Since this semester I will be trying to learn how to write, I figured that it is certainly appropriate to learn more about the Gujarati language and script even though I know the basics in that it originated and evolved from Sanskrit.
The Gujarati script was adapted from the Devanagari script to write the Gujarati language. The earliest known document in the Gujarati 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 Devanagari script was used for literature and academic writings.
The Gujarati script is also known as the
saraphi (banker's script )
vaniasai (merchant's script) or
mahajani (trader's script ) script.
Gujarati is a syllabic alphabet in that consonants all have an inherent vowel. (ie. Ka, keh, kih). Gujarati 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. These are known as matras.
Comments