About This Keyboard
Hindi is an Indo-Aryan language and one of the most spoken languages on Earth, with over 600 million speakers including native and second-language speakers across South Asia and the global Indian diaspora. It is one of the two official languages of the Government of India (alongside English) and is the lingua franca of the Hindi Belt — a region spanning Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and several other states in northern and central India. Hindi is also widely spoken in Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Guyana, and Nepal.
Hindi uses the Devanagari script (देवनागरी), one of the most phonetically precise writing systems in the world. Devanagari is an abugida — each consonant carries an inherent 'a' vowel sound, which is modified by adding vowel marks (matras) above, below, or beside the base consonant. The script includes 11 vowels (svaras) and 35 consonants (vyanjanas), plus additional characters for conjunct consonants and special sounds. Devanagari is also used for Sanskrit, Marathi, Nepali, and many other South Asian languages.
The phonetic Hindi keyboard allows you to type in Devanagari by pressing the Latin keys that correspond phonetically to Hindi sounds. This is much more accessible than the standard INSCRIPT keyboard layout, which requires learning a completely new key arrangement. The phonetic approach is especially valuable for the Indian diaspora abroad, Hindi learners, and professionals who need to produce Hindi text occasionally.
How to use this keyboard — 5 tips:
1. Phonetic mapping: Type the romanisation of each Hindi word, and the keyboard converts it to Devanagari. For example, type 'namaste' to get 'नमस्ते'.
2. Vowel matras: Vowel sounds are handled automatically. Type 'a' for अ, 'aa' or 'A' for आ, 'i' for इ, 'ee' or 'I' for ई, 'u' for उ, 'oo' or 'U' for ऊ.
3. Aspirated consonants: Aspirated sounds use 'h' after the base letter — 'kh' → ख, 'gh' → घ, 'ch' → च, 'jh' → झ, 'th' → थ, 'dh' → ध, 'ph' → फ, 'bh' → भ.
4. Nasal sounds: Use 'n' for ण, 'N' or 'ng' for anusvara (ं), 'M' for chandrabindu (ँ).
5. Halant: To add a virama (halant, ्) to stop the inherent vowel, type a backslash or use the halant key shown on the on-screen keyboard.
Common Hindi phrases:
• नमस्ते (Namaste) — Hello / Greetings
• धन्यवाद (Dhanyavaad) — Thank you
• कृपया (Kripaya) — Please
• आप कैसे हैं? (Aap kaise hain?) — How are you? (formal)
• मुझे समझ नहीं आया (Mujhe samajh nahi aaya) — I don't understand
• यह कितने का है? (Yeh kitne ka hai?) — How much does this cost?
• शुभ प्रभात (Shubh Prabhaat) — Good morning
• शुभ रात्रि (Shubh Raatri) — Good night
• हाँ / नहीं (Haan / Nahin) — Yes / No
• मेरा नाम ... है (Mera naam ... hai) — My name is ...