>FrescoBot at 18:23, 5 July 2021

2021-07-05T18:23:40Z

New page

{{Short description|Historical script used in Awadh and Bihar regions of India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2019}}
{{Otheruses}}
{{Infobox Writing system
|name=Kaithī
|altname=Kayathi, Kayasthi, {{Script|Kthi|𑂍𑂶𑂟𑂲}}
|type=[[Abugida]]
|languages=[[Angika language|Angika]], [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]], [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]], [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]], [[Magahi language|Magahi]], [[Maithili language|Maithili]], [[Sadri language|Nagpuri]]
|fam1=[[Proto-Sinaitic alphabet]][a]
|fam2=[[Phoenician alphabet]][a]
|fam3=[[Aramaic alphabet]][a]
|footnotes=[a] The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon.
|fam4=[[Brahmi script|Brahmi]]
|fam5=[[Gupta script|Gupta]]
|fam6=[[Siddhaṃ script|Siddhaṃ]]
|fam7=[[Nāgarī]]
|sisters=[[Devanagari]], [[Nandinagari]]
|children=[[Sylheti Nagri]]
|time=c. 16th–mid 20th century
|sample=Kaithi noto.svg
|unicode=[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U11080.pdf U+11080–U+110CF]
|iso15924= Kthi}}
{{Contains special characters
| special = uncommon [[Unicode]] characters
| fix = Help:Multilingual support#Kaithi
| image = Replacement character.svg
| link = Specials (Unicode block)#Replacement character
| alt = <?>
| compact = yes
}}
{{brahmic}}
'''Kaithi''', also called "Kayathi" or "Kayasthi", is a historical [[Brahmic scripts|Brahmic script]] that was used widely in parts of [[North India|Northern]] and [[East India|Eastern India]], primarily in the present-day states of [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Jharkhand]] and [[Bihar]]. In particular, it was used for writing legal, administrative and private records.<ref>King, Christopher R. 1995. ''One Language, Two Scripts: The Hindi Movement in Nineteenth Century North India.'' New York: Oxford University Press.</ref> It was used for a variety of [[Indo-Aryan languages]], including [[Angika language|Angika]], [[Bajjika language|Bajjika]], [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]], [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]], [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]], [[Magahi language|Magahi]], [[Maithili language|Maithili]], and [[Sadri language|Nagpuri]]. Kaithi was originated from kayastha group (cast) of india.

[[File:Kaithi signboard.jpg|thumb|right|Kayasthi (kaithi) signboard at Purbi Gumti Arrah along with Persian Script (on right side) and Roman Script (above). "Lock no. 11" is written on the board in various languages or scripts.]]
[[File:Kaithi handwritten.jpg|thumb|right|This table sets out the handwritten form of the vowels and consonants of the Kaithi script, as of the middle of the 19th century.]]
[[File:Kaithi2.png|thumb|right|Bhojpuri story written in Kaithi script by Babu Rama Smaran Lal in 1898]]
==Etymology==

Kaithi script derives its name from the word [[Kayastha]], a [[social group]] of India that traditionally consists of administrators and accountants.<ref>Grierson, George A. 1899. ''A Handbook to the Kaithi Character.'' Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co.</ref> The Kayastha community was closely associated with the princely courts and British colonial governments of North India and were employed by them to write and maintain records of revenue transactions, legal documents and title deeds; general correspondence and proceedings of the royal courts and related bodies.<ref name="L208194"/> The script used by them acquired the name Kaithi.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

==History==
[[File:Kaithi printed.jpg|thumb|right|A printed form of the Kaithi script, as of the mid-19th century]]
[[File:Sher shah's rupee.jpg|thumb|right|Kaithi Script (left side bottom most line) on the Coins of Sher Shah Suri]]
Documents in Kaithi are traceable to at least the 16th century. The script was widely used during the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] period. In the 1880s, during the [[British Raj]], the script was recognised as the official script of the [[law court]]s of [[Bihar]]. Kaithi was the most widely used script of North India west of Bengal. In 1854, 77,368 school primers were in Kaithi script, as compared to 25,151 in Devanagari and 24,302 in [[Mahajani]].<ref>Rai, Alok. "Hindi Nationalism", p. 13</ref> Among the three scripts widely used in the '[[Hindi Belt]]', Kaithi was widely perceived to be neutral, as it was used by both Hindus and Muslims alike for day-to-day correspondence, financial and administrative activities, while Devanagari was used by Hindus and Persian script by Muslims for religious literature and education. This made Kaithi increasingly unfavorable to the more conservative and religiously inclined members of society who insisted on Devanagari-based and Persian-based transcription of Hindi dialects. As a result of their influence and due to the wide availability of Devanagari type as opposed to the incredibly large variability of Kaithi, Devanagari was promoted, particularly in the Northwest Provinces, which covers present-day [[Uttar Pradesh]].<ref>General Report on Public Instruction in the Bengal Presidency, p. 103.</ref> Kaithi was also nicknamed "Shikasta Nagari" by analogy with [[Nastaʿlīq#Shekasteh_Nastaʿlīq|Shikasta Nastaliq]], because the relationship of Kaithi to Devanagari was perceived as akin to the relationship between the widely used dot-less Shikasta Nastaliq of the time and the more formal printed Nastaliq scripts, which used dotted letters and fuller, less abbreviated letter forms.

In the late 19th century, [[John Nesfield]] in [[Oudh]], [[George Campbell of Inverneill]] in [[Bihar]] and a committee in Bengal all advocated for the use of Kaithi script in education.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rai |first1=Alok |title=Hindi Nationalism |date=2007 |publisher=Sangam Books |location=London |isbn=978-81-250-1979-4 |page=51 |edition=Reprint}}</ref> Many legal documents were written in Kaithi, and from 1950 to 1954 it was the official legal script of Bihar district courts. However, it was opposed by Brahmin elites and phased out. Present day Bihar courts struggle to read old Kaithi documents.<ref>{{cite news |title=कहीं पन्नों में दफन न हो जाए कैथी |url=https://www.inextlive.com/jharkhand/ranchi/kaithi-albhabet-is-in-danger-201203140011 |access-date=2 September 2020 |work=inextlive |date=19 Mar 2012 |language=hi}}</ref>

==Consonants==
All Kaithi consonants have an inherent ''a'' vowel:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ [[Occlusive]]s
! rowspan=3 | !! colspan=5 | [[Voicelessness|{{sc|Voiceless}}]] {{sc|Plosives}} !! colspan=5 | [[Voice (phonetics)|{{sc|Voiced}}]] {{sc|Plosives}} !! colspan=3 rowspan=2 | [[Nasal consonant|{{sc|Nasals}}]]
|-
! colspan=3 | ''Unaspirated'' !! colspan=2 | ''[[Aspirated consonant|Aspirated]]'' !! colspan=3 | ''Unaspirated'' !! colspan=2 | ''Aspirated''
|-
! Letter !! [[Transcription (linguistics)|Trans.]] !! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] !! Letter !! Trans. !! Letter !! Trans. !! IPA !! Letter !! Trans. !! Letter !! Trans. !! IPA
|-
| align=left | [[Velar consonant|Velar]] || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂍}}}} || k || /k/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂎}}}} || kh || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂏}}}} || g || /ɡ/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂐}}}} || gh || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂑}}}} || ṅ || /ŋ/
|-
| align=left | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂒}}}} || c || /c/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂓}}}} || ch || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂔}}}} || j || /ɟ/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂕}}}} || jh || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂖}}}} || ñ || /ɲ/
|-
| align=left rowspan=2 | [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]] || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂗}}}} || ṭ || /ʈ/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂘}}}} || ṭh || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂙}}}} || ḍ || /ɖ/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂛}}}} || ḍh || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂝}}}} || ṇ || /ɳ/
|-
| colspan=5 | || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂚}}}} || ṛ || /ɽ/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂜}}}} || ṛh || colspan=3 |
|-
| align=left | [[Dental consonant|Dental]] || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂞}}}} || t || /t/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂟}}}} || th || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂠}}}} || d || /d/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂡}}}} || dh || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂢}}}} || n || /n/
|-
| align=left | [[Labial consonant|Labial]] || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂣}}}} || p || /p/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂤}}}} || ph || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂥}}}} || b || /b/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂦}}}} || bh || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂧}}}} || m || /m/
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Sonorants and fricatives
! rowspan=2 | !! colspan=3 | ''Palatal'' !! colspan=3 | ''Retroflex'' !! colspan=3 | ''Dental'' !! colspan=3 | ''Labial''
|-
! Letter !! [[Transcription (linguistics)|Trans.]] !! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] !! Letter !! Trans. !! IPA !! Letter !! Trans. !! IPA !! Letter !! Trans. !! IPA
|-
| [[Sonorant]]s || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂨}}}} || y || /j/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂩}}}} || r || /r/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂪}}}} || l || /l/|| {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂫}}}} || v || /ʋ/
|-
| [[Sibilant]]s || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂬}}}} || ś || /ɕ/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂭}}}} || ṣ || /ȿ/ || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂮}}}} || s || /s/ || colspan=4 |
|-
! rowspan=2 | !! colspan=3 | ''Other''
|-
| {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂯}}}} || h || /h/
|}

==Vowels==
Kaithi vowels have independent (initial) and dependent (diacritic) forms:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Vowels
! !! [[Transcription (linguistics)|Trans.]] !! Letter !! Diacritic !! Shown with k !! Trans. !! Letter !! Diacritic !! Shown with k
|-
| align=left | '''[[Guttural]]''' || a || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂃}}}} || || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂍}}}} || ā || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂄}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂰}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂍𑂰}}}}
|-
| align=left | '''[[Palatal]]''' || i || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂅}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge| 𑂱}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂍𑂱}}}} || ī || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂆}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂲}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂍𑂲}}}}
|-
| align=left | '''[[Roundedness|Rounded]]''' || u || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂇}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂳}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂍𑂳}}}} || ū || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂈}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂴}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂍𑂴}}}}
|-
| align=left | '''Palatoguttural''' || e || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂉}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂵}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂍𑂵}}}} || ai || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂊}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂶}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂍𑂶}}}}
|-
| align=left | '''Labioguttural''' || o || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂋}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂷}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂍𑂷}}}} || au || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂌}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂸}}}} || {{Script|Kthi|{{huge|𑂍𑂸}}}}
|}

==Diacritics==
Several diacritics are employed to change the meaning of letters:
{|class="wikitable"
! Diacritic !!Name !! Function
|-
| align=center | {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂀}}}} || [[candrabindu]] || A candrabindu denotes [[nasalisation]] although it is not normally used with Kaithi.<ref name="L208194"/>
|-
| align=center | {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂁}}}} || [[anusvara]] || An anusvara in Kaithi represents true vowel nasalisation.<ref name="L208194"/> For example, {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂍𑂁}}}}, ''kaṃ''.
|-
| align=center | {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂂}}}} || [[visarga]] || Visarga is a [[Sanskrit]] holdover originally representing /h/. For example, {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂍𑂂}}}} ''kaḥ''.<ref name="L208194"/>
|-
| align=center | {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂹}}}} || [[halanta]] || A virama removes a consonant's inherent ''a'' and in some cases forms consonant clusters. Compare {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂧𑂥}}}} ''maba'' with {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂧𑂹𑂥}}}} ''mba''.<ref name="TUS">{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode13.0.0/ch15.pdf#G69704|title=The Unicode Standard, Chapter 15.2: Kaithi|publisher=Unicode Consortium|date=March 2020}}</ref>
|-
| align=center | {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂺}}}} || [[nuqta]] || A nuqta is used to extend letters to represent non-native sounds. For example, {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂔}}}} ''ja'' + nuqta = {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂔𑂺}}}}, which represents Arabic [[zayin]].<ref name="L208194">{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2008/08194-n3389-kaithi.pdf|title=L2/08-194: Proposal to Encode the Kaithi Script in ISO/IEC 10646|date=6 May 2008|first=Anshuman|last=Pandey}}</ref>
|}

==Punctuation==
Kaithi has several script-specific punctuation marks:
{|class="wikitable"
! Sign !! Description
|-
| {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂻}}}} || The ''abbreviation sign'' is one method of representing abbreviations in Kaithi.<ref name="L208194"/> For example, {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂪𑂱𑂎𑂱𑂞𑂧}}}} can be abbreviated as {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂪𑂲𑂻}}}}.<ref name="L208194"/>
|-
| {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂽}}}} || The ''number sign'' is used with digits for enumerated lists and numerical sequences.<ref name="L208194"/> It can appear above, below, or before a digit or sequence of digits.<ref name="L208194"/> For example, {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂽१२३}}}}.
|-
| {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂼}}}} || The ''enumeration sign'' is a spacing version of the ''number sign''.<ref name="TUS"/> It always appears before a digit or sequence of digits (never above or below).
|-
| {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂾}}}} || The ''section sign'' indicates the end of a sentence.<ref name="TUS"/>
|-
| {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑂿}}}} || The ''double section sign'' indicates the end of a larger section of text, such as a paragraph.<ref name="TUS"/>
|-
| {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑃀}}}} || ''Danda'' is a Kaithi-specific [[danda]].
|-
| {{Script|Kthi|{{large|𑃁}}}} || ''Double danda'' is a Kaithi-specific double danda.
|}

General punctuation is also used with Kaithi:
* {{Script|Kthi|{{large|+}}}} ''plus sign'' can be used to mark phrase boundaries
* {{Script|Kthi|{{large|‐}}}} ''hyphen'' and {{Script|Kthi|{{large|-}}}} ''hyphen-minus'' can be used for hyphenation
* {{Script|Kthi|{{large|⸱}}}} ''word separator middle dot'' can be used as a word boundary (as can a hyphen)

==Digits==
Kaithi uses stylistic variants of [[Devanagari#Numerals|Devangari digits]]. It also uses [[Common Indic Number Forms|common Indic number signs]] for fractions and unit marks.<ref name="TUS"/>

==Unicode==

{{Main|Kaithi (Unicode block)}}

Kaithi script was added to the [[Unicode]] Standard in October 2009 with the release of version 5.2.

The Unicode block for Kaithi is U+11080–U+110CF:

{{Unicode chart Kaithi}}

==See also==
*[[Devanagari]]
*[[Sylheti Nagari]]
*[[Gujarati alphabet|Gujarati script]]
*[[Modi script]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{list of writing systems}}

[[Category:Culture of Mithila]]
[[Category:Obsolete writing systems]]

Kaithi - Revision history

>FrescoBot at 18:23, 5 July 2021