Eastern Nagari script

Infobox Writing system
name=Eastern Nagari
type=Abugida
languages=Bengali
Assamese
Meitei
Bishnupriya Manipuri
time=c. 1200–present
region=India and Nepal
fam1=Proto-Canaanite alphabet ^[a]
fam2=Phoenician alphabet ^[a]
fam3=Aramaic alphabet ^[a]
footnotes= [a] The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon.
fam4=Brāhmī
fam5=Gupta
fam6=Nāgarī
sisters=Devanāgarī
children=Oriya
Mithilakshar
unicode = [http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0980.pdf U+0980–U+09FF]
iso15924=Beng The Eastern Nagari script (also known as the Eastern Neo-Brahmic script or the Purvi Script) is an Abugida system of writing belonging to the Brahmic family of scripts whose use is associated with the Bengali, Assamese, Mising, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Meitei Manipuri, Sylheti, and Chittagonian languages. Many other languages like Khasi, Bodo, Karbi etc were also written in this script in the past. [Prabhakara, M S [http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/05/19/stories/2005051904051100.htm Scripting a solution] , The Hindu, May 19, 2005.]

Description

While very similar to Devanagari, Eastern Nagari (and its child scripts Oriya and Mithilakshar) are less blocky and present a more sinuous shaping. Eastern Nagari, Devanagari, Oriya, and Mithilakshar are all derived from the precursor script Nagari. The modern Eastern Nagari script was formalized in 1778 when it was first typeset by Charles Wilkins. In addition to differences in how the letters are pronounced in the different languages, there are some minor typographical differences between the version of the script used for Assamese and Bishnupriya Manipuri, and that used for Bengali and other languages.

The Eastern Nagari script was originally not associated with any particular regional language, but was prevalent as the main script in the eastern regions of Medieval India. The script was originally used to write Sanskrit, which for centuries was the only written language of the Indian subcontinent. Epics of Hindu scripture, including the Mahabharata or Ramayana, were written in older versions of the Eastern Nagari script in this region. After the medieval period, the use of Sanskrit as the sole written language gave way to Pali, and eventually the vernacular dialects that eventually evolved into Bengali, Assamese, and other related languages. Srimanta Sankardeva used the script in the 15th and 16th centuries to compose his oeuvre in Assamese and Brajavali the language of the Bhakti poets. It was also used by the later Ahom kings to write the Buranjis, the Ahom chronicles, in the Assamese language. There is a rich legacy of Indian literature written in this script, which is still occasionally used to write Sanskrit today.

Clusters of consonants are represented by different and sometimes quite irregular characters; thus, learning to read the script is complicated by the sheer size of the full set of characters and character combinations, numbering about 500. While efforts at standardizing the script for the Bengali language continue in such notable centers as the Bangla Academies (unaffiliated) at Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Kolkata (West Bengal, India), it is still not quite uniform as yet, as many people continue to use various archaic forms of letters, resulting in concurrent forms for the same sounds. Among the various regional variations within this script, only the Assamese and Bengali variations exist today in the formalized system.

It seems likely that the standardization of the script will be greatly influenced by the need to typeset it on computers. The large alphabet can be represented, with a great deal of ingenuity, within the ASCII character set, omitting certain irregular conjuncts. Work has been underway since around 2001 to develop Unicode fonts, and it seems likely that it will split into two variants, traditional and modern.

ymbols

In this and other articles on Wikipedia dealing with the Bengali and Assamese languages, a Romanization scheme used by linguists specializing in Bengali and Assamese phonology is included along with IPA transcription.

Vowels

The script presently has a total of 11 vowel letters, used to represent the seven vowel sounds of Bengali and eight vowel sounds of Assamese, along with a number of vowel diphthongs. All of these vowel letters are used in both Bengali and Assamese. Some of the vowel letters have different sounds depending on the word, and a number of vowel distinctions preserved in the writing system are not pronounced as such in modern spoken Bengali or Assamese. For example, the script has two symbols for the vowel sound [i] and two symbols for the vowel sound [u] . This redundancy stems from the time when this script was used to write Sanskrit, a language that had a short [i] and a long [iː] , and a short [u] and a long [uː] . These letters are preserved in the script with their traditional names of "short i" (Bengali: "rhôshsho i", Assamese: "hôrswo i") and "long i" (Bengali: "dirgho i", Assamese: "dirghô i"), etc., despite the fact that they are no longer pronounced differently in ordinary speech.

Two additional letters, অ' and অ্যা, are not considered letters of the Eastern Nagari script, but are often used in Assamese and Bengali (respectively) to represent certain vowels when the intended pronunciation would otherwise be ambiguous.

Consonant conjuncts

Up to four consecutive consonants not separated by vowels can be orthographically represented as a "consonant conjunct" (Bengali: যুক্তাক্ষর "juktakkhor" or যুক্তবর্ণ "juktobôrno"). Typically, the first consonant in the conjunct is shown above and/or to the left of the following consonants. Many consonants appear in an abbreviated or compressed form when serving as part of a conjunct. Others simply take exceptional forms in conjuncts, bearing little or no resemblance to the base character.

Often, consonant conjuncts are not actually pronounced as would be implied by the pronunciation of the individual components. For example, adding ল "lô" underneath শ "shô" in Bengali creates the conjunct শ্ল, which is not pronounced "shlô" but "slô" in Bengali. Similarly, adding ত "tô" under স "xô" in Assamese creates the conjunct স্ত, which is not pronounced "xtô" but "stô" in Assamese. Many conjuncts represent Sanskrit sounds that were lost thousands of years before the modern languages were spoken, as in জ্ঞ, which is a combination of জ "jô" and ঞ "niô", but is not pronounced "jnô" in any Eastern Indic language. Instead, it is pronounced "ggyô" in Assamese and "ggõ" in Bengali. Thus, as conjuncts often represent (combinations of) sounds that cannot be easily understood from the components, the following descriptions are concerned only with the construction of the conjunct, and not the resulting pronunciation. Thus, a variant of the IAST romanization scheme is used instead of the phonemic romanization used in other articles:

Fused forms

Some consonants fuse in such a way that one stroke of the first consonant serves as the a stroke of the next.
*The consonants can be placed on top of one another, sharing their vertical line: ক্ক kkô গ্ন gnô গ্ল glô ন্ন nnô প্ন pnô প্প ppô ল্ল llô etc.
*As the last member of a conjunct, ৱ wô and ব bô can hang on the vertical line under the preceding consonants, taking the shape of ব bô (here referred to as বফলা "bôfôla"): গ্ব gwô ণ্ব unicode|ṇwô দ্ব dwô/dbô ল্ব lwô শ্ব śwô.
*The consonants can also be placed side-by-side, sharing their vertical line: দ্দ ddô ন্দ ndô ব্দ bdô ব্জ bjô প্ট unicode|pṭô শ্চ ścô শ্ছ śchô etc.

Approximated forms

Some consonants are simply written closer to one another to indicate that they are in a conjunct together.
*As the last member of a conjunct, গ gô can appear unaltered, with the preceding consonant simply written closer to it: দ্গ dgô.
*As the last member of a conjunct, ৱ wô and ব bô can appear immediately to the right of the preceding consonant, taking the shape of ব bô (here referred to as বফলা "bôfôla"): ধ্ব dhwô ব্ব bbô হ্ব hwô.

Compressed forms

Some consonants are compressed (and often simplified) when appearing as the first member of a conjunct.
*As the first member of a conjunct, the consonants ঙ ŋô চ cô ড unicode|ḍô ব bô are often compressed and placed at the top-left of the following consonant, with little or no change to the basic shape: ঙ্ক্ষ unicode|ŋkṣô ঙ্খ ŋkhô ঙ্ঘ ŋghô ঙ্ম ŋmô চ্চ ccô চ্ছ cchô চ্ঞ cñô ড্ড unicode|ḍḍô ব্ব bbô.
*As the first member of a conjunct, ত tô is compressed and placed above the following consonant, with little or no change to the basic shape: ত্ন tnô ত্ম tmô ত্ব twô.
*As the first member of a conjunct, ম mô is compressed and simplified to a curved shape. It is placed above or to the top-left of the following consonant: ম্ন mnô ম্প mpô ম্ফ mfô ম্ব mbô ম্ভ mbhô ম্ম mmô ম্ল mlô.
*As the first member of a conjunct, ষ unicode|ṣô is compressed and simplified to an oval shape with a diagonal stroke through it. It is placed to the top-left of the following consonants: ষ্ক unicode|ṣkô ষ্ট unicode|ṣṭô ষ্ঠ unicode|ṣṭhô ষ্প unicode|ṣpô ষ্ফ unicode|ṣfô ষ্ম unicode|ṣmô.
*As the first member of a conjunct, স sô is compressed and simplified to a ribbon shape. It is placed above or to the top-left of the following consonant: স্ক skô স্খ skhô স্ট unicode|sṭô স্ত stô স্থ sthô স্ন snô স্প spô স্ফ sfô স্ব swô স্ম smô স্ল slô.

Abbreviated forms

Some consonants are abbreviated when appearing in conjuncts, losing part of their basic shape.
*As the first member of a conjunct, জ jô can lose its final downstroke: জ্জ jjô জ্ঞ jñô জ্ব jwô.
*As the first member of a conjunct, ঞ ñô can lose its bottom half: ঞ্চ ñcô ঞ্ছ ñchô ঞ্জ ñjô ঞ্ঝ ñjhô.
*As the last member of a conjunct, ঞ ñô can lose its left half (the এ part): জ্ঞ jñô.
*As the first member of a conjunct, ণ unicode|ṇô and প pô can lose their downstroke: ণ্ঠ unicode|ṇṭhô ণ্ড unicode|ṇḍô প্ত ptô প্স psô.
*As the first member of a conjunct, ত tô and ভ bhô can lose their final upward tail: ত্ত ttô ত্থ tthô ত্র trô ভ্র bhrô.
*As the last member of a conjunct, থ thô can lose its final upstroke, taking the form of হ hô instead: ন্থ nthô ম্থ mthô স্থ sthô.
*As the last member of a conjunct, ম mô can lose its initial downstroke: ক্ম kmô গ্ম gmô ঙ্ম ŋmô ট্ম unicode|ṭmô ণ্ম unicode|ṇmô ত্ম tmô দ্ম dmô ন্ম nmô ম্ম mmô শ্ম śmô ষ্ম unicode|ṣmô স্ম smô.
*As the last member of a conjunct, স sô can lose its top half: ক্স ksô ন্স nsô.

Variant forms

Some consonants have forms that are used regularly, but only within conjuncts.
*As the first member of a conjunct, ঙ ŋô can appear as a loop and curl: ঙ্ক ŋkô ঙ্গ ŋgô.
*As the last member of a conjunct, the curled top of ধ dhô is replaced by a straight downstroke to the right: গ্ধ gdhô দ্ধ ddhô ন্ধ ndhô ব্ধ bdhô.
*As the first member of a conjunct, র rô appears as a diagonal stroke (called রেফ "ref") above the following member: র্ক rkô র্খ rkhô র্গ rgô র্ঘ rghô etc.
*As the last member of a conjunct, র rô appears as a wavy horizontal line (called রফলা "rôfôla") under the previous member: খ্র khrô গ্র grô ঘ্র ghrô ব্র brô etc.
**In some fonts, certain conjuncts with রফলা "rôfôla" appear using the compressed (and often simplified) form of the previous consonant: জ্র jrô ট্র unicode|ṭrô ঠ্র unicode|ṭhrô ড্র unicode|ḍrô ম্র mrô স্র srô.
**In some fonts, certain conjuncts with রফলা "rôfôla" appear using the abbreviated form of the previous consonant: ক্র krô ত্র trô ভ্র bhrô
*As the last member of a conjunct, য yô appears as a wavy vertical line (called যফলা "jôfôla") to the right of the previous member: ক্য kyô খ্য khyô গ্য gyô ঘ্য ghyô etc.
**In some fonts, certain conjuncts with যফলা "jôfôla" appear using special fused forms: দ্য dyô ন্য nyô শ্য śyô ষ্য unicode|ṣyô স্য syô হ্য hyô.

Exceptions

*When followed by র rô, ক kô takes on the abbreviated form of ত tô with the addition of a curl to the right: ক্র krô.
*When preceded by the abbreviated form of ঞ ñô, চ cô takes the shape of ব bô: ঞ্চ ñcô
*When preceded by another ট unicode|ṭô, ট unicode|ṭô is reduced to a leftward curl: ট্ট unicode|ṭṭô.
*When preceded by ষ unicode|ṣô, ণ unicode|ṇô appears as two loops to the right: ষ্ণ unicode|ṣṇô.
*As the first member of a conjunct, or when word-final and followed by no vowel, ত tô can appear as ৎ (called খণ্ড-ত "unicode|khônḍo tô" or "broken "tô"): ৎস tsô ৎপ tpô ৎক tkô etc.
*When preceded by হ hô, ন nô appears as a curl to the right: হ্ন hnô.
*Certain combinations simply must be memorized: ক্ষ unicode|kṣô (considered an independent letter in Assamese) হ্ম hmô.

Exceptional consonant-vowel combinations

When serving as a vowel sign, উ u, ঊ ū, and ঋ unicode|ṛ take on many exceptional forms.
*উ u
**When following গ gô or শ śô, it takes on a variant form resembling the final tail of ও: গু gu শু śu.
**When following a ত tô that is already part of a conjunct with ন nô or স sô, it is fused with the ত tô to resemble ও o: ন্তু ntu স্তু stu.
**When following র rô, and in many fonts also following the variant রফলা "rôfôla", it appears as an upward curl to the right of the preceding consonant as opposed to a downward loop below: রু ru গ্রু gru ত্রু tru থ্রু thru দ্রু dru ধ্রু dhru ব্রু bru ভ্রু bhru শ্রু śru.
**When following হ hô, it appears as an extra curl: হু hu.
*ঊ ū
**When following র rô, and in many fonts also following the variant রফলা "rôfôla", it appears as a downstroke to the right of the preceding consonant as opposed to a downward hook below: রূ rū গ্রূ grū থ্রূ thrū দ্রূ drū ধ্রূ dhrū ভ্রূ bhrū শ্রূ śrū.
*ঋ unicode|ṛ
**When following হ hô, it takes the variant shape of ঊ ū: হৃ unicode|hṛ.

Conjuncts of three consonants also exist, and follow the same rules as above. Examples include স sô + ত tô +র rô = স্ত্র strô, ম mô + প pô + র rô = ম্প্র mprô, ঙ ŋô + ক kô + ষ unicode|ṣô = ঙ্ক্ষ unicode|ŋkṣô, জ jô + জ jô + ৱ wô = জ্জ্ব jjwô, ক kô + ষ unicode|ṣô + ম mô = ক্ষ্ম unicode|kṣmô. Theoretically, four-consonant conjuncts can also be created, as in র rô + স sô + ট unicode|ṭô + র rô = র্স্ট্র unicode|rsṭrô, but these are not found in real words.

Digits

Eastern Nagari in Unicode

The Unicode range for Eastern Nagari is U+0980–U+09FF. Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points.

External links

* [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/bengali.htm Omniglot - Bengali Alphabet]

Notes