Brahmic scripts

"May Śiva bless those who take delight in the language of the gods" by Kālidāsa in different Brahmic scripts

The Brahmic scripts are a family of abugida or alphabet writing systems. They are used throughout the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and parts of East Asia, including Japan in the form of Siddhaṃ. They are descended from the Brahmi script of ancient India, and are used by languages of several language families: Indo-European, Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman, Mongolic, Austroasiatic, Austronesian, and Tai. They were also the source of the dictionary order of Japanese kana.^[1]

History

Brahmic scripts descended from the Brahmi script. Brahmi is clearly attested from the 3rd century BC during the reign of Ashoka, who used the script for imperial edicts, but there are some claims of earlier epigraphy found on pottery in South India and Sri Lanka. The most reliable of these were short Brahmi inscriptions dated to the 4th century BC and published by Coningham et al.,^[2] but scattered press reports have claimed both dates as early as the 6th century BC and that the characters are identifiably Tamil Brahmi, though these latter claims do not appear to have been published academically. Northern Brahmi gave rise to the Gupta script during the Gupta period, which in turn diversified into a number of cursives during the Middle Ages, including Siddham, Sharada and Nagari.

The Siddhaṃ script was especially important in Buddhism, as many sutras were written in it. The art of Siddham calligraphy survives today in Japan. The syllabic nature and dictionary order of the modern kana system of Japanese writing is believed to be descended from the Indic scripts, most likely through the spread of Buddhism.^[3]

Southern Brahmi evolved into Old-Kannada, Pallava and Vatteluttu scripts, which in turn diversified into other scripts of South India and Southeast Asia.

Bhattiprolu was a great centre of Buddhism during 3rd century BCE and from where Buddhism spread to east Asia. The present Telugu script is derived from Bhattiprolu Script or "Kannada-Telugu script" or Kadamba script, also known as "Old Telugu script", owing to its similarity to the same.^[4][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.

• 
  Spread of Brahmic family of scripts from India.

Characteristics

Calligraphy
Arabic Chinese Georgian Indian Filipino Islamic Japanese Korean Mongolian Persian Tibetan Western

Some characteristics, which are present in most but not all the scripts, are:

• Each consonant has an inherent vowel which is usually a short 'a' (in Bengali, Assamese and Oriya it is a 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 4 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 alphabetical order is: vowels, velar consonants, palatal consonants, retroflex consonants, dental consonants, bilabial consonants, approximants, sibilants, and other consonants. Each consonant grouping had four stops (with all four possible values of voicing and aspiration), and a nasal consonant.

Comparison

Below are comparison charts of several of the major Indic scripts, organised on the principle that glyphs in the same column all derive from the same Brahmi glyph. Accordingly:

• The charts are not comprehensive. Glyphs may be unrepresented if they don't derive from any Brahmi character, but are later inventions.
• The pronunciations of glyphs in the same column may not be identical. The pronunciation row is only representative; the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) pronunciation is given for Sanskrit where possible, or another language if necessary.

The transliteration is indicated in ISO 15919.

Consonants

ISO[lower-alpha 1]	ka	kha	ga	gha	ṅ	ca	cha	ja	jha	ñ	ṭa	ṭha	ḍa	ḍha	ṇa	ta	tha	da	dha	na	ṉ	pa	pha	ba	bha	ma	ya	ra	ṟ	la	ḷa	ḻ	v	śa	ṣa	sa	h
Assamese	ক	খ	গ	ঘ	ঙ	চ	ছ	জ	ঝ	ঞ	ট	ঠ	ড	ঢ	ণ	ত	থ	দ	ধ	ন		প	ফ	ব	ভ	ম	য	ৰ		ল			ৱ	শ	ষ	স	হ
Bengali	ক	খ	গ	ঘ	ঙ	চ	ছ	জ	ঝ	ঞ	ট	ঠ	ড	ঢ	ণ	ত	থ	দ	ধ	ন		প	ফ	ব	ভ	ম	য	র		ল				শ	ষ	স	হ
Devanagari	क	ख	ग	घ	ङ	च	छ	ज	झ	ञ	ट	ठ	ड	ढ	ण	त	थ	द	ध	न	ऩ	प	फ	ब	भ	म	य	र	ऱ	ल	ळ	ऴ	व	श	ष	स	ह
Gujarati	ક	ખ	ગ	ઘ	ઙ	ચ	છ	જ	ઝ	ઞ	ટ	ઠ	ડ	ઢ	ણ	ત	થ	દ	ધ	ન		પ	ફ	બ	ભ	મ	ય	ર		લ	ળ		વ	શ	ષ	સ	હ
Odia	କ	ଖ	ଗ	ଘ	ଙ	ଚ	ଛ	ଜ	ଝ	ଞ	ଟ	ଠ	ଡ	ଢ	ଣ	ତ	ଥ	ଦ	ଧ	ନ	ନ଼	ପ	ଫ	ବ	ଭ	ମ	ୟ	ର	ର଼	ଲ	ଳ	ଳ଼	ୱ	ଶ	ଷ	ସ	ହ
Gurmukhi	ਕ	ਖ	ਗ	ਘ	ਙ	ਚ	ਛ	ਜ	ਝ	ਞ	ਟ	ਠ	ਡ	ਢ	ਣ	ਤ	ਥ	ਦ	ਧ	ਨ		ਪ	ਫ	ਬ	ਭ	ਮ	ਯ	ਰ		ਲ	ਲ਼		ਵ	ਸ਼		ਸ	ਹ
Tibetan	ཀ	ཁ	ག		ང	ཅ	ཆ	ཇ		ཉ	ཊ	ཋ	ཌ		ཎ	ཏ	ཐ	ད		ན		པ	ཕ	བ		མ	ཡ	ར		ལ			ཝ	ཤ	ཥ	ས	ཧ
Tirhuta	𑒏	𑒐	𑒑	𑒒	𑒓	𑒔	𑒕	𑒖	𑒗	𑒘	𑒙	𑒚	𑒛	𑒜	𑒝	𑒞	𑒟	𑒠	𑒡	𑒢		𑒣	𑒤	𑒥	𑒦	𑒧	𑒨	𑒩		𑒪				𑒬	𑒭	𑒮	𑒯
Sylheti	ꠇ	ꠈ	ꠉ	ꠊ	ꠋ	ꠌ	ꠍ	ꠎ	ꠏ		ꠐ	ꠑ	ꠒ	ꠓ		ꠔ	ꠕ	ꠖ	ꠗ	ꠘ		ꠙ	ꠚ	ꠛ	ꠜ	ꠝ		ꠞ		ꠟ	ꠅ					ꠡ	ꠢ
Brahmi	𑀓	𑀔	𑀕	𑀖	𑀗	𑀘	𑀙	𑀚	𑀛	𑀜	𑀝	𑀞	𑀟	𑀠	𑀡	𑀢	𑀣	𑀤	𑀥	𑀦		𑀧	𑀨	𑀩	𑀪	𑀫	𑀬	𑀭		𑀮	𑀴		𑀯	𑀰	𑀱	𑀲	𑀳
Telugu	క	ఖ	గ	ఘ	ఙ	చ	ఛ	జ	ఝ	ఞ	ట	ఠ	డ	ఢ	ణ	త	థ	ద	ధ	న		ప	ఫ	బ	భ	మ	య	ర	ఱ	ల	ళ	ೞ	వ	శ	ష	స	హ
Kannada	ಕ	ಖ	ಗ	ಘ	ಙ	ಚ	ಛ	ಜ	ಝ	ಞ	ಟ	ಠ	ಡ	ಢ	ಣ	ತ	ಥ	ದ	ಧ	ನ		ಪ	ಫ	ಬ	ಭ	ಮ	ಯ	ರ	ಱ	ಲ	ಳ	ೞ	ವ	ಶ	ಷ	ಸ	ಹ
Sinhala	ක	ඛ	ග	ඝ	ඞ	ච	ඡ	ජ	ඣ	ඤ	ට	ඨ	ඩ	ඪ	ණ	ත	ථ	ද	ධ	න		ප	ඵ	බ	භ	ම	ය	ර		ල	ළ		ව	ශ	ෂ	ස	හ
Malayalam	ക	ഖ	ഗ	ഘ	ങ	ച	ഛ	ജ	ഝ	ഞ	ട	ഠ	ഡ	ഢ	ണ	ത	ഥ	ദ	ധ	ന	ഩ	പ	ഫ	ബ	ഭ	മ	യ	ര	റ	ല	ള	ഴ	വ	ശ	ഷ	സ	ഹ
Tamil	க				ங	ச		ஜ[lower-alpha 2]		ஞ	ட				ண	த				ந	ன	ப				ம	ய	ர	ற	ல	ள	ழ	வ	ஶ[lower-alpha 2]	ஷ[lower-alpha 2]	ஸ[lower-alpha 2]	ஹ[lower-alpha 2]
Burmese	က	ခ	ဂ	ဃ	င	စ	ဆ	ဇ	ဈ	ဉ / ည	ဋ	ဌ	ဍ	ဎ	ဏ	တ	ထ	ဒ	ဓ	န		ပ	ဖ	ဗ	ဘ	မ	ယ	ရ		လ	ဠ	ၔ	ဝ	ၐ	ၑ	သ	ဟ
Khmer	ក	ខ	គ	ឃ	ង	ច	ឆ	ជ	ឈ	ញ	ដ	ឋ	ឌ	ឍ	ណ	ត	ថ	ទ	ធ	ន		ប	ផ	ព	ភ	ម	យ	រ		ល	ឡ		វ	ឝ	ឞ	ស	ហ
Thai	ก	ข	ค	ฆ	ง	จ	ฉ	ช	ฌ	ญ	ฎ[lower-alpha 3]	ฐ	ฑ	ฒ	ณ	ด[lower-alpha 3]	ถ	ท	ธ	น		บ[lower-alpha 3]	ผ	พ	ภ	ม	ย	ร		ล	ฬ		ว	ศ	ษ	ส	ห
Lao	ກ	ຂ	ຄ		ງ	ຈ		ຊ								ດ	ຖ	ທ		ນ		ບ	ຜ	ຟ	ພ	ມ	ຍ	ຣ		ລ			ວ			ສ	ຫ
Balinese	ᬓ	ᬔ	ᬕ	ᬖ	ᬗ	ᬘ	ᬙ	ᬚ	ᬛ	ᬜ	ᬝ	ᬞ	ᬟ	ᬠ	ᬡ	ᬢ	ᬣ	ᬤ	ᬥ	ᬦ		ᬧ	ᬨ	ᬩ	ᬪ	ᬫ	ᬬ	ᬭ		ᬮ			ᬯ	ᬰ	ᬱ	ᬲ	ᬳ
Javanese[lower-alpha 4]	ꦏ	ꦑ[lower-alpha 4]	ꦒ	ꦓ[lower-alpha 4]	ꦔ	ꦕ	ꦖ[lower-alpha 4]	ꦗ	ꦙ[lower-alpha 4]	ꦚ	ꦛ	ꦜ[lower-alpha 4]	ꦝ	ꦞ[lower-alpha 4]	ꦟ[lower-alpha 4]	ꦠ	ꦡ[lower-alpha 4]	ꦢ	ꦣ[lower-alpha 4]	ꦤ	ꦘ	ꦥ	ꦦ[lower-alpha 4]	ꦧ	ꦨ[lower-alpha 4]	ꦩ	ꦪ	ꦫ		ꦭ			ꦮ	ꦯ[lower-alpha 4]	ꦰ[lower-alpha 4]	ꦱ	ꦲ
Sundanese	ᮊ		ᮌ		ᮍ	ᮎ		ᮏ		ᮑ						ᮒ		ᮓ		ᮔ		ᮕ		ᮘ		ᮙ	ᮚ	ᮛ		ᮜ			ᮝ			ᮞ	ᮠ
Lontara	ᨀ		ᨁ		ᨂ	ᨌ		ᨍ		ᨎ						ᨈ		ᨉ		ᨊ		ᨄ		ᨅ		ᨆ	ᨐ	ᨑ		ᨒ			ᨓ			ᨔ	ᨕ
Batak (Toba)	ᯂ		ᯎ		ᯝ			ᯐ		ᯠ/ᯛ						ᯖ		ᯑ		ᯉ		ᯇ		ᯅ		ᯔ		ᯒ		ᯞ			ᯞ			ᯘ	ᯂ
Baybayin	ᜃ		ᜄ		ᜅ											ᜆ		ᜇ		ᜈ		ᜉ		ᜊ		ᜋ	ᜌ	ᜇ		ᜎ						ᜐ	ᜑ
ISO	ka	kha	ga	gha	ṅ	ca	cha	ja	jha	ñ	ṭa	ṭha	ḍa	ḍha	ṇa	ta	tha	da	dha	na	ṉ	pa	pha	ba	bha	ma	ya	ra	ṟ	la	ḷa	ḻ	v	śa	ṣa	sa	h

Notes

1. ↑ This list (tries to) includes characters of same origins, not same sounds. In Bengali র is pronounced as rô but it's originally va which is still used for wa sound in Mithilakshar and modern Assamese ৱ (wabbô) was derived from middle Assamese র (wô). Compare with জ (ja) য (ya) and য় (ẏ) which are pronounced as jô, jô and yô in Bengali and zô, zô and yô in Assamese respectively. য is related to Devanagari य (ya) and it is still pronounced as "ya" in Mithilakshar. Since their sounds shifted, the dots were added to keep the original sounds.
2. 1 2 3 4 5 Pallava grantha letters are not used in pure Tamil but are used for transcribing foreign loanwords.
3. 1 2 3 Modified forms of these letters are used for, but are not restricted to, Sanskrit and Pali in the Thai script.
4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Letters used in Old Javanese. They are now obsolete, but are used for honorifics in contemporary Javanese.

List of Brahmic scripts

Historical

A fragment of Ashoka's 6th pillar edict.

Indo-Aryan languages using their respective Brahmic family scripts (except dark blue- colored Khowar, Pashai, Kohistani, and Urdu- not marked here, which use Arabic derived scripts).

Dravidian languages using their respective Brahmic family scripts (except Brahui which uses Arabic derived script).

The Brahmi script was already divided into regional variants at the time of the earliest surviving epigraphy around the 3rd century BC. Cursives of the Brahmi script began to diversify further from around the 5th century AD and continued to give rise to new scripts throughout the Middle Ages. The main division in antiquity was between northern and southern Brahmi. In the northern group, the Gupta script was very influential, and in the southern group the Vatteluttu and Old-Kannada/Pallava scripts with the spread of Buddhism sent Brahmic scripts throughout Southeast Asia.

See also

• Devanagari transliteration
  • International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration
  • National Library at Kolkata romanization
• Bharati Braille, the unified braille assignments of Indian languages
• Indus script – the earliest writing system on the Indian subcontinent
• ISCII – the coding scheme specifically designed to represent Indic scripts

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brahmic scripts.

• Online Tool which supports Conversion between various Brahmic Scripts
• Windows Indic Script Support
• An Introduction to Indic Scripts
• South Asian Writing Systems
• Enhanced Indic Transliterator Transliterate from romanised script to Indian Languages.
• Indian Transliterator A means to transliterate from romanised to Unicode Indian scripts.
• Imperial Brahmi Font and Text-Editor
• Brahmi Script
• Xlit: Tool for Transliteration between English and Indian Languages
• Padma: Transformer for Indic Scripts – a Firefox add-on