Devanāgarī alphabet   Devanagari

Origin
The Nāgarī (lit. 'of the city') or Devanāgarī ('divine Nagari') alphabet descended from the Brahmi script sometime around the 11th century AD. It was originally developed to write Sanksrit but was later adapted to write many other languages.

Notable Features

·         Some scholars use the term alphasyllabary to describe Devanāgarī, while others call it an abugida.

·         Consonant letters carry an inherent vowel which can be altered or muted by means of diacritics or matra.

·         Vowels can be written as independent letters, or by using a variety of diacritical marks which are written above, below, before or after the consonant they belong to. This feature is common to most of the alphabets of South and South East Asia.

·         When consonants occur together in clusters, special conjunct letters are used.

  • The order of the letters is based on articulatory phonetics.

Used to write:
  • Awadhi
  • Bagheli
  • Balti
  • Bateri
  • Bhili
  • Bhojpuri
  • Bihari
  • Braj bhasha
  • Chhattisgarhi

 
  • Garhwali
  • Gondi
  • Harauti
  • Hindi
  • Ho
  • Kachchi
  • Kanauji
  • Kankan
  • Kashmiri

Devanāgarī alphabet

Devanāgarī vowels and vowel diacritics

Other symbols
Other Devanāgarī symbols

Consonants
Devanāgarī consonants

A selection of conjunct consonants
A selection of Devanāgarī conjunct consonants

Numerals
Devanāgarī numerals

Links
 

 

Hindi Keyboard Layout (as used in Windows XP)
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Telugu alphabet   Telugu

Origin
The Telugu alphabet is an descendant of the Brahmi script of ancient India. It is closely related to the Kannada alphabet. The earliest known inscriptions in the Telugu language date from the 6th century AD and Telugu poetry started to appear during the 11th century.

Until the 20th century, Telugu was written in an archaic style very different from the everyday spoken language. During the the second half of the 20th century, a new written standard emerged based on the modern spoken language.

Notable features

  • This is a syllabic alphabet in which all consonants have an inherent vowel. Diacritics, which can appear above, below, before or after the consonant they belong to, are used to change the inherent vowel.
  • When they appear the the beginning of a syllable, vowels are written as independent letters.
  • When certain consonants occur together, special conjunct symbols are used which combine the essential parts of each letter.

Normally used to write:
Telugu, a Dravidian language spoken by about 75 million people in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and neighboring states, and also in Bahrain, Fiji, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore and the UAE.

Source: http://www.ethnologue.com

Vowels

Telugu vowels and vowel diacritics

Consonants

Telugu consonants

Numerals

Telugu numerals

Links
 

 

 

 

Gujarātī script   Gujarati

Origin
The Gujarātī script was adapted from the Devanāgarī script to write the Gujarātī language. The earliest known document in the Gujarātī script is a manuscript dating from 1592, and the script first appeared in print in a 1797 advertisement. Until the 19th century it was used mainly for writing letters and keeping accounts, while the Devanāgarī script was used for literature and academic writings.

Notable Features

·         The Gujarātī script is also known as the śarāphi (banker's), vāṇiāśāi (merchant's) or mahājani (trader's) script.

·         Gujarātī is a syllabic alphabet in that consonants all have an inherent vowel.

  • Vowels can be written as independent letters, or by using a variety of diacritical marks which are written above, below, before or after the consonant they belong to.

Used to write:
Gujarātī, an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 46 million people in the Indian states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, and also in Bangladesh, Fiji, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Oman, Pakistan, Réunion, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Kachchi, an Indo-Aryan language with about 866,000 speakers in the Indian states of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Orissa, and also in Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan and Tanzania.

Source: www.ethnologue.com

Vowels and vowel diacritics
Gujarati vowels

When combined with ja and ra, some of the vowel diacritics have special forms.

Consonants
Gujarati consonants

Numerals

Gujarati numerals

Sample text in Gujarati
Sample text in Gujarati

Transliteration
Pratiṣṭhā anē adikhārōnī dr̥ṣṭinē sarvē mānavō janmathī svatantra anē samān hōy chē. Tēmanāmāṁ vicārśakti anē antaḥkaraṇ hōy chē anē tēmaṇē paraspar bandhutvanī vartavuṁ jōiē.

Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Thanks to Arvind Iyengar for providing the sample text.

 

Gurmukhi script   Gurmukhi

Origin
The Gurmukhi alphabet was devised during the 16th century by Guru Nanak, the first Sikh guru, and popularised by Guru Angad, the second Sikh guru. It was modelled on the Landa alphabet. The name Gurmukhi means "from the mouth of the Guru".

Notable Features

·         This is a syllabic alphabet in which all consonants have an inherent vowel. Diacritics, which can appear above, below, before or after the consonant they belong to, are used to change the inherent vowel.

·         When they appear the the beginning of a syllable, vowels are written as independent letters.

·         When certain consonants occur together, special conjunct symbols are used which combine the essential parts of each letter.

  • Punjabi is a tonal language with three tones. These are indicated in writing using the voiced aspirates consonants (gh, dh, bh, etc) and the intervocal h.

Used to write:
Panjabi or Punjabi, an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 60 million people in Pakistan and the Indian state of Panjab. In Pakistan Panjabi is written with a version of the Arabic script.

Vowels - initial form

Gurmukhi vowels

Vowel diacritics with k

Gurmukhi vowels

Consonants

Gurmukhi consonants

Numerals

Gurmukhi numerals

Sample

Punjabi sample

Links
Free Gurmukhi fonts