Gujarātī
Origin
The Gujarātī script was adapted from the Devanāgarī
script to write the Gujarātī language. The earliest known
document in the Gujarātī 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 Devanāgarī script was used for literature
and academic writings.
Notable Features
- The Gujarātī script is also known as the
śarāphi (banker’s),
vāṇiāśāi
(merchant’s) or mahājani (trader’s) script. - Gujarātī is a syllabic alphabet in that consonants
all have an inherent vowel. - 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.
Used to write:
Gujarātī, an Indo-Aryan language spoken by
about 46 million people in the Indian states of Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, and also in Bangladesh, Fiji,
Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Oman, Pakistan, Réunion, Singapore, South
Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Kutchi (કચ્છી),
an Indo-Aryan language with about 866,000 speakers mainly in India in
the Kutch region of Gujarat, and also in Sindh. There are also some
Kutchi speakers in Trinidad and Tobago.
Source: www.ethnologue.com
Gujarātī script
Vowels and vowel diacritics
Consonants
A selection of conjunct consonants
Numerals
Downloads
Download Gujarati alphabet charts in Excel (includes all conjuncts),
Word or PDF format
Sample text in Gujarātī
Transliteration
Pratiṣṭhā anē adikhārōnī
dr̥ṣṭinē sarvē mānavō janmathī svatantra anē
samān hōy chē. Tēmanāmāṁ vicārśakti anē
antaḥkaraṇ hōy chē anē tēmaṇē paraspar bandhutvanī
vartavuṁ jōiē.
Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason
and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Thanks to Arvind Iyengar for providing the sample text.