Fact · Languages and accents
Unicode says the Brahmic scripts are abugidas in which most symbols stand for a consonant plus an inherent vowel, usually the sound a.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“They are all abugidas in which most symbols stand for a consonant plus an inherent vowel (usually the sound /a/).”
The Unicode Standard, Version 15.0, Chapter 12: South and Central Asia, Unicode Consortium, 2022, Chapter 12, introduction to the Brahmic scripts.
Open the original- What it measures
- The chapter introduces the South Asian scripts, including Devanagari, in a comparison across the family.
- What it does not show
- The sentence covers the script family as a whole. Devanagari follows the same rule for its consonant letters, and the vowel is not written unless a sign changes it.