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 consonants, approximants, sibilants, and other consonants. Each consonant grouping had four stop consonant, 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 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 help:IPA, International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) pronunciation is given for Sanskrit where possible, or another language if necessary. The transliteration is indicated in ISO 15919.

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 vowel, 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 Tamil Brahmi, southern Brahmi. In the northern group, the

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

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

Northern Brahmic

* Gupta script, Gupta, 4th century ** Sharada *** Laṇḍā scripts, Landa **** Gurmukhi **** Khojki script, Khojki **** Khudabadi script, Khudabadi **** Mahajani **** Multani script, Multani *** Takri script, Takri **** Dogri script, Dogri **** Sirmauri script, Sirmauri ** Siddhaṃ script, Siddhaṃ *** Nagari **** Devanagari **** Modi script, Modi **** Gujarati script, Gujarati **** Nandinagari **** Kaithi ***** Sylheti Nagari *** Kamarupi script, Kamarupi **** Assamese alphabet, Assamese *** Gaudi script, Gaudi **** Bengali–Assamese script, Bengali–Assamese (Eastern Nagari) ***** Assamese alphabet, Assamese ***** Bengali alphabet, Bengali **** Tirhuta script, Tirhuta (Mithilakshar) **** Odia script, Odia *** Nepalese scripts, Nepalese **** Bhujimol script, Bhujimol **** Ranjana script, Ranjana ***** Soyombo script, Soyombo **** Pracalit script, Pracalit ** Tibetan script, Tibetan *** Meitei script, Meetei Mayek *** Lepcha script, Lepcha **** Limbu script, Limbu *** Khema script, Khema *** 'Phags-pa script, 'Phags-pa **** Zanabazar square script, Zanabazar square *** Marchen script, Marchen **** Marchung **** Pungs-chen **** Pungs-chung **** Drusha ** Dives Akuru ** Kalinga script, Kalinga ** Bhaiksuki script, Bhaiksuki * Tocharian script, Tocharian (Slanting Brahmi)

Southern Brahmic

* Tamil-Brahmi, 2nd century BC **

*** Tamil script, Tamil *** Grantha script, Grantha **** Malayalam script, Malayalam **** Tigalari script, Tigalari **** Saurashtra script, Saurashtra *** Khmer script, Khmer **** Khom Thai script, Khom Thai **** ''Proto-Tai script?'' ***** Sukhothai script, Sukhothai ****** Thai script, Thai ****** Fakkham script, Fakkham ******* Thai Noi script, Thai Noi ******** Lao script, Lao ***** Tai Viet script, Tai Viet ***** Dai Don script, Dai Don ***** Lai Tay script, Lai Tay ***** Lai Pao script, Lai Pao *** Cham script, Cham *** Kawi script, Kawi **** Balinese script, Balinese **** Batak script, Batak **** Buda script, Buda **** Javanese script, Javanese **** Old Sundanese script, Old Sundanese ***** Sundanese script, Sundanese **** Lampung script, Lampung **** Lontara script, Lontara **** Makasar script, Makasar **** Rencong script, Rencong **** Rejang script, Rejang **** Baybayin ***** Buhid script, Buhid ***** Hanunó'o script, Hanunó'o ***** Tagbanwa script, Tagbanwa ***** Kulitan alphabet, Kulitan ***** Basahan *** Mon–Burmese script, Mon–Burmese **** Mon alphabet, Modern Mon **** Burmese alphabet, Burmese ***** Chakma script, Chakma ***** S'gaw Karen alphabet, S'gaw Karen ***** Shan script, Shan ***** Tanchangya script, Tanchangya ***** ''Lik-Tai scripts'' ****** Ahom script, Ahom ****** Khamti script, Khamti ****** Tai Le script, Tai Le **** Tai Tham script, Tai Tham ***** New Tai Lue alphabet, New Tai Lue *** Pyu script, Pyu ** Vatteluttu *** Kolezhuthu *** Malayanma * Sinhala script, Sinhala * Bhattiprolu script, Bhattiprolu ** Kadamba *** Telugu-Kannada alphabet, Telugu-Kannada **** Kannada script, Kannada ***** Goykanadi **** Telugu script, Telugu

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

* [http://padma.mozdev.org/ Padma: Transformer for Indic Scripts] – a Firefox add-on {{DEFAULTSORT:Brahmic Family Of Scripts Brahmic scripts, Abugida writing systems,