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Hi - I'm Eden.
Signed up - March 15, 1998
Last updated - February 12, 2000

What's on this page? Indian script comparison charts - learn to read and write in any Indian alphabet! And now many more languages! What's new on this page? Sindhi, Burmese, Lao, Thai, Khmer, Java, Bali, Batak, and Bugis!!

TAKE A LOOK AT THE NEW CHARTS CONTAINING ALL THE BRAHMI DESCENDED SCRIPTS!

Scripts on my Pages (indexed by region):

Script

Region

Languages that use Script

Page(s) to learn Script

Devanagari (DEV)

North India

Hindi, Sanskrit, Marathi, Nepali

Main & All Brahmi

Gujarati (GUJ)

North India

Gujarati

Main & All Brahmi

Gurmukhi (PUN)

North India

Punjabi

Main & All Brahmi

Bengali (BEN/ASS)

North India

Bengali, Assamese

Main & All Brahmi

Oriya (ORI)

North India

Oriya

Main & All Brahmi

Telugu (TEL)

South India

Telugu

Main & All Brahmi

Kannada (KAN)

South India

Kannada

Main & All Brahmi

Tamil (TAM)

South India

Tamil

Main & All Brahmi

Malayalam (MAL)

South India

Malayalam

Main & All Brahmi

Sinhala (SINH)

Sri Lanka

Sinhala/Singhalese & Pali

Main & All Brahmi

Tibetan (TIB)

North India, Tibet, Bhutan

Tibetan, Bhutanese

Tibetan Page & All Brahmi

Urdu(URD)

Pakistan

Urdu

Main & All Brahmi

Sindhi(SIND)

Pakistan, North India

Sindhi

Main & All Brahmi

Persian

Iran

Farsi

Persian Alphabet

Bopomofo

Taiwan

Chinese

East Asian Scripts

Hangul

N & S Korea

Korean

East Asian Scripts

Hiragana

Japan

Japanese

East Asian Scripts

Katakana

Japan

Japanese

East Asian Scripts

Burmese (BUR)

Burma

Burmese

SE Asian Scripts & All Brahmi

Lao (LAO)

Laos

Lao

SE Asian Scripts & All Brahmi

Thai (THA)

Thailand

Thai

SE Asian Scripts & All Brahmi

Khmer (KHM)

Cambodia

Khmer

SE Asian Scripts & All Brahmi

Javanese (JAV)

Java, Indonesia

Javanese

All Brahmi

Balinese (BAL)

Bali, Indonesia

Balinese

All Brahmi

Tagalog (TAG)

Phillipines (until late 18th cent)

Tagalog

All Brahmi

Batak (BAT)

N Sumatra, Indonesia

Batak, Toba

All Brahmi

Bugis/Buginese (BUG)

Sulawesi, Indonesia

Bugis, Makassar

All Brahmi

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR THE FOLLOWING CHARTS: A dash indicates the letter does not exist in that particular language. North Indian script are to the left and South Indian scripts are in the middle, then the Arabic based scripts are on the right. An asterisk denotes that letter is a part of an extended character set of the alphabet. I have added Urdu and Sindhi to my main charts. These are Arabic based scripts and are written from right to left. For simplicity, the detached form is given since a letter can take up to four forms. Also, some letters like "z" can have multiple counterparts in Urdu and Sindhi, the most common letter is given.

Velars:

Palatals:

Retroflexes:

Dentals:

Labials:

The following chart shows the only two letters that differ between the Bengali and Assamese scripts. Glides (Semi-vowels):

Fricatives:

This next chart shows the full vowel forms, they appear at the begining of words, or when following another vowel. Note: An "S" in parentheses indicates a South Indian vowel - they sound almost indentical to their Northern counterparts, but are said quicker. The 'regular' E and O in the Southern scripts sound more drawn out. So, in Southern languages, "o(S)" sounds like 'Joe' and "o" sounds more like 'co-owner'.
Here are how consonants normally connect with vowels. For example purposes, the letter "k" is used in all languages. Many irregularities exist when connecting vowels, especially in Southern Indian languages, so, please do not rely soley on this chart to explain how vowels connect.

What do these weird letters and marks mean - how are Hindi vowels pronounced? Click here! (These are approximate, but a good start if have no idea what's going on with the vowels. An English word is given and then written in Devanagari.)

Miscellaneous Consonants - These letters are part of an extended character set in most of these alphabets and are used mostly for writing foreign words. The Tamil, Urdu, and Sindhi characters presented here are a part of their standard alphabets:

*Can someone help me with Sindhi vowels?*


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