Newar script
Nepalese script
The Newar script, known in the Newar language as Nepal lipi, Nepalakshar and Prachalit, is an abugida, one of the Nepalese scripts that descend from the Brahmi script. It is used to write Nepal Bhasa and Sanskrit. In the past, it has also been used for writing Nepali, Bengali, Maithili, and Hindi. Various publications are still published in this script including the Sikkim Herald the bulletin of the Sikkim government.
| Newar Nepal Lipi 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑐮 𑐮𑐶𑐥𑐶 | |
|---|---|
 Nepal lipi Varnamala Chart | |
| Script type | |
Period | 10th–20th century |
| Direction | Left-to-right  |
| Languages | Nepal Bhasa & Sanskrit |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Sister systems | Ranjana Bhujimol |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Newa (333), Newa, Newar, Newari, Nepāla lipi |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Newa |
| U+11400–U+1147F | |
_manuscript_LACMA_M.88.134.7.jpg)
The Newar script, known in the Newar language as Nepal lipi, Nepalakshar and Prachalit, is an abugida, one of the Nepalese scripts that descend from the Brahmi script. It is used to write Nepal Bhasa and Sanskrit. In the past, it has also been used for writing Nepali, Bengali, Maithili, and Hindi.[2] Various publications are still published in this script including the Sikkim Herald the bulletin of the Sikkim government (Newari edition).[3]
Etymology
The Newar script is known as "Nepalakshar" or "Nepal lipi", which means script of Nepal. This script is commonly referred as Newā Ākhaḥ in Modern-Newar language, and Newari Lipi in Nepali language. The Newar script is also known as Prachalit script ("popular script"), as it was one of the most widely used script among all of the scripts used in Nepal, with majority of manuscripts and inscription written in it.
The multilingual stone inscription of Pratap Malla dated to 1654 CE, uses "nevāra ākhala" (Newar script) to refer this script in Classical Newar language.[4] Similarly, in a 1747 CE work, Capuchin friar Costantino da Ascoli refers to this script as Nepalese.[5]
History
The Newar script appeared in the inscription of King Shankaradeva at Jaishideval, dated to 920 CE. The first coin in Newar script appeared on a coin of King Shivadeva (1098–1126 CE). The oldest surviving manuscript of the Abhijnana Shakuntala, dated to the 12th century, was written in this script and is now situated at the Asiatic Society.[6] Similarly, the oldest surviving manuscript of Ramayana dated 1019, was written in the Newar script. [7]
During Malla dynasty, official records and inscription were written in Newar script. It was also used in official documents by early-Shah rulers, as shown by the Nepal-Tibet treaty of 1775, which was written in Newar script. Later since 1906, with rise of Rana dynasty, official documents written in Newar script was declared illegal. Since than, the Newar script started to replaced by Devanagari script.[8]
Alphabet
Vowels
| Vowels | Diactrics | IAST & IPA | With 𑐎 (ka) | With 𑐐 (ga) | Vowels | Diactrics | IAST & IPA | With 𑐎 (ka) | With 𑐐 (ga) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 𑐀 | — | a /ə/ | 𑐎 | 𑐐 | 𑐁 | 𑐵 | ā /aː/ | 𑐎𑐵 | 𑐐𑐵 |
| 𑐂 | 𑐶 | i /i/ | 𑐎𑐶 | 𑐐𑐶 | 𑐃 | 𑐷 | ī /iː/ | 𑐎𑐷 | 𑐐𑐷 |
| 𑐄 | 𑐸 | u /u/ | 𑐎𑐸 | 𑐐𑐸 | 𑐅 | 𑐹 | ū /uː/ | 𑐎𑐹 | 𑐐𑐹 |
| 𑐆 | 𑐺 | ṛ /r̩/ | 𑐎𑐺 | 𑐐𑐺 | 𑐇 | 𑐻 | ṝ /r̩ː/ | 𑐎𑐻 | 𑐐𑐻 |
| 𑐈 | 𑐼 | ḷ /l̩/ | 𑐎𑐼 | 𑐐𑐼 | 𑐉 | 𑐽 | ḹ /l̩ː/ | 𑐎𑐽 | 𑐐𑐽 |
| 𑐊 | 𑐾 | e /eː/ | 𑐎𑐾 | 𑐐𑐾 | 𑐋 | 𑐿 | ai /ai̯/ | 𑐎𑐿 | 𑐐𑐿 |
| 𑐌 | 𑑀 | o /oː/ | 𑐎𑑀 | 𑐐𑑀 | 𑐍 | 𑑁 | au /au̯/ | 𑐎𑑁 | 𑐐𑑁 |
| 𑐀𑑄 | 𑑄 | aṃ /ə̃/ | 𑐎𑑄 | 𑐐𑑄 | 𑐀𑑅 | 𑑅 | aḥ /əḥ/ | 𑐎𑑅 | 𑐐𑑅 |
Consonant
| Plosive | Nasal | Sonorant | Fricative | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voiceless | Voiced | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Plain | Aspirated | Modal | Breathy | Modal | Breathy | Modal | Breathy | |||||||||||||||||
| Velar | 𑐎 | ka /k/ | 𑐏 | kha /kʰ/ | 𑐐 | ga /ɡ/ | 𑐑 | gha /ɡʱ/ | 𑐒 | ṅa /ŋ/ | 𑐓 | ṅha /ŋʱ/ | ||||||||||||
| Palatal | 𑐔 | ca /t͡ɕ/ | 𑐕 | cha /t͡ɕʰ/ | 𑐖 | ja /d͡ʑ/ | 𑐗 | jha /d͡ʑʱ/ | 𑐘 | ña /ɲ/ | 𑐙 | ñha /ɲʱ/ | 𑐫 | ya /j/ | 𑐴𑑂𑐫 | yha /jʱ/ | 𑐱 | śa /ʃ/ | ||||||
| Retroflex | 𑐚 | ṭa /ʈ/ | 𑐛 | ṭha /ʈʰ/ | 𑐜 | ḍa /ɖ/ | 𑐝 | ḍha /ɖʱ/ | 𑐞 | ṇa /ɳ/ | 𑐴𑑂𑐞 | ṇha /ɳʱ/ | 𑐬 | ra /r/ | 𑐭 | rha /ɾʱ/ | 𑐲 | ṣa /ʂ/ | ||||||
| Dental | 𑐟 | ta /t/ | 𑐠 | tha /tʰ/ | 𑐡 | da /d/ | 𑐢 | dha /dʱ/ | 𑐣 | na /n/ | 𑐤 | nha /nʱ/ | 𑐮 | la /l/ | 𑐯 | lha /lʱ/ | 𑐳 | sa /s/ | ||||||
| Labial | 𑐥 | pa /p/ | 𑐦 | pha /pʰ/ | 𑐧 | ba /b/ | 𑐨 | bha /bʱ/ | 𑐩 | ma /m/ | 𑐪 | mha /mʱ/ | 𑐰 | va /w, ʋ/ | 𑐴𑑂𑐰 | vha /wʱ/ | ||||||||
| Guttural | 𑐴 | ha /ɦ/ |
|---|
Symbols
Numerals
| 𑑐 | 𑑑 | 𑑒 | 𑑓 | 𑑔 | 𑑕 | 𑑖 | 𑑗 | 𑑘 | 𑑙 |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
Unicode
Newar script was added to the Unicode Standard in June, 2016 with the release of version 9.0.
The Unicode block for Newar, called Newa, is U+11400–U+1147F:
| Newa[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+1140x | 𑐀 | 𑐁 | 𑐂 | 𑐃 | 𑐄 | 𑐅 | 𑐆 | 𑐇 | 𑐈 | 𑐉 | 𑐊 | 𑐋 | 𑐌 | 𑐍 | 𑐎 | 𑐏 |
| U+1141x | 𑐐 | 𑐑 | 𑐒 | 𑐓 | 𑐔 | 𑐕 | 𑐖 | 𑐗 | 𑐘 | 𑐙 | 𑐚 | 𑐛 | 𑐜 | 𑐝 | 𑐞 | 𑐟 |
| U+1142x | 𑐠 | 𑐡 | 𑐢 | 𑐣 | 𑐤 | 𑐥 | 𑐦 | 𑐧 | 𑐨 | 𑐩 | 𑐪 | 𑐫 | 𑐬 | 𑐭 | 𑐮 | 𑐯 |
| U+1143x | 𑐰 | 𑐱 | 𑐲 | 𑐳 | 𑐴 | 𑐵 | 𑐶 | 𑐷 | 𑐸 | 𑐹 | 𑐺 | 𑐻 | 𑐼 | 𑐽 | 𑐾 | 𑐿 |
| U+1144x | 𑑀 | 𑑁 | 𑑂 | 𑑃 | 𑑄 | 𑑅 | 𑑆 | 𑑇 | 𑑈 | 𑑉 | 𑑊 | 𑑋 | 𑑌 | 𑑍 | 𑑎 | 𑑏 |
| U+1145x | 𑑐 | 𑑑 | 𑑒 | 𑑓 | 𑑔 | 𑑕 | 𑑖 | 𑑗 | 𑑘 | 𑑙 | 𑑚 | 𑑛 | 𑑝 | 𑑞 | 𑑟 | |
| U+1146x | 𑑠 | 𑑡 | ||||||||||||||
| U+1147x | ||||||||||||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
Gallery
An 11th-century manuscript of Devikavacha stotra.
A 14th-century manuscript of Varāhamihira's Brihat Jataka.
King Yaksha Malla’s copperplate inscription in Newar language, 1446 CE.
King Bhupatindra Malla's Newar language inscription from 1713 CE.
A 1717 CE (N.S. 837) Classical Newar inscription.
King Ranajit Malla's Newar language inscription from 1754 CE.
A manuscript of Ratneshvara-udbhava Pyakhan, a Newar play written by Jayaprakash Malla.
The Nepal-Tibet Treaty of 1775 written in Classical Newar and Newar script.
A manuscript of Swasthani Bakhan written in Newar language, from 1819 CE.
A Newar manuscript of glory of Ekadashi, from 1837 CE.
See also
| Brahmic scripts |
|---|
| The Brahmi script and its descendants |
References
- ↑ Masica, Colin (1993). The Indo-Aryan languages. p. 143.
- ↑ Pandey, Anshuman (29 February 2012). "Proposal to encode the Newar Script in ISO/IEC 10646" (PDF). Retrieved 16 June 2026.
- ↑ Pandey, Anshuman (3 May 2011). "N4038: Preliminary Proposal to Encode the Prachalit Nepal Script in ISO/IEC 10646" (PDF). Retrieved 24 June 2016.
- ↑ Poudel, Nayanath (17 June 2023). "nevāra śabdako prācīnatā" [Historicity of the term "Newar"]. Gorkhapatra (in Nepali). Archived from the original on 21 May 2024.
- ↑ Tomba, Marco Della (1878). Gli scritti del Padre Marco Della Tomba, missionario nelle Indie orientali, raccolti, ordinati ed illustrati sopra gli autografi del Museo Borgiano (in Italian). Le Monnier. p. 303.
- ↑ Tamot, Kashinath (2017). नेपालमा प्रचलित लिपिको परिचय (Nepalma Prachalit Lipiko Parichaya). Madhuparka. p. 11.
- ↑ Upadhyay, Baldeva (2017). Sanskrit Vangmaya Ka Brihat Ithas. Uttarpradesh Sanskrit Samsthan. p. 32.
- ↑ Tuladhar, Prem Shanti (2000). Nepal Bhasa Sahityaya Itihas: History of Nepalbhasa Literature. Nepal Bhasa Academy. p. 14. ISBN 99933-56-00-X.
Further reading
- Rabison Shakya (2002). Alphabet of the Nepalese Scriptbook. Patan, Nepal. ISBN 99933-34-36-7.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Covers Prachalit, Ranjana and Bhujimol, development, current use, information about and drawings of character formation. - Hall, Pat (21 September 2012). "Problems with Unicode for Languages Unsupported by Computers" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
External links
- ScriptSource page on Prachalit Nepal script
- Fonts for Prachalit, Ranjana and Brahmi scripts
- Noto Sans Newa (GitHub) – a Noto font for Newa