My Language

First things first. Devnagari is derived from Sanskrit. There are 36 consonants and 12 vowels. But also a few more that don't make the actual alphabet but occasionally show up like श्र (shra) and ऋ (ri). And there are also things called double letters like त्त (tta, kind of). There are double letter for all of the consonants, I think. Or at least most of them. And half letters (ex. instead of ka sound it's just k), where if there's a leg or line on the full letter you take it away or if there's nothing to take you add a halanta (ट् it's the little line underneath). I absolutely adore this language. Learning the devnagari has really helped my nepali get better, too, which is certainly a plus. I'm thinking about picking up a newspaper tomorrow morning. 

Ok, here we go. 

Consonants:

क  ख  ग  घ  _      
च  छ  ज  _  ञा
ट  ठ  ड  ढ  ण
त  थ  द  ध  न
प  फ  ब  भ  म
य  र  ल  व  श
ष  स  ह  क्ष  त्र  ज्ञ

ka  kha  ga  gha  ngá
cha  chha  ja  jha  yá
Ta  Tha  Da  Dha  ana
ta  tha  da  dha  na
pa  pha  ba  bha  ma
ya  ra  la  wa  sha
sha  sa  ha  ksha  tra  gyá

Essentially.

The second two lines look oddly similar with out alphabet, huh? The sound completely different. With the Ta line your tongue is supposed to hit the soft palate--the top of your mouth, basically. With the ta line, conversely, your tongue should hit the back of your teeth. ka and kha also sound very different. The first is a more aspirate sound whereas the second isn't. It really does just sound like there's an "h" in there.

 
Vowels:

अ  
आ  
इ  
ई  
उ 
ऊ  
ए  
ऐ  
ओ  
औ  
उं  
उँ 

a
aa
i
i (longer. like eee)
u
u (longer. like oooo)
e
ai
o
au
un (nasal)
ung (even more nasal)


There are also different symbols that you use when writing the word ko for example. 
Here are the vowels again with क


क
का
कि
की
कु
कू
के
कै
को
कौ
कं
कँ

It's seems like a lot. It is. But it's also some of the most fun I've ever had writing. It's like drawing, but there are actually sounds and meanings that go along with the lines and swirls. I love being able to look at the signs on the side of the road and read the words. Granted, I don't always know what they mean, but I can read them all the same. I hope this gives you some idea of what I'm seeing. Just imagine tons of letters in countless different fonts and you'll know my initial confusion. 


Know what I say to multiple fonts now?


I'm making my own.

My name in devnagari:

आशा 

aasha

hope.