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Nasana Bajracharya
January 3, 2021
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There are more than 55,000 fonts of Latin/Roman alphabets (in which English is written), but there are only a few hundred of Devanagari, or Nepali, fonts. Not many people like typing in Nepali, but the number gets even lower when we think about the actual number of fonts we use while typing Nepali.
But, why is the number so low? Does the country lack resources such as skilled human resources? Yes, say veterans of the field.
Fonts ‘of Nepal’
Devanagari script was derived and developed from the Bhrama Lipi (script) in India 2,000 years ago, including Tamil, Marathi, Telegu. It flourished here as it shared similarities with the Sanskrit language during the Lichhavi and Malla period. But, it was James Prinsep, an English scholar, archaeologist and philologist for British East India Company, who developed a simplified, readable and writable Devanagari script in 1837.