Roman to Nepali typing

The rules behind everyday Nepali chat spelling, and how to make them predictable.

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Shortcuts: Ctrl/Cmd+Z undo · Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Z redo · Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+C copy. Tip: use aa for ा, ii for ी, uu for ू; capital T/D/N give ट/ड/ण; type . for । and \. for a literal period; {braces} keep English as typed.

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Type any Nepali letter

A lone “a” after a consonant is the built-in vowel (k + a = क), and “aa” gives the long vowel; capital letters give the retroflex sounds.

Vowels

Nepali Type this Example
अ a The built-in vowel inside every consonant. ang अंग
आ aa Doubling the “a” gives the long vowel. aamaa आमा
इ i iskul इस्कुल
ई ii or ee iishwar ईश्वर
उ u upahaar उपहार
ऊ uu or oo uun ऊन
ए e ek एक
ऐ ai ainaa ऐना
ओ o okhat ओखत
औ au ausadhi औषधि
ऋ Ri Rare; mainly formal or borrowed words. Ri ऋ
ँ ~ Chandrabindu: a nasal twang on the vowel. hu~ हुँ
ं ^ Anusvara: also written automatically before many consonants. sang संग

Consonants

Nepali Type this Example
क k kathmandu काठमाडौं
ख kh khaanaa खाना
ग g guru गुरु
घ gh ghar घर
च ch or c chandra चन्द्र
छ chh chha छ
ज j jaan जान
झ jh jhyaal झ्याल
ट T Retroflex: a capital T, D, N, Th, Dh or Sh. Tikaa टिका
ठ Th Thulo ठूलो
ड D Daktar डाक्टर
ढ Dh Dhunga ढुंग
ण N gaNit गणित
त t taap ताप
थ th thoplo थोप्लो
द d desh देश
ध dh dhunga धुंग
न n nepal नेपाल
प p paisa पैसा
फ ph or f phool फूल
ब b bela बेल
भ bh bhaag भाग
म m mero मेरो
य y yaad याद
र r ram राम
ल l laal लाल
व w or v wadaa वदा
श sh shanti शन्ति
ष Sh bhaaShaa भाषा
स s sundar सुन्दर
ह h haat हात

Special characters

Nepali Type this Example
। . A typed full stop at the end of a sentence becomes the danda. ram। राम।
क्ष ksh kshatra क्षत्र
त्र tr tribhuvan त्रिभुवन
ज्ञ gya gyan ज्ञान
श्र shr shramik श्रमिक

Examples

  • tapai kasto hunuhuncha तपाईं कस्तो हुनुहुन्छ
  • malai nepali typing garna man parcha मलाई नेपाली टाइपिङ गर्न मन पर्छ
  • Tikaa man parcha टिका मन पर्छ

Why Roman Nepali has no fixed spelling

Roman Nepali grew out of chat and SMS, where saving keystrokes mattered more than consistency. “cha”, “chha” and “chaa” all appear for the same word. A converter has to choose one interpretation, so it follows the spelling habits that are most common in Nepali chat and states them plainly. See also the home typing tool .

Vowels: short versus long

In Roman Nepali a doubled vowel usually means a long vowel: aa→आ/ा, ii→ई/ी, uu→ऊ/ू. A single “i” at the end of a word is usually the long ी in chat spelling because it matches how the word sounds, so “timi” becomes तिमी. See also practice drills .

Retroflex letters with capitals

English has no equivalent of ट, ड, ण, ठ, ढ and ष, so Nepali chat writers use capitals: T, D, N, Th, Dh and Sh. The converter keeps that convention, which is why “Tikaa” gives टिका while “tika” would give तिक. See also the English to Nepali page .

Names and borrowed words

Foreign names rarely survive a phonetic conversion well. Wrap them in braces ({Sundar}, {Google}) and they pass through untouched, which keeps the Devanagari around them readable.

Honest limits

Roman Nepali leaves out information the Devanagari script keeps: exact vowel length, whether a nasal is anusvara or a full consonant, and the difference between श, ष and स in many spellings. The engine picks the most common interpretation and the exception dictionary fixes words where the rule would be wrong, but slang and dialect words can still come out differently from what you intended.

Questions people ask

Why is my spelling different from someone else’s?

Roman Nepali has no standard. The converter follows common chat habits, which is a choice, not a law. The exception dictionary covers the words where a plain rule would look wrong.

Can I write in Devanagari directly?

Yes. Typing Devanagari into the box leaves it untouched, so you can mix both on the same line.