The only standard orthography for Caribbean Hindustani that is is documented is from the Dutch speaking Indo-Caribbean world. Dr. R.M. Marhé had proposed a system similar to the current ISO 1519 system of writing to replace Dutch orthography. He developed the script with his Guru Dr. Jan Adhin in the 1960’s. The ISO 15919 “Transliteration of Devanagari and related Indic (Indian) scripts into Latin characters” is one of a series of international standards for romanization by the International Organization for Standardization.   However at the time in the early 90’s it was difficult to type Latin diacritics. R.M. Marhé’s suggested a system of accents marks and underlines to replace the diacritics. His system became the official system of writing Caribbean Hindustani in Suriname. His transliteration system is ingenious allowing the community to type in Caribbean Hindustani with ease. There are current discussions to recognize ISO 15919 as the preferred orthography among all the diaspora; however, as one can see below if one can read ‘Marhé’s easy ISO’ one can also read ISO 15919. Many examples of’ Marhé’s easy ISO can be seen in the works of Rabin Baldewsingh. 

The table below is reference to Devanagari, Kaithi, Urdu, and Tamil to ISO and Easy ISO (Dr. Mahré’s system) equivalents. Please note, not all the characters below are used in Caribbean Hindustani.

ISO	Easy ISO	Deva	Kaithi	Urdu	Tamil
Vowels						Comments
a	a	अ	𑂃	اَ	அ	like “a” as in “but, again”
ā	á	आ	𑂄	آ	ஆ	like “aa” as in “father, far”
i	i	इ	𑂅	اِ	இ	like “i” as in “fit, hit”
ī	í	ई	𑂆	اِی	ஈ	like “e” as in “feet, heat”
u	u	उ	𑂇	اُ	உ	like “u” as in “put, pull”
ū	ú	ऊ	𑂈	اُو	ஊ	like “oo” as in “pool, shoot”
r̥	,r	ऋ	𑂩𑂱	رْ	௫	like “r” as is “rip, rib” with the tongue curled back
r̥̄	,rr	ॠ	𑂩𑂲	ړ	௹	a longer version of ऋ, similar to “ri” in “risk”
l̥	,l	ऌ	𑂪𑂱	ڶ	லஂ௫	a short “l” in “military” without any vowels following it
l̥̄	,ll	ॡ	𑂪𑂲	ڵ	லஂ௹	like “l” as in cycle
ê	^e	ऍ	𑂉	–	–	like “a” as in “cat or man”
e	e	ऎ	𑂉	اٝ	எ	like “e” as in “met”
ē	é	ए	𑂉	اے	ஏ	like “a” as in “ate, day”
ai	ai	ऐ	𑂊	اَے	ஐ	like “a” as in “mate”
ô	^o	ऑ	𑂄	–	–	like “aw” as in awesome”
o	o	ऒ	𑂋	اٗ	ஒ	like “o” as in “oasis”
ō	ó	ओ	𑂋	او	ஓ	like “o” as in “go”, “boat”
au	au	औ	𑂌	اَو	ஔ	like “o” as in “owl”
ḵ	_k	–	–	–	ஃ	Tamil āytam, indicating gutturalization of the preceding vowel, pronounced like ‘ch’ in loch
m̐	~m	ँ	𑂀	ں	ஂ, ँ	usually means that the previous vowel is nasalized
ṁ	ḿ	ं	𑂁	ں	ஂ, (அம்)	In Sanskrit, this sound is called the anusvāra before a class consonant is transliterated as the class nasal ‘ṅ’ before k, kh, g, gh, ṅ; ‘ñ’ before c, ch, j, jh, ñ; ‘ṇ’before ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ḍh, ṇ; ‘n’ before t, th, d, dh, n; ‘m’ before p, ph, b, bh, m.
ḥ	h	ः	𑂂	ہ	ః, ஃ, (அஹ)	In Sanskrit, this sound is called the visarga. It is commonly pronounced as a shorter and softer version of vowel before it. For example, aḥ is commonly pronounced as aha. But in front of ka, kha, pa, pha, and “s”-sounds, the visarga is pronounced just like the “h” in house.” A close sound in Tamil is the ‘ஃ’ Ayuda, similar ‘h’ part in aha and ‘ః’ is also used for Sanskrit.
oṁ	oḿ	ॐ	𑂋𑂁	اوم	ௐ	like “om” as in omkara
Gutturals						Comments
k	k	क	𑂍	ک	க	unaspirated “k”
kh	kh	ख	𑂎	کھ	க₂	aspirated “k”
g	g	ग	𑂏	گ	க₃	unaspirated “g”
gh	gh	घ	𑂐	گھ	க₄	aspirated “g”
ṅ	ń	ङ	𑂑	ڠ	ங	like “n”, as in “sing”
Palatals						Comments
c	c	च	𑂒	چ	ச	unaspirated “ch”, as in “cheese”
ch	ch	छ	𑂓	چھ	ச₂	aspirated “ch”
j	j	ज	𑂔	ج	ஜ	unaspirated “j”
jh	jh	झ	𑂕	جھ	ஜ, ஃஜ	aspirated “j”
ñ	~n	ञ	𑂖	ڃ	ஞ	like “n”, as in “punch”
Cerebrals						Comments
ṭ	t	ट	𑂗	ٹ	ட	like “t”, but retroflex and unaspirated
ṭh	th	ठ	𑂘	ٹھ	ட₂	like “t”, but retroflex and aspirated
ḍ	d	ड	𑂙	ڈ	ட₃	like “d”, but retroflex and unaspirated
ḍh	dh	ढ	𑂛	ڈھ	ட₄	like “d”, but retroflex and aspirated
ṇ	n	ण	𑂝	ڹ	ண	like “n”, but retroflex
Dentals						Comments
t	t	त	𑂞	ت	த	like “t”, but dental and unaspirated
th	th	थ	𑂟	تھ	த₂	like “t”, but dental and aspirated
d	d	द	𑂠	د	த₃	like “d”, but dental and unaspirated
dh	dh	ध	𑂡	دھ	த₄	like “d”, but dental and aspirated
n	n	न	𑂢	ن	ந	like “n” in “name”, but dental
Labials						Comments
p	p	प	𑂣	پ	ப	like “p”, but unaspirated
ph	ph	फ	𑂤	پھ	ப₂	like “p”, but aspirated
b	b	ब	𑂥	ب	ப₃	like “b”, but unaspirated
bh	bh	भ	𑂦	بھ	ப₄	like “b”, but aspirated
m	m	म	𑂧	م	ம	like “m”, as in man
Semivowels/Sonorants						Comments
y	y	य	𑂨	ي	ய	like “y”, as in “young”
r	r	र	𑂩	ر	ர	like “r”, but often rolled
l	l	ल	𑂪	ل	ல	like “l”, as in “lip”
ḷ	_l	ऴ	𑂭𑂺	ڎ	ழ	Retroflex central approximant (transliterated as ḻ in the Tamil Lexicon, and commonly transcribed as zh). like “l” as in lima
ḷ	.l	ळ	𑂪𑂺	ۻ	ள	like “l” in “link”except that it is a retroflex lateral approximant consonant instead of a dental one. It is pronounced like the ल(l)in उल्टा (ulṭā).
v	v	व	𑂫	و	வ	like “w”, or “v”
h	h	ह	𑂯	ہ	ஹ	like “h”, but voiced
Sibilants						Comments
ś	ś	श	𑂬	ش	ஶ	like “sh”, as in “shave”
ṣ	s	ष	𑂭	ښ	ஷ	like “sh”, but retroflex
s	s	स	𑂮	س	ஸ	like “s”, as in “save”
kṣ	ks	क्ष	𑂍𑂹𑂭	ش	க்ஷ	like “ksh” as in “lakshmi”
jñ	j~n	ज्ञ	𑂔𑂹𑂖	گی	ஜ்ஞ	like “gy” as in “gyan”
tr	tr	त्र	𑂞𑂹𑂩	تر	க்ர	like “tr” as in “antr”
śr	śr	श्र	𑂬𑂹𑂩	شر	ஶ்ர	like “sr” as in “sri devi” ஸ்ரீ = symbol for sri
Other Letters						Comments
q	q	क़	𑂍𑂺	ق	ஃக	like “k”, but pronounced in the back of the mouth
k͟h	kh	ख़	𑂎𑂺	خ	ஃக₂	velar fricative, like “Bach” in German
ġ	ǵ	ग़	𑂏𑂺	غ	ஃக₃	velar sound, similar to ख़but voiced
z	z	ज़	𑂔𑂺	ز	ஃஜ	like “z” or “s”, as in “is”
ṛ	r	ड़	𑂚	ڑ	ர்த₃	like a flapped “d”, flapping tongue from retroflex to alveolar ridge position
ṛh	rh	ढ़	𑂜	ڑھ	ஃர்த₃	like flapped “d”, flapping tongue from retroflex to alveolar ridge position, and aspirated
f	f	फ़	𑂤𑂺	ف	ஃப	just as “f”
ṟ	_r	ऱ	𑂩𑂺	ڔ	ற	like “ri” as in “Brie”
x	x	–	–	–	ஃஸ	just as ‘x’
Urdu-Arabic						Comments
jh̲	jh	झ़	𑂕𑂺	ژ	ஃஜ	like “s” in “vision”
h̤	,h	ह्	𑂯𑂹	ح	ஃஹ்	like “h” sound but aspirated
ẕ	_z	ज़	𑂔𑂺	ذ	ஃஜ	like “th” as in “that”
s̤	,s	स	𑂮	ص	ஸ	like “s” as in “salt”
ż	ź	ज़	𑂔𑂺	ض	ஃஜ	like “z” when th as in “those”
t̤	,t	त	𑂞	ط	த	like “t” as in “tower”
ẓ	z	ज़	𑂔𑂺	ظ	ஃஜ	like “z” when ‘th’ as in “this”

 

 

Devanagari	ISO 15919	Easy ISO	Comments
ऎ/ ॆ	e	e	To distinguish between long and short ‘e’ in Dravidian languages (South Indian ie Tamil), ‘e’ now represents
ए/ े	ē	é	Note that the use of ē is considered optional in ISO 15919, and using e for ए (long) is acceptable for languages that do not distinguish long and short e.
ऒ/ ॊ	o	o	To distinguish between long and short ‘o’ in Dravidian languages (South Indian ie Tamil), ‘o’ now represents  (short o)
ओ/ ो	ō	ó	Note that the use of ō is considered optional in ISO 15919, and using o for ओ (long) is acceptable for languages that do not distinguish long and short o.
◌ं	ṁ	ḿ	ISO 15919 has two options about anusvāra. (1) In the simplified nasalization option, an anusvāra is always transliterated as ṁ. (2) In the strict nasalization option, anusvāra before a class consonant is transliterated as the class nasal— ṅ before k, kh, g, gh, ṅ;  ñ before c, ch, j, jh, ñ;  ṇ before ṭ, ṭh, ḍ,ḍh, ṇ;  n before t, th, d, dh, n;  m before p, ph, b, bh, m.
	ṅ ñ ṇ n m
◌ँ	m̐	~m	Vowel nasalization is transliterated as a tilde above the transliterated vowel (over the second vowel in the case of a digraph such as aĩ, aũ), except in Sanskrit.

Conjuncts (Normally used in Sanskrit)

Since any consonant that is not explicitly followed by a vowel symbol is implicitly followed by the inherent vowel, अ, Devanagari provides two means of suppressing the inherent vowel:

The halant ( ् ) a diacritical subscript, e.g. क्

 

A conjunct, a ligature synthesized by conjoining two consonant symbols. This method is much more common. The halant is typically only used when typographical difficulties make it difficult to use conjuncts.

 

 

Horizontal Conjuncts

Horizontal conjuncts are formed when the first letter of a conjunct contains a vertical line. The vertical line is deleted, then the modified consonant symbol is conjoined to the second consonant symbol. For example:

न् + द = न्द, हिन्दी

च् + छ = च्छ, अच्छा

स् + त = स्त, नमस्ते

ल् + ल = ल्ल, बिल्ली

म् + ब = म्ब, लम्बा

फ़् + त = फ़्त, मुफ़्त

क् + य = क्य, क्यों

 

Vertical Conjuncts

Consonants that do not end with a vertical line often form vertical conjuncts with the following consonant. The first consonant is written on top of the second consonant. For example:

• ट् + ट = ट्ट , छुट्टी
• ट् + ठ = ट्ठ, चिट्ठी

 

Conjuncts with Nasal Consonants

If a nasal consonant is the first member of a conjunct, it may be written either using a “regular” conjunct (e.g. न् + द = न्द, हिन्दी), or an “anusvar”, which is a dot written above the horizontal line, to the right side of the preceding consonant or vowel. For instance, हिन्दी could be spelled हिंदी, and अण्डा could alternatively be spelled अंडा. Note that the anusvar always indicates a so-called “homorganic” nasal consonant – in other words, it is articulated in the same location in the mouth as the following consonant is articulated. Thus, the anusvar in हिंदी must represent न्, which is a dental nasal consonant, since द, the following letter, represents a dental consonant. Likewise, the anusvar in अंडा must represent the retroflex nasal consonant ण since the following consonant, ड, is a retroflex consonant.

Note that the anusvar is not the same as the bindu (or chandrabindu). The anusvar represents a consonant which is the first letter of a conjunct, whereas the bindu and chandrabindu represent the nasalization of a vowel. The bindu in हैं cannot be considered an anusvar, since there is no conjunct. The anusvar in हिंदी is not considered a bindu since it represents a consonant that is the first member of a conjunct.

 

Conjuncts with र

As the first member of a conjunct, र appears like a small “hook” or “sickle” above and to the right of the following consonant:

• र् + म = र्म, शर्मा
• र् + ट + ई = र्ट, पार्टी

As the second member of a conjunct, र is indicated by a diagonal line adjoined to the vertical line of the preceding consonant:

• क् + र = क्र, शुक्रिया
• म् + र = म्र, उम्र

Four consonants, ट, ठ, ड, ढ, do not have any vertical line, so they indicate a following र with the symbol like an inverted “v”, as follows:

• ट् + र = ट्र, राष्ट्र

 

Special Conjuncts

Some conjuncts look quite different than their component consonants, and are not obvious. Most of these occur in words borrowed from Sanskrit:

 

• क् + ष = क्ष
• त् + त = त्त
• त् + र = त्र
• ज् + ञ = ज्ञ
• द् + द = द्द
• द् + ध = द्ध
• द् + य = द्य
• द् + व = द्व
• श् + र = श्र
• ह् + म = ह्म

 

The conjunct ज + ञ = ज्ञ is pronounced as ग्य (“gya”) in Hindi. Conjuncts are treated as a single unit, and a maatraa is placed before the entire conjunct. There are hundreds of conjuncts, but most conjuncts are easily discernible.