The Brahmic scripts, also known as Indic scripts, are a family of abugida writing systems. They are used throughout the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and parts of East Asia. They are descended from the Brahmi script of ancient India and are used by various languages in several language families in

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

, East and Southeast Asia: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman, Mongolic, Austroasiatic,

Austronesian Austronesian may refer to: *The Austronesian languages *The historical Austronesian peoples The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, M ...

, and Tai. They were also the source of the dictionary order ('' gojūon'') of Japanese '' kana''.

History

Brahmic scripts descended from the Brahmi script. 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 claims of earlier epigraphy found on pottery in southern India and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. The most reliable of these were short Brahmi inscriptions dated to the 4th century BCE and published by Coningham et al. (1996). Northern Brahmi gave rise to the

Gupta script The Gupta script (sometimes referred to as Gupta Brahmi script or Late Brahmi script)Sharma, Ram. '' 'Brahmi Script' ''. Delhi: BR Publishing Corp, 2002 was used for writing Sanskrit and is associated with the Gupta Empire of the Indian subcon ...

during the Gupta period, which in turn diversified into a number of cursives during the medieval period. Notable examples of such medieval scripts, developed by the 7th or 8th century, include Nagari, Siddham and Sharada. The Siddhaṃ script was especially important in Buddhism, as many

sutra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aph ...

s were written in it. The art of Siddham

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

survives today in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The tabular presentation 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. Southern Brahmi evolved into the Kadamba,

Pallava The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as fe ...

and Vatteluttu scripts, which in turn diversified into other scripts of South India and Southeast Asia. Brahmic scripts spread in a peaceful manner,

Indianization Indianisation also known as Indianization, may refer to the spread of Indian languages, culture, diaspora, cuisines, economic reach and impact since India is one of the greatest influencers since ancient times and the current century has been ...

, or the spread of Indian learning. The scripts spread naturally to Southeast Asia, at ports on trading routes.Court, C. (1996). Introduction. In P. T. Daniels & W. Bright (Eds.) ''The World's Writing Systems'' (pp. 443). Oxford: Oxford University Press. At these trading posts, ancient inscriptions have been found in Sanskrit, using scripts that originated in India. At first, inscriptions were made in Indian languages, but later the scripts were used to write the local Southeast Asian languages. Hereafter, local varieties of the scripts were developed. By the 8th century, the scripts had diverged and separated into regional scripts.Court, C. (1996). The spread of Brahmi Script into Southeast Asia. In P. T. Daniels & W. Bright (Eds.) ''The World's Writing Systems'' (pp. 445-449). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Image:Asokan brahmi pillar edict.jpg, A fragment of Ashoka's 6th pillar edict, in Brahmi, the ancestor of all Brahmic scripts File:Brahmic script travel from India.png, Spread of Brahmic family of scripts (and Kharosthi) from India

Characteristics

Some characteristics, which are present in most but not all the scripts, are: * Each consonant has an inherent vowel which is usually a short ‘ ə’ (in Bengali,

Assamese Assamese may refer to: * Assamese people, a socio-ethnolinguistic identity of north-eastern India * People of Assam, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious people of Assam * Assamese language, one of the easternmost Indo-Aryan language ...

and

Odia Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to: * Odia people in Odisha, India * Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family * Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...

, the phoneme is / ɔ/ due to sound shifts). Other vowels are written by adding to the character. A mark, known in Sanskrit as a virama/ halanta, can be used to indicate the absence of an inherent vowel. * Each vowel has two forms, an independent form when not attached to 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 Ligature may refer to: * Ligature (medicine), a piece of suture used to shut off a blood vessel or other anatomical structure ** Ligature (orthodontic), used in dentistry * Ligature (music), an element of musical notation used especially in the me ...

. 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 consonant In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a labial consonant articulated with both lips. Frequency Bilabial consonants are very common across languages. Only around 0.7% of the world's languages lack bilabial consonants altogether, including Tlingi ...

s, approximants, sibilants, and other consonants. Each consonant grouping had four

stops Stop may refer to: Places *Stop, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States * Stop (Rogatica), a village in Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Facilities * Bus stop * Truck stop, a type of rest stop for truck dri ...

(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 do not 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 The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic transcription, phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standa ...

(IPA) pronunciation is given for Sanskrit where possible, or another language if necessary. The transliteration is indicated in

ISO 15919 ISO 15919 (Transliteration of Devanagari and related Indic scripts into Latin characters) is one of a series of international standards for romanization by the International Organization for Standardization. It was published in 2001 and uses dia ...

Consonants

;Notes

Vowels

Vowels are presented in their independent form on the left of each column, and in their corresponding dependent form (vowel sign) combined with the consonant ''k'' on the right. A glyph for ''ka'' is an independent consonant letter itself without any vowel sign, where the vowel ''a'' is inherent. Notes

Numerals

Notes

List of Brahmic scripts

Historical

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 Brahmi (; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' o ...

. In the northern group, the

was very influential, and in the southern group the Vatteluttu and Kadamba/

scripts with the spread of Buddhism sent Brahmic scripts throughout Southeast Asia.

Northern Brahmic

Gupta Gupta () is a common surname or last name of Indian origin. It is based on the Sanskrit word गोप्तृ ''goptṛ'', which means 'guardian' or 'protector'. According to historian R. C. Majumdar, the surname ''Gupta'' was adopted by se ...

, 4th century ** Sharada *** Landa **** Gurmukhi **** Khojki ****

Khudabadi Khudabadi (देवदेन/ Devden) was a script used to write the Sindhi language, generally used by some Sindhi Hindus even in the present-day. The script originates from Khudabad, a city in Sindh, and is named after it. It is also known ...

****

Mahajani Mahajani is a Laṇḍā mercantile script that was historically used in northern India for writing accounts and financial records in Marwari, Hindi and Punjabi. It is a Brahmic script and is written left-to-right. Mahajani refers to the Hin ...

**** Multani *** Takri **** Dogri ****

Sirmauri Sirmauri is a Western Pahari language spoken in the Sirmaur district in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western ...

** Siddhaṃ *** Nagari **** Devanagari **** Modi **** Gujarati **** Nandinagari **** Kaithi ***** Sylheti Nagari *** Kamarupi ****

*** Gaudi **** Bengali–Assamese (Eastern Nagari) *****

***** Bengali **** Tirhuta (Mithilakshar) ****

*** Nepalese ****

Bhujimol The Bhujimol script (or ''Bhujinmol'', Devanagari: or ) is the most ancient form of Nepal script. It is also one of the most common varieties of the Nepal alphabet. The Bhujimol script has been used to write Nepal Bhasa and Sanskrit. Etymolo ...

**** Ranjana ***** Soyombo **** Pracalit ** Tibetan *** Meetei Mayek *** Lepcha ****

Limbu Limbu may refer to: * Limbu people, an indigenous tribe living in Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan ** Rambahadur Limbu (born 1939), Nepalese Gurkha recipient of the Victoria Cross * Limbu language * Limbu script ** Limbu (Unicode block) Limbu is a Unicod ...

*** Khema *** 'Phags-pa **** Zanabazar square *** Marchen **** Marchung **** Pungs-chen **** Pungs-chung **** Drusha ** Dives Akuru ** Kalinga ** Bhaiksuki * Tocharian (Slanting Brahmi)

Southern Brahmic

* Tamil-Brahmi, 2nd century BC **

*** Tamil *** Grantha **** Malayalam **** Tigalari **** Saurashtra *** Khmer **** Khom Thai **** ''Proto-Tai script?'' ***** Sukhothai ****** Thai ****** Fakkham ******* Thai Noi ******** Lao ***** Tai Viet ***** Dai Don ***** Lai Tay ***** Lai Pao *** Cham ***

Kawi Kawi may refer to: * Kawi language, oldest attested phase of the Javanese language * Kawi script, writing system used across Southeast Asia from the 8th century to around 1500 AD ::Kawi (Unicode block), the script in Unicode * Mount Kawi, a volcano ...

**** Balinese ****

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, ...

****

Buda Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...

**** Javanese ****

Old Sundanese Old Sundanese (Sundanese script: , Old Sundanese script: , Buda script: , ) is the earliest recorded stage of the Sundanese language which is spoken in the western part of Java. The evidence is recorded in inscriptions from around the 12th to ...

***** Sundanese **** Lampung **** Lontara **** Makasar **** Rencong **** Rejang ****

Baybayin (, ''pre-kudlít'': , ''virama-krus-kudlít'': , ''virama-pamudpod'': ; also formerly commonly incorrectly known as alibata) is a Philippine script. The script is an abugida belonging to the family of the Brahmic scripts. Geographically, it ...

***** Buhid ***** Hanunó'o *****

Tagbanwa The Tagbanwa people ( Tagbanwa: ) are one of the oldest ethnic groups in the Philippines, and can be mainly found in the central and northern Palawan. Research has shown that the Tagbanwa are possible descendants of the Tabon Man, thus making th ...

***** Kulitan ***** Basahan *** Mon–Burmese **** Modern Mon ****

Burmese Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (hor ...

*****

Chakma Chakma may refer to: *Chakma people, a Tibeto-Burman people of Bangladesh and Northeast India *Chakma language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them **Chakma script ***Chakma (Unicode block) Chakma is a Unicode block containing characters for ...

*****

S'gaw Karen S’gaw, S'gaw Karen, or S’gaw K’Nyaw, commonly known as Karen, is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the S'gaw Karen people of Myanmar and Thailand. A Karenic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, S'gaw Karen is spoken by over 2 ...

***** Shan ***** Tanchangya ***** ''Lik-Tai scripts'' ******

Ahom Ahom may refer to: *Ahom people, an ethnic community in Assam * Ahom language, a language associated with the Ahom people *Ahom religion, an ethnic folk religion of Tai-Ahom people *Ahom alphabet, a script used to write the Ahom language * Ahom kin ...

****** Khamti ****** Tai Le **** Tai Tham ***** New Tai Lue *** Pyu ** Vatteluttu ***

Kolezhuthu Koleḻuttu, popularly romanised as Kolezhuthu (കോലെഴുത്ത്), was a syllabic alphabet of Kerala used for writing Malayalam language.Narayanan, M. G. S. ''Perumāḷs of Kerala.'' Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 379-80 and ...

*** Malayanma * Sinhala * Bhattiprolu ** Kadamba *** Telugu-Kannada **** Kannada ***** Goykanadi ****

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

Unicode

As of Unicode version 15.0, the following Brahmic scripts have been encoded:

References

External links

Online Tool which supports Conversion between various Brahmic Scripts

Windows Indic Script Support

An Introduction to Indic Scripts

Enhanced Indic Transliterator
Transliterate from romanised script to Indian Languages.

A means to transliterate from romanised to Unicode Indian scripts.
Imperial Brahmi Font and Text-Editor

* ttp://padma.mozdev.org/ Padma: Transformer for Indic Scripts – a Firefox add-on {{DEFAULTSORT:Brahmic Family Of Scripts