>Tom.Reding at 13:01, 31 March 2021

2021-03-31T13:01:25Z

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{{Short description|Script used for writing the Marathi language}}
{{IPA notice}}{{Contains special characters|Indic}}
'''Balabodh''' ({{lang-mr|बाळबोध}}, {{IAST|bāḷabōdha}}, {{IPA-mr|baːɭboːd̪ʱ}}, translation: understood by children<ref>{{Cite book|title = Compendium of the World's Languages|last1 = Campbell|first1 = George L.|publisher = Routledge|year = 2013|isbn = 9781136258466|pages = 1071|last2 = King|first2 = Gareth|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DWAqAAAAQBAJ|author-link = George Campbell (linguist)|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141207081705/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DWAqAAAAQBAJ|archive-date = 7 December 2014}}</ref>) is a slightly modified style of the [[Devanagari script]] used to write the Marathi language<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.typoday.in/2014/spk_papers14/rajendrathakre-typo14.pdf|title = Reviving the Modi Script|date = 28 February 2014|website = Typoday|last = Bhimraoji|first = Rajendra|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141207082007/http://www.typoday.in/2014/spk_papers14/rajendrathakre-typo14.pdf|archive-date = 7 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.rbcradio.com/knowlanguages.html|title = Languages of India|website = RBC Radio|at = Marathi|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130910125546/http://www.rbcradio.com/knowlanguages.html|archive-date = 10 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://marathi.tripod.com/marathi.html|title = Marathi Language|last = Savargaonkar|first = Nilesh|at = Marathi Script|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140714092126/http://marathi.tripod.com/marathi.html|archive-date = 14 July 2014}}</ref> and the [[Korku language]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title = Current Trends in Linguistics|publisher = [[Walter de Gruyter]] |pages = 425|editor-first = Thomas Albert|editor-last = Sebeok|editor-link = Thomas Sebeok|year = 1971|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JqYMTdBws40C|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141207082534/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JqYMTdBws40C&q=balabodha|archive-date = 7 December 2014}}</ref> What sets balabodha apart from the Devanagari script used for other languages is the more frequent and regular use of both ळ /ɭ/ (retroflex lateral approximant) and र्‍ (called the eyelash reph/raphar).<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title = The Indo-Aryan Languages|last = Masica|first = Colin P.|publisher = Cambridge University Press|year = 1993|isbn = 9780521299442|pages = 97 and 437|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Itp2twGR6tsC|author-link = Colin Masica|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141207082658/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Itp2twGR6tsC|archive-date = 7 December 2014}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The word balabodha is a combination of the words ‘बाळ’ /baːɭ/ and ‘बोध’ /boːd̪ʱ/. ‘बाळ’ is a neuter noun derived from the [[Sanskrit]] word ''bāla'' "child".<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title = A Dictionary, Marathi and English|last = Molesworth|first = James Thomas|publisher = Bombay Education Society's Press|year = 1857|location = Bombay [sic]|pages = 593|url = http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/romadict.pl?query=%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A7&display=utf8&table=molesworth}}</ref> ‘बोध’ is a male noun and a [[tatsama]] meaning "perception".<ref name=":1" />

As far as the Marathi literature is concerned, Balbodh can be assumed to be composed of "bal" meaning primary and "bodh" meaning knowledge. So Maathi balabodha may be understood as the primary knowledge of Marathi language. In primary knowledge, Mulakshare (Basic Letters), consisting of 12 vowels अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ए ऐ ओ औ अं अः (like A, E, I, O, and U in English) and 36 consonants in five groups (क वर्ग, च वर्ग, ट वर्ग, त वर्ग and प वर्ग) and 11 individual consonants, are taught to children and illiterate persons through recitation and writing on slates.

== Features ==

=== Retroflex lateral approximant ===
{{Main|Retroflex lateral approximant}}

==== Indo-Aryan languages ====
Historically, the retroflex lateral approximant (ळ /ɭ/ ) existed in [[Vedic Sanskrit]] and was lost in [[Sanskrit|Classical Sanskrit]]. Today the Indo-Aryan languages in which it exists are [[Marathi language|Marathi]] and [[Konkani]] (ळ), [[Oriya language|Oriya]] (ଳ), [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] (ળ), most varieties of [[Rajasthani language|Rajasthani]], [[Bhili language|Bhili]], some dialects of [[Punjabi language]] (ਲ਼), most dialects of [[Western Pahari]], [[Kumaoni language|Kumaoni]], [[Haryanvi language|Haryanavi]], and the [[Kauravi dialect|Saharanpur dialect of Northwestern Kauravi]]. Of these, Konkani, Rajasthani, Bhili, and Kumaoni, Haryanavi, and the Saharanpur dialect use the Devanagari script. The retroflex lateral approximant does not exist in most other Indo-Aryan Indian languages.<ref name=":2"/>

==== South Indian languages ====
The retroflex lateral approximant (ळ /ɭ/ ) exists in many Dravidian languages such as Telugu (ళ), Malayalam (ള), Kannada (ಳ), and Tamil (ள). It was once present in Sinhala (as ළ).<ref name=":2"/> It is present in many Indian languages including [[Vedic Sanskrit]].<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~fsouth/DravidianElement.pdf|title = Prehistoric Implications of the Dravidian element in the NIA lexicon, with special attention to Marathi|website = University of Pennsylvania|last = Southworth|first = Franklin C.|author-link = Franklin Southworth|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110628194918/http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~fsouth/DravidianElement.pdf|archive-date = 28 June 2011}}</ref>

=== Eyelash reph/raphar ===
{{See also|Zero-width joiner|Virama}}The eyelash reph/raphar (रेफ/ रफार) (र्‍) exists in Marathi as well as Nepali. The eyelash reph/raphar (र्‍) is produced in Unicode by the sequence <big>[</big><big>ra</big> र <big>] </big>+ <big>[</big><big>virāma ्</big>] + <big>[ZWJ]</big> and <big>[</big><big>rra</big> ऱ <big>]</big>+ <big>[</big><big>virāma ्</big>] + <big>[ZWJ]</big>.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://unicode.org/~emuller/iwg/p8/utcdoc.html|title = Devanagari Eyelash Ra|date = 7 November 2004|website = The Unicode Consortium|last = Indic Working Group|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140527105648/http://unicode.org/~emuller/iwg/p8/utcdoc.html|archive-date = 27 May 2014}}</ref> In Marathi, when ‘र’ is the first consonant of a [[consonant cluster]] and occurs at the beginning of a syllable, it is written as an eyelash reph/raphar.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Learning Marathi|last1 = Kalyan|first1 = Kale|publisher = Shri Vishakha Prakashan|year = 1986|location = Pune|pages = 26|last2 = Soman|first2 = Anjali}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Examples
|-
|तर्‍हा
|-
|वाऱ्याचा
|-
|ऱ्हास
|-
|ऱ्हस्व
|-
|सुऱ्या
|-
|दोऱ्या
|}

==== Minimal pairs ====
{| class="wikitable"
!Using the (Simple) Reph/Raphar
!Using the Eyelash Reph/Raphar
|-
|आचार्यास (to the teacher)
|आचार्‍यास (to the cook)
|-
|दर्या (ocean)
|दर्‍या (valleys)
|}<ref>{{Cite book|title = Typography of Devanagari-1|last = Naik|first = B.S.|publisher = Directorate of Languages|year = 1971|location = Bombay}}</ref>

== Printing ==
Before printing in Marathi was possible, the [[Modi script]] was used for writing prose, and balabodha was used for writing poetry. When printing in Marathi became possible, choosing between Modi and balabodha was a problem. [[William Carey (missionary)|William Carey]] published the first book on Marathi grammar in 1805 using balabodha since printing in the Modi script was not available to him in [[Serampore]], Bengal. At the time, Marathi books were generally written in balabodha. However, subsequent editions of William Carey's book on Marathi grammar, starting in 1810, did employ the Modi script.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Language Change: Lexical Diffusion and Literacy|last = Rao|first = Goparaju Sambasiva|publisher = Academic Foundation|year = 1994|isbn = 9788171880577|pages = 48 and 49|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141207082805/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8Ben0lE61msC|archive-date = 7 December 2014|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8Ben0lE61msC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title = A Grammar of the Marathi Language|last = Carey|first = William|publisher = Serampore Mission Press|year = 1805|isbn = 9781108056311|location = Serampur [sic]|author-link = William Carey (missionary)}}</ref>

== As primary style ==
On 25 July 1917, the [[Bombay Presidency]] decided to replace the Modi script with balabodha as the primary script of administration, for convenience and uniformity with the other areas of the presidency. The Modi script continued to be taught in schools until several decades later and continued to be used as an alternate script to Balabodha. The script was still widely used, until the 1940s, by the people of older generations for personal and financial uses.

However, the use of Modi diminished since then and now Balabodha is the primary script used to write Marathi (other than Modi script revival efforts).<ref>{{Cite book|title = Rajarshi Shahu Chhatrapati papers|last1 = Chhatrapati|first1 = Shahu|publisher = Shahu Research Institute|year = 1997|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=w6RHAAAAMAAJ|volume = 7|last2 = Sangave|first2 = Vilas Adinath|last3 = Khane|first3 = B. D.|author-link = Chhattrapati Shahu|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141207083216/https://books.google.com/books?id=w6RHAAAAMAAJ|archive-date = 7 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.modilipi.in/2011/02/modi-script-of-maharashtra-script-which.html |title = History Of Modi Lipi|website = Modi Lipi|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131025183435/http://www.modilipi.in/2011/02/modi-script-of-maharashtra-script-which.html#.VIQQuhrj66w|archive-date = 25 October 2013}}</ref>

== Korku language ==
{{See also|Korku language|Korku people}}

In addition to Marathi, balabodha is also used to write the Korku language of the [[Munda languages|Munda subdivision]] [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic language family]], which is spoken by the [[Korku people]] who live in parts of [[Maharashtra]] and [[Madhya Pradesh]].<ref name=":0"/>

== See also ==
* [[Modi alphabet|Modi script]], the other Marathi script

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Brahmic scripts]]
[[Category:Marathi language]]

Balbodh - Revision history

>Tom.Reding at 13:01, 31 March 2021