Nepali Texting: Writing Nepali with Latin Letters

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When living in Nepal, I have had to text in Nepali several times. Although I was familiar enough with reading the language in textbooks, Nepali texting was a completely different story. I was really surprised by the different shortcuts and surprising letter combinations that Nepali people use when texting. So I am compiling some things I've noticed here for Nepali learners!

Nepali is a language spoken by about 16 million people in Nepal and neighboring countries. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family and uses a script called Devanagari, which consists of 36 consonant characters and 12 vowel characters. (Reference)

However, not everyone has access to a Nepali keyboard or knows how to type with Devanagari letters. That's why many Nepali people use the Latin alphabet when texting or chatting online.

There are different ways of transliterating Nepali into Latin letters, depending on personal preference, convenience, and familiarity. Some common techniques are:

  • -Replacing 'ph' with 'f', such as 'fursad' for 'फुर्सद' (leisure)
  • -Replacing 'chha' with 'xa' or just 'x', such as 'thaha xa' for 'थाहा छ' ([I] know)
  • Using '6' for 'chha', since the Nepali word for 6 is also 'chha', such as 'malai man par6' for 'मलाई मन पर्छ' (I like [it])
  • Replacing 'bh' with 'v', such as 'vayo' for 'भयो' (happened)
  • Shortening verbs that end in '-bhaaeko' to just '-vako', such as 'garnuvako' for गर्नुभएको (you/he/she did) (polite)
  • Shortening 'ke' to 'k', such as 'k xa?' for 'के छ?' (what's up?)


These techniques may be used all together or none at all, depending on the context and clarity of communication.

Some people may also use emojis, abbreviations, acronyms, slang words, or English words when texting in Nepali.

Of course, many phones also support the Devanagari typing system, so you will also see Nepali people texting with that. Some people may switch between Latin and Devanagari letters depending on their mood or audience.

I found some examples of Nepali people using such techniques in YouTube comments on Nepali videos (music videos and movies.)
Here's one:

"Aaja voli ko movie ta k ho k ho ahile ko film vnda ta pahilako puranoii film dherii ramro lgxa ahileko movie ta filmko kanun testai xa kunoii different xina yrr"

This commenter has changed the 'bh' in "भोलि" 'bholi' ("tomorrow") to a 'v' in "aaja voli ko movie," meaning "movies nowadays". Ke "के" is also shortened to 'k'. She also shortened "bhanda" "भन्दा" (a comparison word meaning "than") to just 'vnda'. She shortened "laagchha" "लाग्छ" (feel) to "lgxa".
"Testai xa" is shortened from "tyastai chha" "त्यस्तै छ" ("like that")
Chhaina "छैन" becomes "xina". And the word "yaar" "यार" (meaning something like "dude" or "bro") becomes "yrr" -- an untraditional spelling.

In this comment on an older Nepali movie available to watch on YouTube, the commenter is saying that she enjoys older movies more than newer ones, which all seem the same.

Let me know if you found this helpful and if you have other examples of Nepali-style texting and typing!

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