
ख/Kha
ग/ga
घ/gha
ङ/ng
च/cha
छ/chha
ज/ja
झ/jha
ञ/yan
ट/ta
ठ/tha
ड/da
ढ/dha
ण/na
त/ta
थ/tha
द/da
ध/dha
न/na
प/pa
फ/pha
ब/ba
भ/bha
म/ma
य/ya
र/ra
ल/la
व/va
स/sa
ष/ksha
श/sha
ह/ha
क्ष/chya
त्र/tra
ज्ञ/gya
It is better to have basic familiarity with these vowels and root syllables before we practice typing
them. You might want to print them out and put it up on your wall by the computer.
Once you learn basic characters, words and sentences, you will be able to enhance your Nepali language
competence by regular practice of writing, reading, talking, and reading out loud. From the basics
onwards, you
are on your own, a bird soaring high and exploring the new world that has opened up!
Practice learning the vowels and root syllables.
The Thrill of Learning Language
I now know many languages besides my native Nepali. I know Hindi. I also know some bit of Bhojpuri and
Maithili. In the last one year, I learned two other languages, thanks to the internet: French and
Spanish. I learned them on Duolingo.
I have developed this app after I acquired the thrill of learning new languages on Duolingo. I am
convinced that anyone can learn new languages fast, provided they have right tools at hand.
Learning languages
also expands your world, and makes available resources that you did not know existed.
If you truly want to know what's going on in Nepal, then learning Nepali is a must. The written
Nepali has exploded in the scene. People have been writing on social media and Nepal's publishing
has flourished in the last three decades.
I present this app as a gift to the world.
Let's begin!
Setting Up the Keyboard
This is a hands-on process of learning Nepali. Therefore, you will be using the Nepali language
keyboard. For that you will have to add Nepali language in your language settings if you are using
laptop or desktop computer. If you are practing on a mobile phone, you will have to add Hindi language
on your keyboard. I will take you through the process below.
For Mac Users
For Windows Users
For IOS mobile phone users
For Android phone users
Now you have added Nepali language in your computer and know how to switch to Nepali in your keyboard,
let's begin.
Congratulations! You finished all the primary levels of learning Nepali Characters.