Nepali half letters and conjuncts: how to type them
How the halant forms half letters, how conjuncts such as क्ष and त्र work, and which keys produce them on Preeti, Devanagari and InScript layouts.
The halant makes a half letter
A half letter is a consonant without its vowel, joined to the next consonant. In Unicode it is the consonant followed by the halant sign (्). Typing क, then the halant, then ष produces क्ष, and the font draws the joined shape. Every half letter and conjunct in Nepali is built this way.
On the Unicode layouts
On the traditional Devanagari layout and on InScript, type the consonant, press the halant key, then type the next consonant. The keyboard guide in the practice highlights the halant key on your layout. Common conjuncts such as त्र, ज्ञ and श्र also have their own keys on InScript, under Shift.
On Preeti
Preeti puts half letters on the shifted keys. Shift plus the key for क gives क्, and the next key completes the conjunct. Some conjuncts have their own glyph: Q is त्त, q is त्र, 1 is ज्ञ and B is द्य. The reph, the small र above a letter as in कर्म, is the { key, pressed after the letter it sits on.
- Shift plus a consonant key gives its half form.
- The | key gives the subscript र, as in प्र.
- The { key gives the reph, typed after the consonant and its vowel signs.
Practise them
Lesson 5 of the lesson path is made of words such as विद्यालय, राष्ट्र and स्वास्थ्य. Type it on each layout you use until the halant key is automatic.