Brahmic family of scripts

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The Brahmic family is a family of syllabaries (writing systems) used in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Central Asia and East Asia, descended from the Brāhmī script.

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

These scripts are used in many language families, these are Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Mongolic, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic, Austronesian, Tai, sometimes Japonic and possibly Korean.

History

An inscription in Old Tamil script (Vatteluttu) from the Later Chola period, circa 11th century AD. Old Tamil is a direct descendant of the Brahmi writing system

Brahmic scripts are descended from the Brahmi script. The Brahmi script itself is likely derived from the Aramaic alphabet as it was in use throughout Achaemenid Persia in the 6th century BCE. Brahmi is clearly attested from the 3rd century BCE during the reign of Ashoka, who used the script for imperial edicts, but there are some recent finds of fragmentary epigraphy in Tamil Brahmi, found in Bhattiprolu and elsewhere, claimed to date to the 4th or 5th century BCE.

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 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.

Southern Brahmi evolved into the Grantha script among others, which in turn diversified into numerous scripts of Southeast Asia.

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 Bhattiprolu Script or 'Kannada-Telugu script', also known as 'old Kannada script', owing to its similarity to the same^{[1] [2]}.

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.

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.

Characteristics

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.

Comparison

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. Some pronunciations are different from the ones listed.

Consonants

NL	IPA	Brahmi	Dev	Beng	Gurmukhi	Gujarati	Oriya	Tamil	Telugu	Kannada	Malayalam	Sinhala	Tibetan	Thai	Burmese	Khmer	Lao
k	k		क	ক	ਕ	ક	କ	க்	క	ಕ	ക	ක	ཀ	ก	က	ក	ກ
kh	kʰ		ख	খ	ਖ	ખ	ଖ		ఖ	ಖ	ഖ	ඛ	ཁ	ข	ခ	ខ	ຂ
g	ɡ		ग	গ	ਗ	ગ	ଗ		గ	ಗ	ഗ	ග	ག	ค	ဂ	គ
gh	ɡʱ		घ	ঘ	ਘ	ઘ	ଘ		ఘ	ಘ	ഘ	ඝ		ฆ	ဃ	ឃ	ຄ
ṅ	ŋ		ङ	ঙ	ਙ	ઙ	ଙ	ங்	ఙ	ಙ	ങ	ඞ	ང	ง	င	ង	ງ
c	c		च	চ	ਚ	ચ	ଚ	ச்	చ	ಚ	ച	ච	ཅ	จ	စ	ច	ຈ
ch	cʰ		छ	ছ	ਛ	છ	ଛ		ఛ	ಛ	ഛ	ඡ	ཆ	ฉ	ဆ	ឆ	ສ
j	ɟ		ज	জ	ਜ	જ	ଜ	ஜ்	జ	ಜ	ജ	ජ	ཇ	ช	ဇ	ជ	ຊ
jh	ɟʱ		झ	ঝ	ਝ	ઝ	ଝ		ఝ	ಝ	ഝ	​ඣ​		ฌ	ဈ	ឈ
ñ	ɲ		ञ	ঞ	ਞ	ઞ	ଞ	ஞ்	ఞ	ಞ	ഞ	ඤ	ཉ	ญ	ဉ/ည	ញ	ຍ
ṭ	ʈ		ट	ট	ਟ	ટ	ଟ	ட்	ట	ಟ	ട	ට	ཊ	ฏ	ဋ	ដ
ṭh	ʈʰ		ठ	ঠ	ਠ	ઠ	ଠ		ఠ	ಠ	ഠ	ඨ	ཋ	ฐ	ဌ	ឋ
ḍ	ɖ		ड	ড	ਡ	ડ	ଡ		డ	ಡ	ഡ	ඩ	ཌ	ฑ	ဍ	ឌ
ḍh	ɖʱ		ढ	ঢ	ਢ	ઢ	ଢ		ఢ	ಢ	ഢ	ඪ		ฒ	ဎ	ឍ
ṇ	ɳ		ण	ণ	ਣ	ણ	ଣ	ண்	ణ	ಣ	ണ	ණ	ཎ	ณ	ဏ	ណ
t	t̺		त	ত	ਤ	ત	ତ	த்	త	ತ	ത	ත	ཏ	ต	တ	ត	ຕ
th	t̺ʰ		थ	থ	ਥ	થ	ଥ		థ	ಥ	ഥ	ථ	ཐ	ถ	ထ	ថ	ຖ
d	d̺		द	দ	ਦ	દ	ଦ		ద	ದ	ദ	ද	ད	ท	ဒ	ទ	ທ
dh	d̺ʰ		ध	ধ	ਧ	ધ	ଧ		ధ	ಧ	ധ	ධ		ธ	ဓ	ធ
n	n		न	ন	ਨ	ન	ନ	ந்	న	ನ	ന	න	ན	น	န	ន	ນ
ṉ	n		ऩ					ன்							ဏ
p	p		प	প	ਪ	પ	ପ	ப்	ప	ಪ	പ	ප	པ	ป	ပ	ប	ປ
ph	pʰ		फ	ফ	ਫ	ફ	ଫ		ఫ	ಫ	ഫ	ඵ	ཕ	ผ	ဖ	ផ	ຜ
b	b		ब	ব	ਬ	બ	ବ		బ	ಬ	ബ	බ	བ	พ	ဗ	ព	ຟ
bh	bʱ		भ	ভ	ਭ	ભ	ଭ		భ	ಭ	ഭ	භ		ภ	ဘ	ភ	ພ
m	m		म	ম	ਮ	મ	ମ	ம்	మ	ಮ	മ	ම	མ	ม	မ	ម	ມ
y	j		य	য	ਯ	ય	ଯ	ய்	య	ಯ	യ	ය	ཡ	ย	ယ	យ	ຢ
r	r		र	র/ৰ	ਰ	ર	ର	ர்	ర	ರ	ര	ර	ར	ร	ရ	រ	ຣ
ṟ	r		ऱ					ற்	ఱ	ಱ	റ				ၒ
l	l		ल	ল	ਲ	લ	ଲ	ல்	ల	ಲ	ല	ල	ལ	ล	လ	ល	ລ
ḷ	ɭ		ळ		ਲ਼	ળ	ଳ	ள்	ళ	ಳ	ള	ළ			ဠ
ḻ	ɻ		ऴ					ழ்		ೞ	ഴ				ၔ
v	ʋ		व	ৱ	ਵ	વ		வ்	వ	ವ	വ	ව	ཝ	ว	ဝ	វ	ວ
ś	ʃ		श	শ	ਸ਼	શ	ଶ		శ	ಶ	ശ	ශ	ཤ	ศ	ၐ	ឝ
ṣ	ʂ		ष	ষ		ષ	ଷ	ஷ	ష	ಷ	ഷ	ෂ	ཥ	ษ	ၑ	ឞ
s	s		स	স	ਸ	સ	ସ	ஸ்	స	ಸ	സ	ස	ས	ส	သ	ស
h	h		ह	হ	ਹ	હ	ହ	ஹ்	హ	ಹ	ഹ	හ	ཧ	ห	ဟ	ហ	ຫ

Vowels

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	Brahmi	Devanāgarī		Eastern Nagari		Gurmukhī		Gujarati		Oriya		Tamil		Telugu		Kannada		Malayalam		Sinhala		Tibetan		Burmese
a	ə		अ		অ		ਅ		અ		ଅ		அ	க	అ		ಅ		അ	ക	අ	ක	ཨ		အ	က
ā	ɑː		आ	का	আ	কা	ਆ	ਕਾ	આ	કા	ଆ	କା	ஆ	கா	ఆ	కా	ಆ	ಕಾ	ആ	കാ	ආ	කා	ཨཱ	ཀཱ	အာ	ကာ
æ					অ্যা																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	ဣ	ကိ
ī	iː		ई	की	ঈ	কী	ਈ	ਕੀ	ઈ	કી	ଈ	କୀ	ஈ	கீ	ఈ	కీ	ಈ	ಕೀ	ഈ	കീ	ඊ	කී	ཨཱི	ཀཱི	ဤ	ကီ
u	u		उ	कु	উ	কু	ਉ	ਕੁ	ઉ	કુ	ଉ	କୁ	உ	கு	ఉ	కు	ಉ	ಕು	ഉ	കു	උ	කු	ཨུ	ཀུ	ဥ	ကု
ū	uː		ऊ	कू	ঊ	কূ	ਊ	ਕੂ	ઊ	કૂ	ଊ	କୂ	ஊ	கூ	ఊ	కూ	ಊ	ಕೂ	ഊ	കൂ	ඌ	කූ	ཨཱུ	ཀཱུ	ဦ	ကူ
e	e		ऎ	कॆ									எ	கெ	ఎ	కె	ಎ	ಕೆ	എ	കെ	එ	කෙ			ဧ	ကေ
ē	eː		ए	के	এ	কে	ਏ	ਕੇ	એ	કે	ଏ	କେ	ஏ	கே	ఏ	కే	ಏ	ಕೇ	ഏ	കേ	ඒ	කේ	ཨེ	ཀེ	အေး	ကေး
ai	əi		ऐ	कै	ঐ	কৈ	ਐ	ਕੈ	ઐ	કૈ	ଐ	କୈ	ஐ	கை	ఐ	కై	ಐ	ಕೈ	ഐ	കൈ	ඓ	කෛ	ཨཻ	ཀཻ
o	o		ऒ	कॊ									ஒ	கொ	ఒ	కొ	ಒ	ಕೊ	ഒ	കൊ	ඔ	කො			ဩ	ကော
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	əu		औ	कौ	ঔ	কৌ	ਔ	ਕੌ	ઔ	કૌ	ଔ	କୌ	ஔ	கௌ	ఔ	కౌ	ಔ	ಕೌ	ഔ	കൗ	ඖ	කෞ	ཨཽ	ཀཽ	ဪ	ကော်
ṛ	r̩		ऋ	कृ	ঋ	কৃ			ઋ	કૃ	ଋ	କୃ			ఋ	కృ	ಋ	ಕೃ	ഋ	കൃ	ඍ	කෘ	རྀ	ཀྲྀ	ၒ	ကၖ
ṝ	r̩ː		ॠ	कॄ	ৠ	কৄ			ૠ	કૄ	ୠ				ౠ				ൠ		ඎ	කෲ	རཱྀ	ཀཷ	ၓ	ကၗ
ḷ	l̩		ऌ	कॢ	ঌ	কৢ					ଌ				ఌ	కౄ	ಌ		ഌ	ക്ഌ	(ඏ)[3]		ལྀ	ཀླྀ	ၔ	ကၘ
ḹ	l̩ː		ॡ	कॣ	ৡ	কৣ					ୡ				ౡ		ೡ		ൡ	ക്ൡ	(ඐ)		ལཱྀ	ཀླཱྀ	ၕ	ကၙ

Numerals

List of Brahmic scripts

Scripts derived from Brahmi.

Historical

The Brahmi script was already divided into regional variants at the time of the earliest surviving epigraphy around the 3rd century BCE. 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 Grantha script with the spread of Hinduism spread Brahmic scripts throughout Southeast Asia.

• Northern Brahmic
  • Gupta script, 5th century
    • Sharada, 8th century
    • Siddham, 7th century
      • Phagspa, 13th century
    • Nagari, 8th century
      • Eastern Nagari, 11th century
      • Devanagari, 13th century
      • Kaithi, Sylheti Nagari, 16th century
      • Modi, 17th century
  • Nepal
    • Bhujimol, 6th century
    • Ranjana, 12th century
      • Soyombo, 17th century
    • Prachalit
  • Mithilakshar, 15th century

• Southern Brahmi (Tamil Brahmi, Kalinga, Bhattiprolu)
  • Vatteluttu
  • Grantha, 6th century
    • Dhives Akuru
    • Kawi script, 8th century
      • Batak, 14th century
  • Kadamba, 5th century

• Tocharian script ("Slanting Brahmi"), 7th century
• Ahom, 13th century
• Tai Tham (Lanna), 14th century
• Meeitei Mayek

Contemporary

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Brahmic scripts

• ISCII — the coding scheme specifically designed to represent Indic scripts.

External links

• Windows Indic Script Support
• An Introduction to Indic Scripts
• South Asian Writing Systems
• Indian Transliterator A means to transliterate from romanized to Unicode Indian scripts.
• Bonji Siddham Character & Pronunciation
• Imperial Brahmi Font and Text-Editor
• Brahmi Script
• Padma: Transformer for Indic Scripts – a Firefox add-on

References

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