Letters
The letter order of Devanāgarī, like nearly all Brahmi scripts, is based on phonetic principles that consider both the manner and place of articulation of the consonants and vowels they represent. This arrangement is usually referred to as the varṇamālā "garland of letters". The format of Devanāgarī for Sanskrit serves as the prototype for its application, with minor variations or additions, to other languages.
Read more about this topic: Devanagari
Famous quotes containing the word letters:
“The entire merit of a man can never be made known; nor the sum of his demerits, if he have them. We are only known by our names; as letters sealed up, we but read each other’s superscriptions.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“When griefs are genuine, I find, there is nothing more vacuous, more burdensome, or even more impertinent, than letters of consolation.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written her fair neck round about:
“Noli me tangere for Caesar’s I am,
And wild for to hold though I seem tame.””
—Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503?–1542)