To go with my last post, I've begun to discover the wonders of shortening Hindi words with elisions and dots. Letters can be fused together by eliminating the vertical line component of the first of two letters (if it has this), by adding various curves (if the letter is an r), stacking the letters/devising a new design to represent the combination (letters without the vertical line), or adding a dot (nasal consonants).
With the dot, any form of nasalization is represented--each corresponds with the letters following it. For instance, if the next letter were an English b or p, the dot would represent an m, as that is where the mouth would be positioned for the nasal before the second consonant. The same will occur for the two different n's given their contexts, as well as the "ng" when next to a k or g sound. The dots, which were initially confusing and lacking context, make things much simpler once a Hindi reader/writer knows this!
Replies