Namaste, brother!

I've changed the original. Please change the Hindi version. It turns out that the country is simply called "Napal" in Nepali.

No need to change it at all. :)

Question:

Is the vimana a "diacritic" sign to note the "a" in Divanagari script?

Quite the opposite, the virāma ("stop", "pause") is used to denote there is *not* an a. (A vimāna, by the way, is an airplane)

In Devanagari, a letter is composed of a consonant part and a vowel part (unless it is a vowel only). The vowel is added to the consonant as a diacritic, so क (ka) + े (e) = के (ke). However, when no diacritic is present, the vowel "a" (i.e. the schwa, the 'uh' sound) is attached by default. So क is pronounced as 'ka' and not simply 'k' (pronouncing which is impossible anyway). In traditional Sanskrit, this final, inherent 'a' is always pronounced. राम (rāma), for example.

When it is necessary for a hard stop, a special diacritic called the virāma is used. So now राम् becomes 'rām', with no ending vowels. So while most diacritics are used to add a sound, the virāma eliminates the inherent vowel 'a'.

Technically, if the virāma is used before a word's end, that consonant becomes "joined" to the next consonant. स (sa) + ् + ता (tā) = स्ता (stā). Because consonant clusters are represented as ligatures, the virāma becomes 'invisible', and it is hence only seen at the end of words (or if the writer does not know what how to write the ligature). When typing devanagari, the virāma is now used to combine two consonants into a ligature like how I used it above. स् + ता = स्ता. Without the virāma, it would have been सता 'satā', pronounced 'suh-tah'.

In most modern Indian languages however, the final schwa is ignored anyway. राम is generally read as 'rām', and the final schwa is only stressed when spelling the word. This has caused the virāma to become somewhat redundant at the end of words. Which is why in Nepali, Hindi, Marathi and so on, the word is transcribed as "nepāla", but pronounced "nepāl". In Sanskrit however, the word would indeed be pronounced accurately as "nepāla", as it is written.

So the virana's function is like Arabic's "sukuun" diacritic. It's written like this ° (small circle) and is put above consonants to indicate that they're not followed by vowels.

Thank you very much for this accurate and fascinating explanation.

Ahh, that explains the etymology of the Hindi-Urdu सुकून (sukūna) "rest", "calmness".

Hahaha...

Here are other derivatives from Arabic root SKN:

Askana = to provide housing (to).
Iskaan = housing, action of providing housing (to).
Maskan = housing, house, residence.
Maskuun = inhabited / haunted.
Musakkin = tranquilizer.
Saakin = inhabitant, resident.
Sakaana = population.
Sakan = housing.
Sakana = to live, to inhabit / to settle.
Sakeena = spiritual tranquility (religious term).
Sakkana = to calm, to tranquilize.
Sukina = to be inhabited.
Taskeen = action of calming, tranquilizing.
Uskina = to be housed.

^v^