| Grantha | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type | Abugida | |
| Spoken languages | Sanskrit, Manipravalam | |
| Time period | 6th Century CE to 16th Century CE [1] | |
| Parent systems | Brahmi → Southern Brahmi → Pallava → Grantha | |
| Child systems | Malayalam script, Sinhala script, Tulu Script, Tamil script | |
| Sister systems | Vatteluttu | |
 John 3:16 - written in the Grantha script | ||
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. An abugida ( from Ge‘ez አቡጊዳ ’äbugida or Amharic አቡጊዳ ’abugida is a segmental Writing system which Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Manipravalam ( maṇi-pravāḷa - 'ruby coral' was a literary style used in medieval liturgical texts in South India, in which a Dravidian language is The Malayalam script is an Abugida of the Brahmic family, used to write the Malayalam language. The Sinhala script is an Abugida script used in Sri Lanka to write the Official language Sinhala and also sometimes the Liturgical The Tulu script, also known as the Tigalari script, strongly resembles the script of Malayalam language The Vatteluttu () or "rounded writing" is an Abugida Writing system originating from the Dravidian peoples of Southern India and In Computing, Unicode is an Industry standard allowing Computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's | ||
| The Brahmic script and its descendants |
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Grantha (Tamil: கிரந்த ௭ழுத்து, Bengali: গ্রন্থলিপি, Malayalam: ഗ്രന്ഥലിപി, Sanskrit: ग्रन्थ) grantha meaning "book" or "manuscript") is an ancient script that was prevalent in South India. The Brahmic family is a family of syllabaries (writing systems used in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Central Asia and East Asia, Brāhmī script refers to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of alphabets. The Gupta script (or Gupta Brahmi) was used for writing Sanskrit and is associated with the Gupta Empire of India which was a period of material The Śāradā, or Sharada, script (sa शारदा is an Abugida writing system of the Brahmic family of scripts developed from ca The Laṇḍā script ( Gurmukhi: ਲੰਡਾ meaning an alphabet "without tail" is a Punjabi word used to refer to scripts in Northern India Kashmiri (कॉशुर کٲشُر Koshur) is a Dardic language spoken primarily in the valley of Kashmir, a region situated in the Indian state Gurmukhī (ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ Shahmukhi:) is the most common script used for writing the Punjabi language. The Takri script (sometimes called Tankri) is an Abugida writing system of the Brahmic family of scripts Not to be confused with the Dogrib language. Dogri (डोगरी or ڈوگرى is an Indo-Aryan Language spoken by Siddhaṃ ( Sanskrit सिद्धं "accomplished" or "perfected" — is the name of a North Indian script used for writing Sanskrit during the period The Nāgarī script appeared in ancient India around the 8th century CE as an eastern variant of the Gupta script (whereas Śāradā was the western The Gujarati script (ગુજરાતી લિપિ, Gujǎrātī Lipi) which like all Nāgarī writing systems is strictly speaking an Abugida rather The Eastern Nagari script (also known as the Eastern Neo-Brahmic script or the Purvi Script) is an Abugida system of writing The Bengali script ( Bengali: বাংলা লিপি Bangla lipi) is a variant of the Eastern Nagari script also used for Assamese and The Assamese script (অসমীয়া আখৰ Ôxômiya Akhôr) is a variant of the Eastern Nagari script also used for Bengali and Bishnupriya Mithilakshar ( Devanagari script मिथिलाक्षर mithilākṣar; Eastern Nagari script: মিথিলাক্ষর or Tirhuta The Oriya script is used to write the Oriya language, and can be used for several other Indian languages for example Sanskrit. Nepal script ( Nepal Bhasa:नेपाल लिपि is a group of scripts that developed from Brahmi script and are used primarily in Nepal Bhasa. Bhujimol is the name of the most ancient form of the Nepal script. The Ranjana script (syn Kutila, Lantsa) is an Abugida writing system developed as a derivate of Brāhmī in 11th century The Tibetan script is an Abugida of Indic origin used to write the Tibetan language as well as the Dzongkha language, Ladakhi language The ’Phagspa script (дөрвөлжин үсэг dörvöljin üseg "square script" Tibetan: hor gsar yig "new Mongolian script" Tamil-Brahmi was an early variant of the Brahmi script used to write Tamil characters Vatteluttu () or "rounded writing" is an Abugida Writing system originating from the Dravidian peoples of Southern India and The The Malayalam script is an Abugida of the Brahmic family, used to write the Malayalam language. The Tulu script, also known as the Tigalari script, strongly resembles the script of Malayalam language The Khmer script (អក្ខរក្រមខេមរភាសា âkkhârâkrâm khémârâ phéasa informally aksar Khmer អក្សរខ្មែរ is used to write the The Thai Alphabet (อักษรไทย àksŏn thai) is used to write the Thai language and other minority languages in Thailand The Lao script is used mainly to write the Lao language. The minority languages of Laos are also written in the Lao script and officially it is the only script The Balinese script is an Abugida that was used to write the Balinese language, an Austronesian language spoken by about three million people on the The Javanese script, natively known as Carakan ( Tjarakan) is the script originally used to write Javanese. The Mon language is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Mon, who live in Burma and Thailand. The Burmese abugida ( Burmese: မြန်မာအက္ခရာ mjànmà eʔkʰəyà is a script in the Brahmic family used in Burma for writing Kalinga script (Dravidi is one of many descendants of the ancient Brāhmī script used in territory of modern Orissa. The Kadamba Dynasty ( Kannada:ಕದಂಬರು (345 - 525 CE was an ancient royal family of Karnataka that ruled from Banavasi in present Kannada (kn [[wiktಕನ್ನಡ ಕನ್ನಡ]] Kannaḍa) is one of the major Dravidian languages of India, spoken predominantly in the state The Kannada script is a Syllabary (of the type sometimes called an Abugida) of the Brahmic family, primarily to write the Kannada language Telugu script, an Abugida from the Brahmic family of scripts is used to write Telugu language, a Dravidian Language found in the Southern The Sinhala script is an Abugida script used in Sri Lanka to write the Official language Sinhala and also sometimes the Liturgical Tamil (ta தமிழ்; t̪əmɨɻ is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. Not to be confused with the Malay language. Malayalam (മലയാളം malayāḷaṁ) is a Dravidian language used Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical South India is the area encompassing India 's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union It is generally supposed to have evolved from Brahmi, another ancient Indic script. It has influenced the Malayalam, Tulu and Sinhala scripts. Not to be confused with the Malay language. Malayalam (മലയാളം malayāḷaṁ) is a Dravidian language used The Sinhala script is an Abugida script used in Sri Lanka to write the Official language Sinhala and also sometimes the Liturgical A variant of this script used by Pallavas is called Pallava Grantha, which is also known as Pallava script. Origins See also Origin of Pallava The exact origin of the Pallavas is shrouded in mystery Several South-East Asian script like Khmer script developed from this variant. The Khmer script (អក្ខរក្រមខេមរភាសា âkkhârâkrâm khémârâ phéasa informally aksar Khmer អក្សរខ្មែរ is used to write the [1]
Contents |
Sanskrit and Grantha
Although Sanskrit is now almost exclusively written in the Devanagari script, the Grantha script was used to write Sanskrit in the Tamil-speaking parts of South Asia until the 19th century. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Tamil (ta தமிழ்; t̪əmɨɻ is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. Scholars believe, that the Grantha script was used to write the first Vedic books in 5th century. "Veda" redirects here For other uses see Veda (disambiguation. [2]In the early 20th century, it began being replaced by the Devanagari script in religious and scholarly texts, and the normal Tamil script (with the use of diacritics) in popular texts. The A diacritic ( also called a diacritic or diacritical mark, point, or sign, is a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation
The Grantha script was also historically used for writing Tamil-Sanskrit Manipravalam, a blend of Tamil and Sanskrit which was used in the exegesis of Sanskrit texts. Manipravalam ( maṇi-pravāḷa - 'ruby coral' was a literary style used in medieval liturgical texts in South India, in which a Dravidian language is This evolved into a fairly complex writing system which required that Tamil words be written in the Tamil vatteluthu and Sanskrit words be written in the Grantha script. The By the 15th century, this had evolved to the point that both scripts would be used within the same word - if the root was derived from Sanskrit it would be written in the Grantha script, but any Tamil suffixes which were added to it would be written using the Tamil vatteluthu. This system of writing went out of use when Manipravalam declined in popularity, but it was customary to use the same convention in printed editions of texts originally written in Manipravalam until the middle of the 20th century.
In modern times, the Grantha script is mainly used in certain religious contexts by orthodox Tamil-speaking Hindus. Hinduism is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Most notably, they use the script to write a child's name for the first time during the nāmakarṇa naming ceremony, and to write the Sanskrit portion of wedding invitations and announcements of a person's last rites. A wedding is the Ceremony in which two people are united in Marriage. It is also used in many religious almanacs to print traditional formulaic summaries of the coming year.
Erstwhile Tulu script, was called Grantha Lipi.
Dhives and Grantha
Eveila Akuru which was used to write the Divehi language from 12th to 17thAD has strong connections with the Grantha script. Dhivehi Writing Systems Dhivehi (or Divehi) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by more than about 300000 people in the Republic of Maldives where it is the
Tulu-Malayalam script
It is called Transitional Grantha, from about 1300 AD on, the modern script has been in use. Currently two varieties are used: Brahmanic, or square, and Jain, or round. The Tulu-Malayalam script is a variety of Grantha dating from the 8th or 9th century AD. The modern Tamil script may also be derived from Grantha, but this is not certain. [2]
Malayalam and Grantha
The origin of Malayalam script can be traced back to Grantha script. The Malayalam script is an Abugida of the Brahmic family, used to write the Malayalam language. Malayalam scripts possess much resemblance with Grantha scripts. The Malayalam script is an Abugida of the Brahmic family, used to write the Malayalam language.
Tamil and Grantha
It is suggested that Tamil was also written using the Grantha script at some point in time, but currently Tamil has its own script system. Tamil (ta தமிழ்; t̪əmɨɻ is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent.
There have been attempts to mix Sanskrit words into Tamil in the past. Even though there are well-defined rules for writing foreign loan words in Tamil. These letters help to compensate for sounds that are nonexistent in original Tamil. These grantha characters are becoming more widely used, although many scholars are unwilling to adopt the Sanskrit sounds for historical and cultural reasons.
The current Tamil scripts and the Grantha script have commonness, with the signs for voiceless aspirated (such as /kh/), voiced (/g/), and voiced aspirated stops (/gh/) left out.
See also: Tamil alphabet
Grantha Alphabet
A Unicode encoding for Grantha does not yet exist. The In Computing, Unicode is an Industry standard allowing Computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's The font used in the following tables is e-Grantamil taken from INDOLIPI.
The below glyps denote the late form of Grantha Script, which can be noticed by its similarity with the Modern Tamil Script
Vowels
Consonants
As with other Abugida scripts Grantha consonant signs have the inherent vowel /a/. An abugida ( from Ge‘ez አቡጊዳ ’äbugida or Amharic አቡጊዳ ’abugida is a segmental Writing system which An inherent vowel is part of an Abugida script It is the vowel sound which is used with each unmarked or basic Consonant symbol Its absence is marked with Virāma:
For other vowels diacritics are used:
Sometimes ligatures of consonants with vowel diacritics may be found, e. A diacritic ( also called a diacritic or diacritical mark, point, or sign, is a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation A diacritic ( also called a diacritic or diacritical mark, point, or sign, is a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation g. :
There are also a few special consonant forms with Virāma:
Consonant Ligatures
Grantha has two types of consonant ligatures. The "northern" type is formed by fusion of two ore more consonants as in northern scripts like Devanāgarī (but also in some instances in the Malayāḷam script in the south). The Malayalam script is an Abugida of the Brahmic family, used to write the Malayalam language. With the "southern" type consonants are stacked one above the other as in the southern scripts used for Kannaḍa and Telugu (and to some extend also for Malayāḷam and Oṛiya scripts). The Kannada script is a Syllabary (of the type sometimes called an Abugida) of the Brahmic family, primarily to write the Kannada language Telugu script, an Abugida from the Brahmic family of scripts is used to write Telugu language, a Dravidian Language found in the Southern The Malayalam script is an Abugida of the Brahmic family, used to write the Malayalam language. The Oriya script is used to write the Oriya language, and can be used for several other Indian languages for example Sanskrit.
Northern type ligatures
Southern type ligatures
Their components are easy to recognize. Therefore only a few examples are given here:
Special forms:
‹ya› and 
‹ra› as noninitial components of a ligature become 
and 
respectively.
‹ra› as initial component of a ligature becomes 
(called Reph as in other Indic scripts) and is shifted to the end of the ligature.
Grantha Numbers
Text Samples
The Grantha text of each sample is followed by a transliteration into Latin (ISO 15919) and Devanāgarī scripts. Transliteration is the practice of Transcribing a Word or text written in one Writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice
Example 1: Taken from Kālidāsa's Kumārasambhavam
अस्त्युत्तरस्यां दिशि देवतात्मा हिमालयो नाम नगाधिराजः।
पूर्वापरौ तोयनिधी वगाह्य स्थितः पृथिव्या इव मानदण्डः॥
Example 2: St. "Kalidasa" redirects here For the true bug Genus, see Kalidasa (insect. John 3:16
Rendering of the facsimile given on top of this page. By comparing the old print from 1886 with the modern version given below one may see the difficulties the typesetter had with Grantha.
यत ईश्वरो जगतीत्थं प्रेम चकार यन्निजमेकजातं पुत्रं ददौ तस्मिन् विश्वासी सर्वमनुष्यो यथा न विनश्यानन्तं जीवनं लप्स्यते।
Comparison of Grantha with other Cognate Scripts
Vowel signs
Note: As in Devanāgarī ‹e› and ‹o› in Grantha stand for [eː] and [oː]. Originally also Malayāḷam and Tamiḻ scripts did not distinguish long and short ‹e› and ‹o›, though both languages have the phonemes /e/ /eː/ and /o/ /oː/. The Malayalam script is an Abugida of the Brahmic family, used to write the Malayalam language. The The addition of extra signs for /eː/ and /oː/ is attributed to the Italian missionary Constanzo Beschi (1680 - 1774). Constanzo Beschi, also known under his Tamil name of Vīramāmunivar (வீரமாமுனிவர் or Constantine Joseph Beschi (in English (8 November 1680
Consonant signs
The Tamiḻ letters ஜ ஶ ஷ ஸ ஹ and the ligature க்ஷ ‹kṣa› are also called "Grantha letters", as they were introduced from Grantha into the Tamiḻ script to render Sanskrit words. The letters ழ ற ன and the corresponding sounds occur only in Dravidian languages. The Dravidian family of languages includes approximately 73 languages (including the four literary languages of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada
References
Reinhold Grünendahl: South Indian Scripts in Sanskrit Manuscripts and Prints, Wiesbaden (Germany) 2001, ISBN 3-447-04504-3
K. Venugopalan: A Primer in Grantha Characters.
External links
- Quick facts about Grantha at AncientScripts.com
- Article at Omniglot
- more about Grantha Script
- Software package with Grantha OpenType font and typewriter for Grantha and Manipravalam for Win XP, 95, 98
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