This document specifies a set of Label Generation Rules (LGR) for the Devanagari script for the second level domain or domains identified above. This LGR contains the full set of cross-script variants required for use with the following scripts: Bengali and Gurmukhi. The starting point for the development of this LGR can be found in the related Root Zone LGR [RZ-LGR-Deva]. The format of this file follows [RFC 7940]. This LGR is adapted from the “Reference LGR for the Second Level for the Devanagari Script” [Ref-LGR-und-Deva], for details, see Change History below.
For details and additional background on the Devanagari script, see “Proposal for a Devanagari Script Root Zone Label Generation Rule-Set (LGR)” [Proposal-Devanagari].
The repertoire contains 83 code points for letters in addition to 29 sequences. The two sequences U+0931 U+094D U+092F and U+0931 U+094D U+0939 limit the character U+0931 DEVANAGARI LETTER RRA in its own specific context beyond which it does not stand by itself. Accordingly, while U+0931 is not listed by itself, it brings the total of code points available for letters to 84.
A number of other sequences have been defined in connection with the definition of variants (see “Variants” below).
The repertoire includes code points used by languages written in Devanagari that fall within levels 1 to 4 on the [EGIDS] scale. Boro, Braj, Dhundari, Mundari, Kharia are additionally covered. Though listed as level 4 on the EGIDS scale, Saraiki is not covered, because the Devanagari script is “no longer in use” by the Saraiki community. A non-exhaustive list of languages using each code point can be found in the comments.
The repertoire is a subset of [Unicode 11.0.0]. For details, see Section 5, “Repertoire” in [Proposal-Devanagari]. (The proposal cited has been adopted for the Devanagari script portion of the Root Zone LGR.)
For the second level, the repertoire has been augmented with the HYPHEN-MINUS, and two sets of decimal digits:
for a total of 133 repertoire elements.
Any code points outside the Devanagari Script repertoire that are targets for out-of-repertoire variants would be included here only if the variant is listed in this file. In this case they are identified as a reflexive (identity) variant of type “out-of-repertoire-var”. Whether or not they are listed, they do not form part of the repertoire.
Repertoire Listing: Each code point or range is tagged with the script or scripts with which the code point is used and one or more other character categories. For each repertoire element, one or more references document sufficient justification for inclusion in the repertoire; see the “References” below. For code points that are part of the repertoire, comments identify the languages using the code point along with their [EGIDS] level. Additional information, such as an alternate name, is given for some code points.
Unlike other LGRs for this script, which only incude the variant definitions needed when used as standalone in their zone, this LGR contains the full set of variants needed for zones shared by more than one script. Where appropriate, cross-script variants have been defined to mutually exclude labels from different scripts that could otherwise be substituted by the users. To meet the requirement for variant transitivity, additional in-script variants may be defined as needed. Once a label has been delegated for one script, any of its variant labels consisting entirely of cross-script variants would be blocked. Any label containing at least one code point that is not a cross-script variant would be considered distinct. Because of that, even large numbers of defined cross-script variants generally do not lead to a high percentage of labels experiencing a collision across scripts.
The definition of variants included in this LGR contributes to the definition of variants in the Common LGR. Even though this LGR contains the full set of variants affecting this script, use of the Common LGR is required for actual mitigation of issues caused by using multiple languages or scripts in the same zone. For details, see Section 3, "Use of Multiple Reference LGRs in the Same Zone" in [Level-2-Overview].
In-script variants: This LGR extends the in-script variants and cross-script variants as described in Section 6, “Variants”, in “[Proposal-Devanagari]”. The in-script variants in this fall into four broad categories:
As hyphen is not permitted in some positions on the label, a variant context rule is used to undefine the respective variants in positions in which the sequences containing hyphen cannot occur.
Cross-script variants: In addition to these, cross-script variant analysis of Devanagari identified cross-script variants with the Gurmukhi and Bengali scripts.
Digit Variants: All Devanagari digits are treated as semantic variants of the corresponding common (ASCII) digits. By transitivity, they are also semantic variants of any native digits in scripts that also include the common digits. Such variant relations are deemed to exist implicitly by transitivity but are not listed explicitly in each reference LGR. Instead, if needed, they are applied by using the Common LGR in label processing.
In particular, Devanagari digit ZERO is a cross-script homoglyph or near homoglyph of digit ZERO in many other scripts; these are already implicit semantic variants by transitivity and therefore not listed here.
Note that in addition to a transitive semantic variant relation, Devanagari digits ZERO, TWO, FOUR, and EIGHT are cross-script homoglyph or near homoglyph variants of the corresponding Gujarati digits.
To keep digit variant sets manageable in zones where multiple scripts are present, no attempt has been made at identifying cross-script variants among digits of different numeric value or between a digit in one script and a letter in another, such as between digit zero and Latin letter ‘o’. Other mechanisms may be required to prevent homograph labels.
Variant Disposition: All variants are of type “blocked”, making labels that differ only by these variants mutually exclusive: whichever label containing either of these variants is chosen earlier would be delegated, while any other equivalent labels should be blocked. There is no preference among these labels.
This LGR does not define allocatable variants.
The specification of variants in this LGR follows the guidelines in [RFC 8228].
Context Rules for Variants: some of the variants defined in this LGR are “effective null variants”, that is, some code points in the source map to “nothing” in the target with all other code points unchanged. (Because mappings are symmetric, it does not matter whether it is the forward or reverse mapping that maps to “null”.) Such variants require a context rule to keep the variant set well behaved.
In other cases, the sequences or code points making up source and target are constrained by explicit context rules on the code points (or by implicit context rules defined for the adjacent code points). In such a case, any variants may require context rules that match the intersection between the effective contexts for both source and target; otherwise, a sequence might be considered valid in some variant label when it would not be valid in an equivalent context in an original label. Symmetry requires the same context rule for both forward and reverse mappings.
Devanagari is an alphasyllabary and the heart of the writing system is the akshar. This is the unit which is instinctively recognized by users of the script. As encoded, the writing system of Devanagari is composed of Consonants, Halant, Vowels, Anusvara, Candrabindu, Nukta and Visarga.
Consonants: Devanagari consonants all contain an implicit schwa /ə/. To make a full syllable, consonants may be followed by certain code points from one or more of the other groups (see “WLE rules” below). See Section 3.3.1, “The Consonants” of the [Proposal-Devanagari].
Halant: Because consonants contain an implicit vowel schwa /ə/, a special sign is needed to denote when this implicit vowel is stripped off. This sign is the Halant, encoded as U+094D DEVANAGARI SIGN VIRAMA. The Halant thus joins two consonants and creates conjuncts, which can be generally from 2 to 4 consonant combinations. In rare cases, it can join up to 5 consonants. However, this LGR will not enforce any length limit. See Section 3.3.2, “The Implicit Vowel Killer: Halant” in [Proposal-Devanagari].
Vowels and Matras: There are separate code points for vowels that are pronounced independently at the beginning of a syllable or after a vowel sound. To indicate a Vowel sound following a consonant other than the implicit shwa sound, a vowel sign (matra) is attached to the consonant. There is an equivalent matra for each vowel excepting U+0905 DEVANAGARI VOWEL A. See Section 3.3.3, “Vowels” in [Proposal-Devanagari].
Anusvara: The Anusvara shows a nasal at the end of a syllable. See Section 3.3.4, “The Anusvara” of the [Proposal-Devanagari].
Candrabindu: A Candrabindu denotes nasalization of the preceding vowel. Present-day Hindi users tend to replace the Candrabindu by the Anusvara. See Section 3.3.5, “Nasalization: Candrabindu” in [Proposal-Devanagari].
Nukta: The nukta sign is placed below a certain number of consonants to represent sounds found only in words borrowed from Perso-Arabic, English and other non-Aryan sources. It is also placed under the consonants U+0921 and U+0922 to indicate flapped sounds. Apart from this, the Santali language uses Nukta adjoined to certain vowels and vowel signs. See Section 3.3.6, “Nukta” in [Proposal-Devanagari].
Visarga: U+0903 DEVANAGARI SIGN VISARGA, representing an aspiration at the end of a syllable, is frequently used in Sanskrit. See Section 3.3.7, “Visarga and Avagraha” in [Proposal-Devanagari].
Devanagari Digits: U+0966 to U+096F are a set of Devanagari-specific digits. They are used in alternation with the European (common) digits.
Common Digits: U+0030 to U+0039 are the set of digits from the ASCII range.
The LGR includes the rules and actions to implement the following restrictions, some of which are mandated by the IDNA protocol. They are marked with ⍟ and included here by default.
This LGR includes the complete set default actions for LGRs as well as the action needed to invalidate labels with misplaced combining marks. They are marked with ⍟. For a description see [RFC 7940] and [150]. An additional action is triggered by mixed digit labels.
These rules ensure that the Devanagari label conforms to akshar formation norms for the Devanagari script. These norms are exclusively presented as context rules.
The following symbols are used in the names and comments for WLE rules:
The rules are:
The following context rules are used for variants where a Nukta maps to a “null”, or that are overlapped:
See Section 7, “Whole Label Evaluation Rules (WLE)” of [Proposal-Devanagari].
The LGR in this document has been adapted from the corresponding Reference LGR for the Second Level. The Second Level Reference LGR for the Devanagari Script was developed by Michel Suignard and Asmus Freytag, based on the Root Zone LGR for the Devanagari script and information contained or referenced therein; see [RZ-LGR-Deva]. Suitable extensions for the second level have been applied according to the [Guidelines] and with community input. The original proposal for a Root Zone LGR for the Devanagari script, that this reference LGR is based on, was developed by the Neo-Brahmi Generation Panel (NBGP). For more information on methodology and contributors to the underlying Root Zone LGR, see Sections 4 and 8 in [Proposal-Devanagari], as well as [RZ-LGR-Overview].
Unicode Version has been updated.
This version modifies the Second Level Reference LGR for the Devanagari Script [Ref-LGR-und-Deva] by injecting the complete (maximal) set of cross-repertoire variants, including any imposed by transitivity. Injected variants are marked by special comments. Any character classes, context and WLE rules required for testing are also imported. In all other respects, description or annotations have not been updated to reflect the injected variants. Any LGR elements that might pose a possible conflict when the LGR is used with the Common LGR for cross-repertoire variant resolution are clearly marked. All modifications are carried out mechanically; there may be an occasional context rule or similar that is injected because its definition relates to some repertoire element even though it can never be triggered by any label valid under the modified LGR.
The following general references are cited in this document:
For references consulted particularly in designing the repertoire for the Devanagari Script for the second level please see details in the Table of References below.
References [0] to [11] refer to the Unicode Standard versions in which the corresponding code points were initially encoded. References [100] and above correspond to sources given in [Proposal-Devanagari] justifying the inclusion of the corresponding code points. Entries in the table may have multiple source reference values. In the listing of whole label evaluation and context rules, reference [150] indicates the source for common rules.
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