Brahmic family

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History of the alphabet

Middle Bronze Age 19th c. BCE
Meroitic 3rd c. BCE
Ogham 4th c.
Hangul 1443
Canadian Syllabics 1840
Zhuyin 1913
complete genealogy
The Brahmic script and its descendants

Brahmi

The Brahmic family is a family of abugidas (writing systems) used in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Tibet, Mongolia, Manchuria, descended from the Brāhmī script of Mauryan India.

The individual abugidas may be called Brahmic scripts or Indic scripts.

Contents

Brahmic scripts are descended from the Brāhmī script of ancient India, which may have had a common ancestor with European scripts. However, some academics (see references in Rastogi 1980:88-98) believe that the Vikramkhol[1][2] [3] inscription is conclusive evidence that Brahmi had indigenous origins, probably from the Indus Valley (Harappan) script.

The most prominent member of the family is Devanagari, which is used to write several languages of India and Nepal, including Hindi, Konkani, Marathi, Nepali, Nepal Bhasa and Sanskrit. Other northern Brahmic scripts include the Eastern Nagari script, which is used to write Bengali, Assamese, Bishnupriya Manipuri, and other eastern Indic languages, the Oriya script, the Gujarāti script, the Ranjana script, the Prachalit script, the Bhujimol script and the Gurmukhi script. The Dravidian languages of southern India have Brahmic scripts that have evolved making them suitable to southern needs. The earliest evidence for Brahmi script in South India comes from Bhattiprolu in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh [4]. Bhattiprolu was a great centre of Buddhism during 3rd century CE and from where Buddhism spread to east Asia. The present Telugu script is derived from 'Telugu-Kannada script', also known as 'old Kannada script', owing to its similarity to the same[5]. Initially minor changes were made which is now called Tamil brahmi which has far fewer letters than some of the other Indic scripts as it has no separate aspirated or voiced consonants. Later under the influence of Granta vetteluthu evolved which looks similar to present day malayalam script. Still further changes were made in 19th and 20th centuries to make use of printing and typewriting needs before we have the present script.

Burmese, Cambodian, Lao, Thai, Javanese, Balinese and Tibetan are also written in Brahmic scripts, though with considerable modification to suit their phonology. The Siddham (kanji: 悉曇, modern Japanese pronunciation: shittan) script was especially important in Buddhism because many sutras were written in it, and the art of Siddham calligraphy survives today in Japan.

Some characteristics, which may not be present in all the scripts are:

  • Each consonant has an inherent vowel which is usually short 'a' (in Bengali, Oriya, and Assamese, it is short 'ô' due to sound shifts). Other vowels are written by adding to the character. A mark, known in Sanskrit as a virama/halant can be used to indicate the absence of an inherent vowel.
  • Each vowel has two forms, an independent form when not part of a consonant, and a dependent form, when attached to a consonant. Depending on the script, the dependent forms can be either placed to the left of, to the right of, above, below, or on both the left and the right sides of the base consonant.
  • Consonants (up to 5 in Devanagari) can be combined in ligatures. Special marks are added to denote the combination of 'r' with another consonant.
  • Nasalization and aspiration of a consonant's dependent vowel is also noted by separate signs.
  • The traditional ordering can be summarized as follows: vowels, velar consonants, palatal consonants, retroflex consonants, dental consonants, bilabial consonants, approximants, sibilants, and other consonants. Each consonant grouping had four consonants (with all four possible values of voicing and aspiration), and a nasalised consonant.

Many languages using Brahmic scripts are sometimes written in Latin script, primarily for the benefit of non-native speakers or for use in computer software without support for said scripts, but these practices have made little headway in South Asia itself.

Professor Gari Ledyard has hypothesized that the hangul script used to write Korean is based on the Mongol Phagspa script, a descendant of the Brahmic family via Tibetan.

Below are comparison charts of several of the major Indic scripts; pronunciation is indicated in National Library at Calcutta romanization and IPA. Pronunciation is taken from Sanskrit where possible, but other languages where necessary. These lists are not comprehensive; some glyphs are unrepresented.

NLAC IPA Devanagari Eastern Nagari Gurmukhi Gujarati Oriya Tamil Telugu Kannada Malayalam Sinhala Tibetan
k k क ক ਕ ક କ க క ಕ ക ක ཀ
kh kʰ ख খ ਖ ખ ଖ - ఖ ಖ ഖ ඛ ཁ
g ɡ ग গ ਗ ગ ଗ - గ ಗ ഗ ග ག
gh ɡʱ घ ঘ ਘ ઘ ଘ - ఘ ಘ ഘ ඝ -
ṅ ŋ ङ ঙ ਙ ઙ ଙ ங ఙ ಙ ങ ඞ ང
c c च চ ਚ ચ ଚ ச చ ಚ ച ච ཅ
ch cʰ छ ছ ਛ છ ଛ - ఛ ಛ ഛ ඡ ཆ
j ɟ ज জ ਜ જ ଜ ஜ జ ಜ ജ ජ ཇ
jh ɟʱ झ ঝ ਝ ઝ ଝ - ఝ ಝ ഝ ඣ
ñ ɲ ञ ঞ ਞ ઞ ଞ ஞ ఞ ಞ ഞ ඤ ཉ
ṭ ʈ ट ট ਟ ટ ଟ ட ట ಟ ട ට ཊ
ṭh ʈʰ ठ ঠ ਠ ઠ ଠ - ఠ ಠ ഠ ඨ ཋ
ḍ ɖ ड ড ਡ ડ ଡ - డ ಡ ഡ ඩ ཌ
ḍh ɖʱ ढ ঢ ਢ ઢ ଢ - ఢ ಢ ഢ ඪ -
ṇ ɳ ण ণ ਣ ણ ଣ ண ణ ಣ ണ ණ ཎ
t t̺ त ত ਤ ત ତ - త ತ ത ත ཏ
th t̺ʰ थ থ ਥ થ ଥ த థ ಥ ഥ ථ ཐ
d d̺ द দ ਦ દ ଦ - ద ದ ദ ද ད
dh d̺ʰ ध ধ ਧ ધ ଧ - ధ ಧ ധ ධ -
n n न ন ਨ ન ନ ந న ನ ന න ན
ṉ n ऩ - - - - ன - - - -
p p प প ਪ પ ପ ப ప ಪ പ ප པ
ph pʰ फ ফ ਫ ફ ଫ - ఫ ಫ ഫ ඵ ཕ
b b ब ব ਬ બ ବ - బ ಬ ബ බ བ
bh bʱ भ ভ ਭ ભ ଭ - భ ಭ ഭ භ -
m m म ম ਮ મ ମ ம మ ಮ മ ම མ
y j य য ਯ ય ଯ ய య ಯ യ ය ཡ
r r र র/ৰ ਰ ર ର ர ర ರ ര ර ར
ṟ r ऱ - - - - ற ఱ ಱ റ - -
l l ल ল ਲ લ ଲ ல ల ಲ ല ල ལ
ḷ ɭ ळ - ਲ਼ ળ ଳ ள ళ ಳ ള ළ -
ḻ ɻ ऴ - - - - ழ - ೞ ഴ - -
v ʋ व ৱ ਵ વ - வ వ ವ വ ව ཝ
ś ɕ श শ ਸ਼ શ ଶ - శ ಶ ശ ශ ཤ
ṣ ʂ ष ষ - ષ ଷ ஷ ష ಷ ഷ ෂ ཥ
s s स স ਸ સ ସ ஸ స ಸ സ ස ས
h h ह হ ਹ હ ହ ஹ హ ಹ ഹ හ ཧ

Vowels are presented in their independent form on the left of each column, and combined with the corresponding consonant ka on the right.

NLAC IPA Devanagari Eastern Nagari Gurmukhi Gujarati Oriya Tamil Telugu Kannada Malayalam Sinhala Tibetan
a ə अ - অ - ਅ - અ - ଅ - அ க అ - ಅ - അ ക අ ක ཨ -
ā ɑː आ का আ কা ਆ ਕਾ આ કા ଆ କା ஆ கா ఆ కా ಆ ಕಾ ആ കാ ආ කා - -
æ ඇ කැ
ǣ ඈ කෑ
i i इ कि ই কি ਇ ਕਿ ઇ કિ ଇ କି இ கி ఇ కి ಇ ಕಿ ഇ കി ඉ කි ཨི ཀི
ī iː ई की ঈ কী ਈ ਕੀ ઈ કી ଈ କୀ ஈ கீ ఈ కీ ಈ ಕೀ ഈ കീ ඊ කී - -
u u उ कु উ কু ਉ ਕੁ ઉ કુ ଉ କୁ உ கு ఉ కు ಉ ಕು ഉ കു උ කු ཨུ ཀུ
ū uː ऊ कू ঊ কূ ਊ ਕੂ ઊ કૂ ଊ କୂ ஊ கூ ఊ కూ ಊ ಕೂ ഊ കൂ ඌ කූ - -
e e ऎ कॆ - - - - - - - - எ கெ ఎ కె ಎ ಕೆ എ കെ එ කෙ - -
ē eː ए के এ কে ਏ ਕੇ એ કે ଏ କେ ஏ கே ఏ కే ಏ ಕೇ ഏ കേ ඒ කේ ཨེ ཀེ
ai ai ऐ कै ঐ কৈ ਐ ਕੈ ઐ કૈ ଐ କୈ ஐ கை ఐ కై ಐ ಕೈ ഐ കൈ ඓ කෛ - -
o o ऒ कॊ - - - - - - - - ஒ கொ ఒ కొ ಒ ಕೊ ഒ കൊ ඔ කො - -
ō oː ओ को ও কো ਓ ਕੋ ઓ કો ଓ କୋ ஓ கோ ఓ కో ಓ ಕೋ ഓ കോ ඕ කෝ ཨོ ཀོ
au au औ कौ ঔ কৌ ਔ ਕੌ ઔ કૌ ଔ କୌ ஔ கௌ ఔ కౌ ಔ ಕೌ ഔ കൗ ඖ කෞ - -
ṛ ɻ̣ ऋ कृ ঋ কৃ - - ઋ કૃ ଋ କୃ - - ఋ కృ ಋ ಕೃ ഋ കൃ ඍ කෘ - -
ṝ ɻ̣ː ॠ कॄ ৠ কৄ - - ૠ કૄ ୠ - - - ౠ - - - ൠ - ඎ කෲ - -
ḷ ɭ̣ ऌ कॢ ঌ কৢ - - - - ଌ - - - ఌ కౄ ಌ - ഌ ക്ഌ (ඏ)[6] - - -
ḹ ɭ̣ː ॡ कॣ ৡ কৣ - - - - ୡ - - - ౡ - ೡ - ൡ ക്ൡ (ඐ) - - -

Number Devanagari Eastern Nagari Gurmukhi Gujarati Tamil Telugu Kannada Malayalam
0 ० ০ ੦ ૦ ೦ ౦ ೦ ൦
1 १ ১ ੧ ૧ ௧ ౧ ೧ ൧
2 २ ২ ੨ ૨ ௨ ౨ ೨ ൨
3 ३ ৩ ੩ ૩ ௩ ౩ ೩ ൩
4 ४ ৪ ੪ ૪ ௪ ౪ ೪ ൪
5 ५ ৫ ੫ ૫ ௫ ౫ ೫ ൫
6 ६ ৬ ੬ ૬ ௬ ౬ ೬ ൬
7 ७ ৭ ੭ ૭ ௭ ౭ ೭ ൭
8 ८ ৮ ੮ ૮ ௮ ౮ ೮ ൮
9 ९ ৯ ੯ ૯ ௯ ౯ ೯ ൯

Brahmi script - Kanheri Caves
Brahmi script - Kanheri Caves
v • d • e
Unicode scripts

Cuneiform
Cyrillic
Latin
Brahmic

  1. ^ http://www.angelfire.com/de/vu2dpi/Vikram.htm
  2. ^ Rastogi, Naresh Prasad 1980. Origin of Brāhmī Script: The Beginning of Alphabet in India. Varanasi: Chowkhamba Saraswatibhawan.
  3. ^ http://jharsuguda.nic.in/tourism.htm
  4. ^ http://www.buddhavihara.in/ancient.htm
  5. ^ Telugu Language and Literature, S. M. R. Adluri, Figures T1a and T1b (http://www.engr.mun.ca/~adluri/telugu/language/script/script1d.html)
  6. ^ Only ancient written Sinhala
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