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Devanagari numerals

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The Devanagari numerals are the symbols used to write numbers in the Devanagari script, predominantly used for northern Indian languages. They are used to write decimal numbers, instead of the Western Arabic numerals.

Table

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Modern
Devanagari
Western
Arabic
Words for the cardinal number
Sanskrit
(wordstem)
Hindi Marathi Nepali
0 शून्य (śūnya) शून्य (śūny) शून्य (śūnya) शून्य (śūnya)
1 एक eka एक (ek) एक (ek) एक (ek)
2 द्वि dvi दो (do) दोन (don) दुइ (dui)
3 त्रि tri तीन (tīn) तीन (tīn) तिन (tīn)
4 चतुर् catur चार (cār) चार (cār) चारि (cāri)
5 पञ्च pañca पाँच (pāñc) पाच (pāch) पाँच (pānch)
6 षट् ṣaṭ छह (chah) सहा (sahā) छअ (chaā)
7 सप्त sapta सात (sāt) सात (sāt) सात (sāt)
8 अष्ट aṣṭa आठ (āṭh) आठ (āṭh) आठ (āṭha)
9 नव nava नौ (nau) नऊ (naū) नअ ()

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

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A comparison of Sanskrit and Eastern Arabic numerals

Devanagari digits shapes may vary depending on geographical area or epoch. Some of the variants are also seen in older Sanskrit literature.[2][3]


Common

Nepali
1

"Bombay" Variant

"Calcutta" Variant
5

"Bombay" Variant

"Calcutta" Variant
8

Common

Nepali Variant
9

See also

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References

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Notes
  1. ^ "zero - Origin and meaning of zero by Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com.
  2. ^ Devanagari for TEX version 2.17, page 22
  3. ^ "Alternate digits in Devanagari". Scriptsource.org. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
Sources