Reference
Krutidev Symbols & Punctuation
Krutidev reassigns most symbol keys to Hindi characters. This page shows how to type common symbols like percentage, brackets, slash, and quotes.
In Krutidev, most symbol keys produce Hindi characters instead of symbols. The "%" key types "ः" (visarga), the "/" key types "ध्", and brackets produce "ख्" and ",". This catches every Krutidev beginner off guard. To type the actual symbol, you need to know the alternate key combination listed in the tables below.
The most common situation: you need to type a percentage sign in a government report typed in Krutidev, but pressing "%" gives you visarga instead. The table below shows exactly which key combination produces each symbol.
Common Examples
| You want to type | But pressing that key gives | Instead, use |
|---|---|---|
| % (percentage) | ः (visarga) | Shift+5 in English font, or type "izfr'kr" for the Hindi word |
| ( ) (brackets) | Shift+9 gives "(" works normally | Shift+9 and Shift+0 |
| / (slash) | ध् (half dha) | Type "2" on the Shift layer (Shift+2 = /) |
| . (full stop) | ण् (half na) | Use "-" key (hyphen key gives period in Krutidev) |
Punctuation Marks
| Symbol | Name | Key | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| । | Purna Viram (Full Stop) | Shift+a | The standard Hindi sentence-ending mark |
| , | Comma (Alp Viram) | ] key | Not the standard comma key - that gives <span lang="hi">ए</span> |
| ? | Question Mark | Backslash | The Shift+/ key gives <span lang="hi">झ</span> instead |
| ! | Exclamation Mark | Shift+1 | Same as English keyboard |
| : | Colon | Shift+; | Visarga (<span lang="hi">ः</span>) uses % (Shift+5) |
| ; | Semicolon | Shift+9 | Standard semicolon key gives <span lang="hi">य</span> |
Brackets & Parentheses
| Symbol | Name | Key | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| ( | Left Parenthesis | Alt+0188 | Shift+9 gives semicolon in Krutidev |
| ) | Right Parenthesis | Alt+0189 | Shift+0 does not produce ) in Krutidev |
| { | Left Curly Brace | Alt+0191 | Shift+[ gives <span lang="hi">क्ष</span> in Krutidev |
| } | Right Curly Brace | Alt+0192 | Shift+] gives a different mapping |
| [ | Left Square Bracket | Varies | Not directly available - use copy-paste |
| ] | Right Square Bracket | Varies | Not directly available - use copy-paste |
Quotation Marks
| Symbol | Name | Key | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| ‘ | Left Single Quote | Shift+6 | Opening quotation mark |
| ’ | Right Single Quote | Shift+8 | Closing quotation mark |
| “ | Left Double Quote | Alt+0222 | Opening double quote |
| ” | Right Double Quote | Alt+0223 | Closing double quote |
Mathematical Symbols
| Symbol | Name | Key | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| + | Plus Sign | Not mapped | Shift+= adds nukta (<span lang="hi">़</span>) in Krutidev |
| = | Equals Sign | Alt+0190 | Standard = key gives <span lang="hi">त्र</span> |
| - | Hyphen/Minus | Shift+7 | Standard - key stays as hyphen |
| % | Percentage | Not mapped | Shift+5 gives <span lang="hi">ः</span> (visarga) in Krutidev |
| / | Forward Slash | Shift+2 | Standard / key gives <span lang="hi">ध्</span> |
The Key Remapping Problem
Krutidev was designed in the 1990s when Hindi computing was in its infancy. The font needed to fit all 45+ Devanagari characters, 13 matras, 10+ conjuncts, and punctuation into the ~95 printable ASCII positions (codes 32-126). That left no room for English symbols.
The result: every symbol key on your keyboard produces a Hindi character instead. The comma key gives ए, the period gives ण्, the slash gives ध्, the brackets give ख् and comma, and the equals sign gives त्र. Only the number keys (0-9) and the hyphen retained their original English function.
This is the fundamental reason why Krutidev text cannot be shared digitally without conversion. Unicode solved this problem by assigning each script its own code range, so Hindi characters never conflict with English symbols.