What script is used to write the Hindi language?

The script used to write the Hindi language is Devanagari. Hindi is written in Devanagari, a left-to-right Indic abugida descended from the ancient Brahmi script. Unlike an alphabet, an abugida gives consonants an inherent vowel that can be changed or removed with marks.

Devanagari is recognizable by the horizontal headline connecting many letters. Its modern form developed over centuries and was in regular use by about the 8th century, reaching a form close to today’s script around 1000 CE. The script is also used for Marathi, Nepali, Sanskrit, and several other South Asian languages.

A common mix-up is confusing a language with its writing system. Hindi is the language; Devanagari is its principal script. Hindi can also be transliterated into the Latin alphabet for informal communication, often called Romanized Hindi or Hinglish, but that does not make Latin the standard script. Devanagari is also different from Bengali and Arabic scripts, even though Hindi has historically shared vocabulary and cultural contact with Persian and Arabic.