Newar script
| Newar 𑐥𑑂𑐬𑐔𑐮𑐶𑐟 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑐮 Prachalit Nepal | |
|---|---|
 The phrase 'Prachalit Nepal' in Newar script | |
| Script type | |
Period | 10th–20th century |
| Direction | Left-to-right  |
| Languages | Nepal Bhasa, Sanskrit, Maithili |
| 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 | |
| Brahmic scripts |
|---|
| The Brahmi script and its descendants |
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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, Maithili and Sanskrit. Various publications are still published in this script including the Sikkim Herald the bulletin of the Sikkim government (Newari edition).[2]
Etymology
[edit]The Newar script is also known as "Nepalakshar" or "Nepal lipi", which means script of Nepal. This script is referred as "Newa" in Modern-Newar language, and "Newari" 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.[3] Similarly, in a 1747 CE work, Capuchin friar Costantino da Ascoli refers to this script as Nepalese.[4]
History
[edit]The Newar script appeared in the inscription of King Shankaradeva at Jaishideval, dated to 920 CE. Similarly, 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 of Bengal.[5]
Almost all of 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.[6]
Alphabet
[edit]Vowels
[edit]| Vowels | Diacritic | IAST & IPA | With 𑐎 (ka) | With 𑐐 (ga) | Vowels | Diacritic | 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 | 𑑄 | ã /ə̃/ | 𑐎𑑄 | 𑐐𑑄 | 𑐀𑑅 | 𑑅 | aḥ /əḥ/ | 𑐎𑑅 | 𑐐𑑅 |
Consonant
[edit]| Phonetics → | Stop | Nasal | Approximant | Fricative | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voicing → | Voiceless | Voiced | Voiceless | Voiced | ||||||||||||
| Aspiration → | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | ||||||||||
| Velar | 𑐎 | ka /k/ | 𑐏 | kha /kʰ/ | 𑐐 | ga /ɡ/ | 𑐑 | gha /ɡʱ/ | 𑐒 | ṅa /ŋ/ | 𑐴 | ha /ɦ/ | ||||
| Palatal | 𑐔 | ca /c/ | 𑐕 | cha /cʰ/ | 𑐖 | ja /ɟ/ | 𑐗 | jha /ɟʱ/ | 𑐘 | ña /ɲ/ | 𑐫 | ya /j/ | 𑐱 | śa /ɕ/ | ||
| Retroflex | 𑐚 | ṭa /ʈ/ | 𑐛 | ṭha /ʈʰ/ | 𑐜 | ḍa /ɖ/ | 𑐝 | ḍha /ɖʱ/ | 𑐞 | ṇa /ɳ/ | 𑐬 | ra /r/ | 𑐲 | ṣa /ʂ/ | ||
| Dental | 𑐟 | ta /t/ | 𑐠 | tha /tʰ/ | 𑐡 | da /d/ | 𑐢 | dha /dʱ/ | 𑐣 | na /n/ | 𑐮 | la /l/ | 𑐳 | sa /s/ | ||
| Labial | 𑐥 | pa /p/ | 𑐦 | pha /pʰ/ | 𑐧 | ba /b/ | 𑐨 | bha /bʱ/ | 𑐩 | ma /m/ | 𑐰 | va /w, ʋ/ | ||||
Symbols
[edit]
Numerals
[edit]| 𑑐 | 𑑑 | 𑑒 | 𑑓 | 𑑔 | 𑑕 | 𑑖 | 𑑗 | 𑑘 | 𑑙 |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
Unicode
[edit]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
[edit]-
An 11th century manuscript of Devikavacha stotra. -
A 12th century Sanskrit manuscript of the Gandavyuha. -
A 14th century manuscript of Varāhamihira's Brihat Jataka. -
A folio from an astrology book from the 15th century. -
A 17th-century manuscript copy of Raghuvamsa, currently at Cambridge University. -
King Bhupatindra Malla's Newar language inscription from 1713 CE. -
King Ranajit Malla's Newar language inscription from 1754 CE. -
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
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Masica, Colin (1993). The Indo-Aryan languages. p. 143.
- ^ 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)". Internet Archive. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
- ^ Tuladhar, Prem Shanti (2000). Nepal Bhasa Sahityaya Itihas: History of Nepalbhasa Literature. Nepal Bhasa Academy. p. 14. ISBN 99933-56-00-X.
Further reading
[edit]- 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
[edit]- ScriptSource page on Prachalit Nepal script
- Fonts for Prachalit, Ranjana and Brahmi scripts
- Noto Sans Newa (GitHub) – a Noto font for Newa