Brahmic scripts

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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, East and Southeast Asia: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman,
Mongolic, Austroasiatic, Austronesian, and Tai. They were also the source of the dictionary order
(gojūon) of Japanese kana.[1]
A Sanskrit Phrase in different Brahmic Scripts.

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. The most
reliable of these were short Brahmi inscriptions dated to the 4th century BCE and published by
Coningham et al. (1996).[2] Northern Brahmi gave rise to the Gupta script 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 sutras were written in it. The
art of Siddham calligraphy survives today in Japan. 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.[1]

Southern Brahmi evolved into the Kadamba, Pallava and Vatteluttu scripts, which in turn
diversified into other scripts of South India and Southeast Asia. Brahmic scripts spread in a
peaceful manner, Indianization, or the spread of Indian learning. The scripts spread naturally to
Southeast Asia, at ports on trading routes.[3] 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.[4]

A fragment of Ashoka's 6th pillar edict, in Brahmi, the ancestor of all Brahmic scripts

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 and
Odia, 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. 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 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 (IPA) pronunciation is given for
Sanskrit where possible, or another language if necessary.

The transliteration is indicated in ISO 15919.

Consonants
ISO[a] ka kha ga gha ṅa ca cha ja jha ña ṭa ṭha ḍa
Ashoka
Brahmi
𑀓 𑀔 𑀕 𑀖 𑀗 𑀘 𑀙 𑀚 𑀛 𑀜 𑀝 𑀞

Devanagari क ख ग घ ङ च छ ज झ ञ ट ठ ड
Bengali-
Assamese
ক খ গ ঘ ঙ চ ছ জ ঝ ঞ ট ঠ ড
Gurmukhi ਕ ਖ ਗ ਘ ਙ ਚ ਛ ਜ ਝ ਞ ਟ ਠ ਡ
Gujarati ક ખ ગ ઘ ઙ ચ છ જ ઝ ઞ ટ ઠ ડ
Odia କ ଖ ଗ ଘ ଙ ଚ ଛ ଜ ଝ ଞ ଟ ଠ ଡ
Tamil க ங ச ஜ ஞ ட
Telugu క ఖ గ ఘ ఙ చ ఛ జ ఝ ఞ ట ఠ డ
Kannada ಕ ಖ ಗ ಘ ಙ ಚ ಛ ಜ ಝ ಞ ಟ ಠ ಡ
Malayalam ക ഖ ഗ ഘ ങ ച ഛ ജ ഝ ഞ ട ഠ ഡ
Sinhala ක ඛ ග ඝ ඞ ච ඡ ජ ඣ ඤ ට ඨ ඩ
Tibetan ཀ ཁ ག གྷ ང ཅ ཆ ཇ ཛྷ ཉ ཊ ཋ ཌ
Meitei
Mayek[b]
ꯀ ꯈ ꯒ ꯘ ꯉ ꯆ ꫢ ꯖ ꯓ ꫣ ꫤ ꫥ ꫦ

Lepcha ᰀ ᰂ ᰃ ᰅ ᰆ ᰇ ᰈ ᰉ ᱍ ᱎ ᱏ
Limbu ᤁ ᤂ ᤃ ᤄ ᤅ ᤆ ᤇ ᤈ ᤉ ᤊ
Tirhuta 𑒏 𑒐 𑒑 𑒒 𑒓 𑒔 𑒕 𑒖 𑒗 𑒘 𑒙 𑒚
Kaithi 𑂍 𑂎 𑂏 𑂐 𑂑 𑂒 𑂓 𑂔 𑂕 𑂖 𑂗 𑂘 𑂙
Grantham 𑌕 𑌖 𑌗 𑌘 𑌙 𑌚 𑌛 𑌜 𑌝 𑌞 𑌟 𑌠
Sylheti
ꠇ ꠈ ꠉ ꠊ ꠌ ꠍ ꠎ ꠏ ꠐ ꠑ ꠒ
Nagari

Chakma[c] 𑄇 𑄈 𑄉 𑄊 𑄋 𑄌 𑄍 𑄎 𑄏 𑄐 𑄑 𑄒 𑄓
ဉ/
Burmese က ခ ဂ ဃ င စ ဆ ဇ ဈ ဋ ဌ ဍ
ည
Khmer ក ខ គ ឃ ង ច ឆ ជ ឈ ញ ដ ឋ ឌ
Thai ก ข,ฃ[d] ค,ฅ[d] ฆ ง จ ฉ ช,ซ[d] ฌ ญ ฎ,[d]ฏ ฐ ฑ
Lao ກ ຂ ຄ ຆ[e] ງ ຈ ຉ[e] ຊ ຌ[e] ຎ[e] ຏ[e] ຐ[e] ຑ

ISO ka kha ga gha ṅa ca cha ja jha ña ṭa ṭha ḍ

ISO[a] ka kha ga gha ṅa ca cha ja jha ña ṭa ṭha ḍa
Cham ꨆ ꨇ ꨈ ꨉ ꨋ ꨌ ꨍ ꨎ ꨏ ꨑ

Balinese ᬓ ᬔ ᬕ ᬖ ᬗ ᬘ ᬙ ᬚ ᬛ ᬜ ᬝ ᬞ ᬟ

Javanese[f] ꦏ ꦑ[f] ꦒ ꦓ[f] ꦔ ꦕ ꦖ[f] ꦗ ꦙ[f] ꦚ ꦛ ꦜ[f] ꦝ

Sundanese ᮊ ᮮ[g] ᮌ ᮍ ᮎ ᮏ ᮑ
Lontara ᨀ ᨁ ᨂ ᨌ ᨍ ᨎ
Makasar 𑻠 𑻡 𑻢 𑻩 𑻪 𑻫
Rejang ꤰ ꤱ ꤲ ꤹ ꤺ ꤻ
Batak
ᯂ ᯎ ᯝ ᯐ ᯠ/ᯛ
(Toba)

Baybayin ᜃ ᜄ ᜅ
Buhid ᝃ ᝄ ᝅ
Hanunuo ᜣ ᜤ ᜥ
Tagbanwa ᝣ ᝤ ᝥ
ISO ka kha ga gha ṅa ca cha ja jha ña ṭa ṭha ḍ

Notes
a. This list tries to include characters of same origins, not same sounds. In Bengali র is pronounced as rô
but it is 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.

b. includes supplementary consonants not in contemporary use

c. inherent vowel is ā

d. Modified forms of these letters are or were used for distinctions made in Thai; these distinctions are not
made for Sanskrit and Pali in the Thai script.

e. These letters are obsolete, but were used mainly for Sanskrit and Pali in the Lao script.

f. Letters used in Old Javanese. They are now obsolete, but are used for honorifics in contemporary
Javanese.

g. Invented new character to represent the Arabic letter ‫خ‬.

h. Letter used in Old Sundanese. It is now obsolete.

 i. Invented new character. Actually to represent the Arabic letter ‫ش‬, which has similar pronunciation with
śa.

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.
 a ā ê ô i ī u ū e
ISO
a ka ā kā ê kê ô kô i ki ī kī u ku ū kū e ke
Ashoka
Brahmi
𑀅 𑀓 𑀆 𑀓𑀸 𑀇 𑀓𑀺 𑀈 𑀓𑀻 𑀉 𑀓𑀼 𑀊 𑀓𑀽

Devanagari अ क आ का ॲ कॅ ऑ कॉ इ कि ई की उ कु ऊ कू ऎ कॆ
Bengali-
Assamese
অ ক আ কা অ্য ক্য অ্যা ক্যা ই কি ঈ কী উ কু ঊ কূ
Gujarati અ ક આ કા ઇ કિ ઈ કી ઉ કુ ઊ કૂ
Odia ଅ କ ଆ କା ଇ କି ଈ କୀ ଉ କୁ ଊ କୂ
Gurmukhi ਅ ਕ ਆ ਕਾ ਇ ਕਿ ਈ ਕੀ ਉ ਕੁ ਊ ਕੂ
Meitei
ꯑ ꯀ ꯑꯥ ꯀꯥ ꯏ ꯀꯤ ꯑꫫ ꯀꫫ ꯎ ꯀꯨ ꯑꫬ ꯀꫬ
Mayek[b]

Tibetan ཨ ཀ ཨཱ ཀཱ ཨི ཀི ཨཱི ཀཱི ཨུ ཀུ ཨཱུ ཀཱུ

Lepcha ᰣ ᰀ ᰣᰦ ᰀᰦ ᰣᰧ ᰀᰧ ᰣᰧᰶ ᰀᰧᰶ ᰣᰪ ᰀᰪ ᰣᰫ ᰀᰫ
Limbu ᤀ ᤁ ᤀᤠ ᤁᤠ ᤀᤡ ᤁᤡ ᤀᤡ᤺ ᤁᤡ᤺ ᤀᤢ ᤁᤢ ᤀ᤺ᤢ ᤁ᤺ᤢ ᤀᤧ ᤁᤧ
Tirhuta 𑒁 𑒏 𑒂 𑒏𑒰 𑒃 𑒏𑒱 𑒄 𑒏𑒲 𑒅 𑒏𑒳 𑒆 𑒏𑒴 𑒏𑒺
Kaithi 𑂃 𑂍 𑂄 𑂍𑂰 𑂅 𑂍𑂱 𑂆 𑂍𑂲 𑂇 𑂍𑂳 𑂈 𑂍𑂴
Sylheti
Nagari
ꠇ ꠀ ꠇꠣ ꠁ ꠇꠤ ꠃ ꠇꠥ

Tamil அ க ஆ கா இ கி ஈ கீ உ கு ஊ கூ எ கெ
Kannada ಅ ಕ ಆ ಕಾ ಇ ಕಿ ಈ ಕೀ ಉ ಕು ಊ ಕೂ ಎ ಕೆ
Telugu అ క ఆ కా ఇ కి ఈ కీ ఉ కు ఊ కూ ఎ కె
Sinhala අ ක ආ කා ඇ කැ ඈ කෑ ඉ කි ඊ කී උ කු ඌ කූ එ කෙ
Malayalam അ ക ആ കാ ഇ കി ഈ കീ ഉ കു ഊ കൂ എ കെ
𑄄, 𑄅,
Chakma 𑄃𑄧 𑄇𑄧 𑄃 𑄇 𑄃𑄬𑄬 𑄇𑄬𑄬 𑄃𑅅 𑄇𑅅 𑄇𑄨 𑄃𑄩 𑄇𑄩 𑄇𑄪 𑄃𑄫 𑄇𑄫
𑄃𑄨 𑄃𑄪
Burmese အ က အာ ကာ ဣ ကိ ဤ ကီ ဥ ကု ဦ ကူ
Khmer[c] អ ក អា កា ឥ កិ ឦ កី ឧ កុ ឩ កូ
อ ก
Thai[d] อา กา แอ แก (ออ) (กอ) อิ กิ อี กี อุ กุ อู กู (เอะ) (เกะ
(อะ) (กะ)
Lao[d] ອະ ກະ ອາ ກາ ແອ ແກ (ອອ) (ກອ) ອິ ກິ ອີ ກີ ອຸ ກຸ ອູ ກູ (ແອະ) (ແກ
Cham
 ꨀ ꨆ ꨀꨩ ꨆꨩ ꨁ ꨆꨪ ꨁꨩ ꨆꨫ ꨂ ꨆꨭ ꨂꨩ ꨆꨭꨩ

Balinese ᬅ ᬓ ᬆ ᬓᬵ ᬇ ᬓᬶ ᬈ ᬓᬷ ᬉ ᬓᬸ ᬊ ᬓᬹ ᬏ ᬓᬾ

Javanese ꦄ ꦏ ꦄꦴ ꦏꦴ ꦆ ꦏꦶ ꦇ ꦏꦷ ꦈ ꦏꦸ ꦈꦴ ꦏꦹ ꦌ ꦏꦺ

Sundanese ᮃ ᮊ ᮆ ᮊᮦ ᮉ ᮊᮩ ᮄ ᮊᮤ ᮅ ᮊᮥ ᮈ ᮊᮦ
Lontara ᨕ ᨀ ᨕᨛ ᨀᨛ ᨕᨗ ᨀᨗ ᨕᨘ ᨀᨘ ᨕᨙ ᨀᨙ
Makasar 𑻱 𑻠 𑻱𑻳 𑻠𑻳 𑻱𑻴 𑻠𑻴 𑻱𑻵 𑻠𑻵
Rejang ꥆ ꤰ ꥆꥎ ꤰꥎ ꥆꥍ ꤰꥍ ꥆꥇ ꤰꥇ ꥆꥈ ꤰꥈ ꥆꥉ ꤰꥉ
Batak
ᯀ ᯂ ᯤ ᯂᯪ ᯥ ᯂᯮ ᯂᯩ
(Toba)

Baybayin ᜀ ᜃ ᜁ ᜃᜒ ᜂ ᜃᜓ ᜁ ᜃᜒ
Buhid ᝀ ᝃ ᝁ ᝃᝒ ᝂ ᝃᝓ
Hanunuo ᜠ ᜣ ᜡ ᜣᜲ ᜢ ᜣᜳ
Tagbanwa ᝠ ᝣ ᝡ ᝣᝲ ᝢ ᝣᝳ

a ka ā kā ê kê ô kô i ki ī kī u ku ū kū e ke
ISO
a ā ê ô i ī u ū e

Notes

a. Letters for r̥̄, l̥, l̥̄ and a few others are obsolete or very rarely used.

b. includes supplementary vowels not in contemporary use

c. When used to write their own languages, Khmer can have either an a or an o as the inherent vowel,
following the rules of its orthography.

d. Thai and Lao scripts do not have independent vowel forms, for syllables starting with a vowel sound, a
"zero" consonant, อ and ອ, respectively, to represent the glottal stop /ʔ/.

e. Letters used in Old Sundanese. They are now obsolete.

Numerals
 Hindu-Arabic 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Brahmi numbers 𑁒 𑁓 𑁔 𑁕 𑁖 𑁗 𑁘 𑁙 𑁚
Brahmi digits 𑁦 𑁧 𑁨 𑁩 𑁪 𑁫 𑁬 𑁭 𑁮 𑁯
Assamese ০ ১ ২ ৩ ৪ ৫ ৬ ৭ ৮ ৯
Bengali ০ ১ ২ ৩ ৪ ৫ ৬ ৭ ৮ ৯
Tirhuta 𑓐 𑓑 𑓒 𑓓 𑓔 𑓕 𑓖 𑓗 𑓘 𑓙
Odia ୦ ୧ ୨ ୩ ୪ ୫ ୬ ୭ ୮ ୯
Devanagari ० १ २ ३ ४ ५ ६ ७ ८ ९
Gujarati ૦ ૧ ૨ ૩ ૪ ૫ ૬ ૭ ૮ ૯
Modi 𑙐‎ 𑙑‎ 𑙒 𑙓‎ 𑙔‎ 𑙕 𑙖‎ 𑙗 𑙘‎ 𑙙
Sharada 𑇐 𑇑 𑇒 𑇓 𑇔 𑇕 𑇖 𑇗 𑇘 𑇙
Takri 𑛀 𑛁 𑛂 𑛃 𑛄 𑛅 𑛆 𑛇 𑛈 𑛉
Gurmukhi ੦ ੧ ੨ ੩ ੪ ੫ ੬ ੭ ੮ ੯
Khudabadi 𑋰 𑋱 𑋲 𑋳 𑋴 𑋵 𑋶 𑋷 𑋸 𑋹
Meitei (Manipuri) ꯰ ꯱ ꯲ ꯳ ꯴ ꯵ ꯶ ꯷ ꯸ ꯹
Pracalit 𑑐 ‎ 𑑑 ‎ 𑑒‎ 𑑓 ‎ 𑑔‎ 𑑕‎ 𑑖 ‎ 𑑗‎ 𑑘 ‎ 𑑙
Tibetan ༠ ༡ ༢ ༣ ༤ ༥ ༦ ༧ ༨ ༩
Mongolian[a] ᠐ ᠑ ᠒ ᠓ ᠔ ᠕ ᠖ ᠗ ᠘ ᠙
Lepcha ᱀ ᱁ ᱂ ᱃ ᱄ ᱅ ᱆ ᱇ ᱈ ᱉
Limbu ᥆ ᥇ ᥈ ᥉ ᥊ ᥋ ᥌ ᥍ ᥎ ᥏
Sinhala astrological numbers ෦ ෧ ෨ ෩ ෪ ෫ ෬ ෭ ෮ ෯
Sinhala archaic numbers 𑇡 𑇢 𑇣 𑇤 𑇥 𑇦 𑇧 𑇨 𑇩
Tamil ೦ ௧ ௨ ௩ ௪ ௫ ௬ ௭ ௮ ௯
Telugu ౦ ౧ ౨ ౩ ౪ ౫ ౬ ౭ ౮ ౯
Kannada ೦ ೧ ೨ ೩ ೪ ೫ ೬ ೭ ೮ ೯
Malayalam ൦ ൧ ൨ ൩ ൪ ൫ ൬ ൭ ൮ ൯
Saurashtra ꣐ ꣑ ꣒ ꣓ ꣔ ꣕ ꣖ ꣗ ꣘ ꣙
Ahom 𑜰 𑜱 𑜲 𑜳 𑜴 𑜵 𑜶 𑜷 𑜸 𑜹
Chakma 𑄶 𑄷 𑄸 𑄹 𑄺 𑄻 𑄼 𑄽 𑄾 𑄿
 Burmese ၀ ၁ ၂ ၃ ၄ ၅ ၆ ၇ ၈ ၉
Shan ႐ ႑ ႒ ႓ ႔ ႕ ႖ ႗ ႘ ႙
Khmer ០ ១ ២ ៣ ៤ ៥ ៦ ៧ ៨ ៩
Thai ๐ ๑ ๒ ๓ ๔ ๕ ๖ ๗ ๘ ๙
Lao ໐ ໑ ໒ ໓ ໔ ໕ ໖ ໗ ໘ ໙
Cham ꩐ ꩑ ꩒ ꩓ ꩔ ꩕ ꩖ ꩗ ꩘ ꩙
Tai Tham[b] ᪐ ᪑ ᪒ ᪓ ᪔ ᪕ ᪖ ᪗ ᪘ ᪙
Tai Tham Astrological Numbers[c] ᪀ ᪁ ᪂ ᪃ ᪄ ᪅ ᪆ ᪇ ᪈ ᪉
New Tai Lue ᧐ ᧑ ᧒ ᧓ ᧔ ᧕ ᧖ ᧗ ᧘ ᧙
Balinese ᭐ ᭑ ᭒ ᭓ ᭔ ᭕ ᭖ ᭗ ᭘ ᭙
Javanese ꧐ ꧑ ꧒ ꧓ ꧔ ꧕ ꧖ ꧗ ꧘ ꧙
Sundanese ᮰ ᮱ ᮲ ᮳ ᮴ ᮵ ᮶ ᮷ ᮸ ᮹
Hindu-Arabic 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Notes

a. Mongolian numerals are derived from Tibetan numerals and used in conjunction with the Mongolian and
Clear script

b. for liturgical use

c. for everyday use

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. In the northern
group, the Gupta script was very influential, and in the southern group the Vatteluttu and
Kadamba/Pallava scripts with the spread of Buddhism sent Brahmic scripts throughout
Southeast Asia.
 Early Brahmic scripts

Chandra
IAST Ashoka Girnar Gujarat Prayagraj Narbada Kistna
-gupta

ai

au

kh

gh

ch

jh

ṭh

ḍh
 ṇ

th

dh

ph

bh

Northern Brahmic
A map of 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).
A map of Dravidian languages using their respective Brahmic family scripts (except Brahui, which uses an Arabic-derived
script).

Gupta, 4th century

Sharada
Landa
Gurmukhi

Khojki

Khudabadi

Mahajani

Multani

Takri
Dogri

Sirmauri

Siddhaṃ
Nagari
 Devanagari

Modi

Gujarati

Nandinagari

Kaithi
Sylheti Nagari

Kamarupi
Assamese[5]

Gaudi
Bengali–Assamese (Eastern Nagari)
Assamese[5]

Bengali

Tirhuta (Mithilakshar)

Odia

Nepalese
Bhujimol

Ranjana
Soyombo

Pracalit

Tibetan
Meetei Mayek

Lepcha
Limbu

Khema

'Phags-pa
Zanabazar square

Marchen
Marchung

Pungs-chen
 Pungs-chung

Drusha

Kalinga

Bhaiksuki

Tocharian (Slanting Brahmi)

Southern Brahmic
Tamil-Brahmi, 2nd century BC
Pallava
Tamil

Grantha
Malayalam

Tigalari

Dhives Akuru

Saurashtra

Khmer
Khom Thai

Proto-Tai script?
Sukhothai
Thai

Fakkham
Thai Noi
Lao

Tai Viet

Dai Don

Lai Tay

Lai Pao

Cham

Kawi
Balinese
 Batak

Buda

Javanese

Old Sundanese
Sundanese

Lampung

Lontara

Makasar

Rencong

Rejang

Baybayin
Buhid

Hanunó'o

Tagbanwa

Kulitan

Basahan

Mon–Burmese
Modern Mon

Burmese
Chakma

S'gaw Karen

Shan

Tanchangya

Lik-Tai scripts
Ahom

Khamti

Tai Le
 Tai Tham
New Tai Lue

Pyu

Vatteluttu
Kolezhuthu

Malayanma

Sinhala

Bhattiprolu
Kadamba
Telugu-Kannada
Kannada
Goykanadi

Telugu

Unicode

As of Unicode version 15.0, the following Brahmic scripts have been encoded:
 Period of ISO Unicode
script derivation usage notes sample
derivation 15924 range(s)

Extinct Ahom U+11700–

Ahom Burmese[6] 13th century Ahom 𑜒𑜠𑜑𑜨𑜉
language U+1174F

Balinese U+1B00–
Balinese Kawi 11th century Bali ᬅᬓ᭄ᬲᬭᬩᬮᬶ
language U+1B7F

Batak U+1BC0–
Batak Pallava 14th century Batk ᯘᯮ ᯒᯖ᯲ ᯅᯖᯂ᯲
languages U+1BFF

Tagalog, other
U+1700–
Baybayin Kawi 14th century Philippine Tglg ᜊᜌ᜔ ᜊᜌᜒ ᜈ᜔
U+171F
languages

Assamese
language
(Assamese
script variant),
Bengali অসমীয়া লিপি •
Bengali- U+0980–
Siddhaṃ 11th century language Beng
Assamese U+09FF বাংলা লিপি
(Bengali script
variant),
Bishnupriya
Manipuri,
Maithili, Angika

Was used
around the turn
U+11C00–
Bhaiksuki Gupta 11th century of the first Bhks 𑰥𑰹𑰎𑰿𑰬𑰲 𑰎𑰱
U+11C6F
millennium for
writing Sanskrit

U+1740–
Buhid Kawi 14th century Buhid language Buhd ᝊᝓᝑᝒᝇ
U+175F
 Period of ISO Unicode
script derivation usage notes sample
derivation 15924 range(s)

Burmese
language, Mon
language,
numerous
modifications
for other U+1000–
languages U+109F,
Mon- including U+A9E0–
Pallava 11th century Mymr မြန်မာအက္ခရာ
Burmese Chakma, U+A9FF,
Eastern and U+AA60–
Western Pwo U+AA7F
Karen, Geba
Karen, Kayah,
Rumai Palaung,
S'gaw Karen,
Shan

Chakma U+11100–
Chakma Burmese 8th century Cakm 𑄌𑄋𑄴𑄟𑄳𑄦
language U+1114F

U+AA00–
Cham Pallava 8th century Cham language Cham ꨌꩌ
U+AA5F
 Period of ISO Unicode
script derivation usage notes sample
derivation 15924 range(s)

Several Indo-
Aryan
languages
(Konkani,
Marathi, Hindi,
Sanskrit, Nepali, U+0900–
Bhili, Sindhi, U+097F,
Gujarati etc), U+A8E0–
Devanagari Nagari 13th century Deva देवनागरी
Sino-Tibetan U+A8FF,
languages U+11B00–
(Bodo, Nepal U+11B5F
Bhasa, Sherpa
etc.), Mundari
(Austroasiatic
language) and
others.

Was used to
write the
Dhives Maldivian U+11900–
Grantha Diak 𑤞𑥂𑤧𑤭𑥂
Akuru language up U+1195F
until the 20th
century.[7]

Was used to
write Dogri.
U+11800–
Dogra Takri Dogra script is Dogr 𑠖𑠵𑠌𑠤𑠬
U+1184F
closely related
to Takri.[8]
 Period of ISO Unicode
script derivation usage notes sample
derivation 15924 range(s)

Restricted use
in traditional
Vedic schools
to write
Sanskrit. Was
U+11300–
Grantha Pallava 6th century widely used by Gran 𑌗𑍍𑌰𑌨𑍍𑌥
U+1137F
Tamil speakers
for Sanskrit and
the classical
language
Manipravalam.

Gujarati
U+0A80–
Gujarati Nagari 17th century language, Gujr ગુજરાતી લિપિ
U+0AFF
Kutchi language

Used for writing

the Adilabad
Gunjala U+11D60–
16th century dialect of the Gong 𑵶𑶍𑶕𑶀𑵵𑶊 𑵶𑶓𑶕𑶂𑶋
Gondi U+11DAF
Gondi
language.[9]

Punjabi U+0A00–
Gurmukhi Sharada 16th century Guru ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ
language U+0A7F

Hanuno'o U+1720–
Hanunó'o Kawi 14th century Hano ᜱᜨᜳᜨᜳᜢ
language U+173F

Javanese
language,
Sundanese U+A980–
Javanese Kawi 16th century Java ꦄꦏ꧀ꦱꦫꦗꦮ
language, U+A9DF
Madurese
language
 Period of ISO Unicode
script derivation usage notes sample
derivation 15924 range(s)

Historically
used for writing
legal, U+11080–
Kaithi Nagari 16th century Kthi 𑂍𑂶 𑂟𑂲
administrative, U+110CF
and private
records.

Kannada,
Konkani, Tulu,
Telugu- U+0C80–
Kannada 9th century Badaga, Knda ಕನ್ನಡ ಅಕ್ಷರಮಾಲೆ
Kannada U+0CFF
Kodava, Beary,
others

Kawi was found

primarily in
Java and used
across much of
U+11F00–
Kawi Pallava 8th century Maritime Kawi 𑼒𑼮𑼶
U+11F5F
Southeast Asia
between the 8th
century and the
16th century.[10]

U+1780–
Khmer U+17FF,
Khmer Pallava 11th century Khmr អក្សរខ្មែរ
language U+19E0–
U+19FF
 Period of ISO Unicode
script derivation usage notes sample
derivation 15924 range(s)

Some use by
Ismaili
communities.
Was used by
U+11200–
Khojki Landa 16th century the Khoja Khoj 𑈉𑈲𑈐𑈈𑈮
U+1124F
community for
Muslim
religious
literature.

Was used by
Sindhi
communities
U+112B0–
Khudawadi Landa 16th century for Sind 𑊻𑋩𑋣𑋏𑋠𑋔𑋠𑋏𑋢
U+112FF
correspondence
and business
records.

Lao language, U+0E80–

Lao Khmer 14th century Laoo ອັກສອນລາວ
others U+0EFF

Lepcha U+1C00–
Lepcha Tibetan 8th century Lepc ᰛᰩᰴ
language U+1C4F

U+1900–
Limbu Lepcha 9th century Limbu language Limb ᤛᤡᤖᤡᤈᤨᤅ
U+194F

Buginese
U+1A00–
Lontara Kawi 17th century language, Bugi ᨒᨚᨈᨑ
U+1A1F
others

Historically
used in
northern India
U+11150–
Mahajani Landa 16th century for writing Mahj 𑅬𑅱𑅛𑅧𑅑‎
U+1117F
accounts and
financial
records.
 Period of ISO Unicode
script derivation usage notes sample
derivation 15924 range(s)

Was used in
South Sulawesi,
Indonesia for
writing the
Makassarese
language.[11]
Makasar script
is also known
U+11EE0–
Makasar Kawi 17th century as "Old Maka 𑻪𑻢𑻪𑻢
U+11EFF
Makassarese"
or
"Makassarese
bird script" in
English-
language
scholarly
works.[12]

U+0D00–
Malayalam Grantha 12th century Malayalam Mlym മലയാളലിപി
U+0D7F

Was used in the

Tibetan Bön
tradition to U+11C70–
Marchen Tibetan 7th century Marc 𑱳𑲁𑱽𑱾𑲌𑱵𑲋𑲱𑱴𑱶𑲱𑲅𑲊𑱱
write the extinct U+11CBF
Zhang-Zhung
language
 Period of ISO Unicode
script derivation usage notes sample
derivation 15924 range(s)

officially used
for Meitei
language
(officially known
as Manipuri U+AAE0–
Meetei 11th–12th language) in U+AAFF,
Tibetan Mtei ꯃꯤꯇꯩ ꯃꯌꯦꯛ
Mayek century accordance to U+ABC0–
"The Manipur U+ABFF
Official
Language
(Amendment)
Act, 2021"[13]

Was used to
write the U+11600–
Modi Nāgarī 17th century Modi 𑘦𑘻𑘚𑘲
Marathi U+1165F
language

Was used to
write the U+11280–
Multani Landa Mult 𑊠𑊣𑊖𑊚
Multani U+112AF
language

Historically
used to write U+119A0–
Nandinagari Nāgarī 7th century Nand 𑧁𑧞𑦿𑧒𑧁𑧑𑦰𑧈𑧓
Sanskrit in U+119FF
southern India

New Tai U+1980–

Tai Tham 1950s Tai Lü language Talu ᦟᦲᧅᦷᦎᦺᦑ
Lue U+19DF

U+0B00–
Odia Siddhaṃ 13th century Odia language Orya ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଅକ୍ଷର
U+0B7F

Historically
used during the U+A840–
Phags-Pa Tibetan 13th century Phag ꡖꡍꡂꡛ ꡌ
Mongol Yuan U+A87F
dynasty.
 Period of ISO Unicode
script derivation usage notes sample
derivation 15924 range(s)

Has been used

for writing the
Prachalit Sanskrit, Nepali, U+11400–
Nepal Newa 𑐥𑑂𑐬𑐔𑐮𑐶𑐟
(Newa) Hindi, Bengali, U+1147F
and Maithili
languages

Rejang
U+A930–
Rejang Kawi 18th century language, Rjng ꥆꤰ꥓ ꤼꤽ ꤽꥍ ꤺꥏ
U+A95F
mostly obsolete

Saurashtra
U+A880–
Saurashtra Grantha 20th century language, Saur ꢱꣃꢬꢵꢰ꣄ꢜ꣄ꢬꢵ‎
U+A8DF
mostly obsolete

Was used for

U+11180–
Sharada Gupta 8th century writing Sanskrit Shrd 𑆯𑆳𑆫𑆢𑆳
U+111DF
and Kashmiri

Was used for U+11580–

Siddham Gupta 7th century Sidd 𑖭𑖰𑖟𑖿𑖠𑖽
writing Sanskrit U+115FF

U+0D80–
4th Sinhala U+0DFF,
Sinhala Brahmi[14] Sinh ශුද්ධ සිංහල
century[15] language U+111E0–
U+111FF

U+1B80–
Sundanese U+1BBF,
Sundanese Kawi 14th century Sund ᮃᮊ᮪ᮞᮛ ᮞᮥᮔ᮪ᮓ
language U+1CC0–
U+1CCF

Historically
Sylheti used for writing U+A800–
Nagari 16th century Sylo ꠍꠤꠟꠐꠤ ꠘꠣꠉꠞꠤ
Nagari the Sylheti U+A82F
language
 Period of ISO Unicode
script derivation usage notes sample
derivation 15924 range(s)

Various
languages of U+1760–
Tagbanwa Kawi 14th century Tagb ᝦᝪᝨᝯ
Palawan, nearly U+177F
extinct

Tai Nüa U+1950–

Tai Le Mon 13th century Tale ᥖᥭᥰᥖᥬᥳᥑᥨᥒᥰ
language U+197F

Northern Thai
language, Tai Lü U+1A20–
Tai Tham Mon 13th century Lana ᨲᩫ᩠ᩅ ᨾᩮᩬᩥᨦ
language, Khün U+1AAF
language

Tai Dam U+AA80–

Tai Viet Thai 16th century Tavt ꪼꪕꪒꪾ
language U+AADF

Was used for

writing U+11680–
Takri Sharada 16th century Takr 𑚔𑚭𑚊𑚤𑚯
Chambeali, and U+116CF
other languages

U+0B80–
U+0BFF, தமிழ்
Tamil Pallava 2nd century Tamil language Taml
U+11FC0– அரிச்சுவடி
U+11FFF

Telugu- Telugu U+0C00–

Telugu 5th century Telu తెలుగు లిపి
Kannada language U+0C7F

U+0E00–
Thai Khmer 13th century Thai language Thai อักษรไทย
U+0E7F

Classical
Tibetan,
U+0F00–
Tibetan Gupta 8th century Dzongkha, Tibt བོད་ཡིག་
U+0FFF
Ladakhi
language
 Period of ISO Unicode
script derivation usage notes sample
derivation 15924 range(s)

Historically
used for the U+11480–
Tirhuta Siddham 13th century Tirh 𑒞𑒱𑒩𑒯𑒳𑒞𑒰‎
Maithili U+114DF
language

See also

Devanagari transliteration
International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration

National Library at Kolkata romanisation

Bharati Braille, the unified braille assignments of Indian languages

Indus script – symbols produced by the Indus Valley civilisation

ISCII – the coding scheme specifically designed to represent Indic scripts

References

1. Frellesvig, Bjarke (2010). A History of the Japanese Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
pp. 177–178. ISBN 978-0-521-65320-6.

2. Coningham, R. A. E.; Allchin, F. R.; Batt, C. M.; Lucy, D. (April 1996). "Passage to India? Anuradhapura and
the Early Use of the Brahmi Script" (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-archaeological-
journal/article/passage-to-india-anuradhapura-and-the-early-use-of-the-brahmi-script/DAAA2514FB08E1
DDE3FAFF2171AB097B) . Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 6 (1): 73–97.
doi:10.1017/S0959774300001608 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0959774300001608) .
S2CID 161465267 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:161465267) .

3. Court, C. (1996). Introduction. In P. T. Daniels & W. Bright (Eds.) The World's Writing Systems (pp. 443).
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

4. 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.

5. Sproat, Richard (20 July 2006). "Brahmi-derived scripts, script layout, and segmental awareness" (https://
dx.doi.org/10.1075/wll.9.1.05spr) . Written Language and Literacy. 9 (1): 45–66.
doi:10.1075/wll.9.1.05spr (https://doi.org/10.1075%2Fwll.9.1.05spr) . ISSN 1387-6732 (https://www.wo
rldcat.org/issn/1387-6732) .
 6. Terwiel; Khamdaengyodtai (2003). Shan Manuscripts, Part 1. p. 13.

7. Pandey, Anshuman (23 January 2018). "L2/18-016R: Proposal to encode Dives Akuru in Unicode" (https://
www.unicode.org/L2/L2018/18016r-dives-akuru.pdf) (PDF).

8. Pandey, Anshuman (4 November 2015). "L2/15-234R: Proposal to encode the Dogra script" (https://www.
unicode.org/L2/L2015/15234r-dogra.pdf) (PDF).

9. "Chapter 13: South and Central Asia-II" (https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode11.0.0/ch13.pdf)

(PDF). The Unicode Standard, Version 11.0. Mountain View, California: Unicode, Inc. June 2018. ISBN 978-
1-936213-19-1.

10. Aditya Bayu Perdana and Ilham Nurwansah 2020. Proposal to encode Kawi (https://www.unicode.org/L
2/L2020/20284r-kawi.pdf)

11. "Chapter 17: Indonesia and Oceania" (https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode11.0.0/ch17.pdf)

(PDF). The Unicode Standard, Version 11.0. Mountain View, California: Unicode, Inc. June 2018. ISBN 978-
1-936213-19-1.

12. Pandey, Anshuman (2 November 2015). "L2/15-233: Proposal to encode the Makasar script in Unicode"
(https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2015/15233-makasar.pdf) (PDF).

13. "GAZETTE TITLE: The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021" (http://manipurgovtpress.nic.i
n/en/details_gazzete/?gazette=658) . manipurgovtpress.nic.in.

14. Daniels (1996), p. 379.

15. Diringer, David (1948). Alphabet a key to the history of mankind. p. 389.

External links

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Brahmic_scripts&oldid=1122848862"
Last edited 6 days ago by Drmccreedy