Tigalari script
| Tigalari | |
|---|---|
 Tulu Alphabet Chart (Tul̥u Barave) | |
| Script type | |
Period | c. 1250 CE[1] – present |
| Direction | Left-to-right  |
| Languages | |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | Egyptian
|
Sister systems | |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Tutg (341), Tulu-Tigalari |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Tulu Tigalari |
| U+11380–U+113FF | |
| Brahmic scripts |
|---|
| The Brahmi script and its descendants |
Tigalari is a Southern Brahmic script which was used to write Tulu, Kannada, and Sanskrit languages. It was primarily used for writing Vedic texts in Sanskrit.[3] It evolved from the Grantha script. It bears high similarity and relationship to its sister script Malayalam, which also evolved from the Grantha script.
The script was used by Tulu-speaking Brahmins like Shivalli Brahmins and Kannada speaking Havyaka Brahmins and Kota Brahmins to write Vedic mantras and other Sanskrit religious texts. However, there has been a renewed interest among Tulu speakers to revive the script as it was formerly used in the Tulu-speaking region. The Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy, a cultural wing of the Government of Karnataka, has introduced Tuḷu language (written in Kannada script) and Tigalari script in schools across the Mangalore and Udupi districts.[4] The academy provides instructional manuals to learn this script and conducts workshops to teach it.[5]
Names
| Name of the script | Prevalent in | References to their roots |
|---|---|---|
| Arya Ezhuttu Grantha Malayalam |
Kerala, Parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu | Malayalam Speakers, Manipravala, Tamil Grantha |
| Western Grantha Tulu-Malayalam |
Few academic publications | 19th Century Western Scholars |
| Tulu-Tigalari | Malenadu and Karavali regions of Karnataka | Kannada speakers, Havyaka Brahmins, National Manuscript Mission Catalogues |
| Tulu Lipi Tulu Grantha Lipi |
Coastal Karnataka, Tulu Nadu | Tulu speakers, A C Burnell |
The name by which this script is referred to is closely tied with its regional, linguistic or historical roots. It would not be wrong to assign all the names mentioned above to this script.[4]
Arya Ezhuttu, or the more recently coined term Grantha Malayalam, is used to refer to this script in Kerala. Arya Ezhuttu covers the spectrum between the older script (that is Tigalari) until it was standardised by the lead types for Malayalam script (old style) in Kerala.[4]
Tigalari is used to this day by the Havyaka Brahmins of the Malanadu region. Tigalari is also the term that is commonly used to refer to this script in most manuscript catalogues and in several academic publications today. Gunda Jois has studied this script closely for over four decades now. According to his findings that were based on evidences found in stone inscriptions, palm leaf manuscripts and early research work done by western scholars like B. L. Rice, he finds the only name used for this script historically has been Tigalari.[4]
It is referred to as Tigalari lipi in Kannada-speaking regions (Malnad region) and Tulu speakers call it as Tulu lipi.
This script is commonly known as the Tulu script or Tulu Grantha script in the coastal regions of Karnataka. There are several recent publications and instructional books for learning this script. It is also called the Tigalari script in—Elements of South Indian Palaeography by Rev. A C Burnell and a couple of other early publications of the Basel Mission press, Mangalore. Tulu Ramayana manuscript found in the Dharmasthala archives refers to this script as Tigalari Lipi.
Geographical distribution
The script is used all over Canara and Western Hilly regions of Karnataka. Many manuscripts are also found North Canara, Udupi, South Canara, Shimoga, Chikkamagaluru and Kasaragod district of Kerala. There are innumerable manuscripts found in this region. The major language of manuscripts is Sanskrit, mainly the works of Veda, Jyotisha and other Sanskrit epics.
History
According to Arthur Coke Burnell, one form of the Grantha alphabet, originally used in the Chola dynasty, was imported into the southwest coast of India in the 8th or 9th century, and then modified in course of time in this secluded area, where communication with the east coast was very limited.[6] It later evolved into Tigalari-Malayalam script, which was used by the Malayali, Havyaka Brahmins and Tulu Brahmin people, but was originally only used to write Sanskrit. This script split into two scripts: Tigalari and Malayalam. While Malayalam script was extended and modified to write vernacular language Malayalam, the Tigalari was written for Sanskrit only.[6][7] In Malabar, this writing system was termed Arya-eluttu (ആര്യ എഴുത്ത്, Ārya eḻuttŭ),[8] meaning "Arya writing" (Sanskrit is Indo-Aryan language while Malayalam is a Dravidian language).
The oldest record of the usage of the Tigalari script is found on a stone inscription at the Sri Veeranarayana temple in Kulashekara here is in complete Tigalari script and Tulu language and belongs to the 1159 CE.[9] The various inscriptions of Tulu from the 15th century are in the Tigalari script. Two Tulu epics named Sri Bhagavato and Kaveri from the 17th century were also written in the same script.[10]
Basel missionary Brigel writes in 1872 that the Tulu language had "no literature in the proper sense of the word", nor a writing system. He writes that a "modification of the Malayalam alphabet" was used to write Tulu, until the Basel Mission Press introduced Kannada script for printing in 1834, after which this precedent was generally followed.[11] Missionary Männer similarly writes in 1886 that there was no literature in Tulu, except for "some legends" written on palm-leaves in "Malayalam character". He adds that this "Malayalam alphabet" was in vogue until the Mission introduced the Kannada script for printing. The New Testament was first translated into Tulu and printed using the Kannada script in 1847.[12] According to Vaishnavi Murthy, the introduction of Kannada printing presses contributed to the disappearance of the traditional Tulu script, as Kannada became the script used for publishing Tulu works.[13]
Usage
Historical use
Thousands of manuscripts have been found in this script such as Vedas, Upanishads, Jyotisha, Dharmashastra, Purana and many more. Most works are in Sanskrit. However, some Kannada manuscripts are also found such as Gokarna Mahatmyam etc. The popular 16th-century work Kaushika Ramayana written in Old Kannada language by Battaleshwara of Yana, Uttara Kannada is found in this script. Mahabharato of 15th century written in this script in Tulu language is also found. But earlier to this several 12th-13th century Sanskrit manuscripts of Madhvacharya are also found. Honnavar in Uttara Kannada District is known for its Samaveda manuscripts. Other manuscripts like Devi Mahatmyam, from the 15th century and two epic poems written in the 17th century, namely Sri Bhagavato and Kaveri have also been found in Tulu language.
Modern use
Today the usage of the script has decreased. It is still used in parts of Kanara region and traditional maṭhas of undivided Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada Districts.
The National Mission for Manuscripts has conducted several workshops on Tigalari script. Dharmasthala and the Ashta Mathas of Udupi have done significant work in preserving the script. Several studies and research work has been done on Tigalari script. Keladi houses over 400 manuscripts in Tigalari script.
There is a gaining support and interest by Tuluvas in revival of the script. Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy is constantly conducting meetings with experts for standardisation of Tulu script.[14] There is also huge support from Local MLAs for popularising the Tulu script.[15]
There are many places in Tulu Nadu region where sign boards are being installed in Tulu script.[16][17]
Preservation
- Keladi Museum & Historical Research Bureau, Shimoga, Karnataka
- The museum has a library of about a thousand paper and palm leaf manuscripts written in Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu, besides four hundred palm leaf manuscripts in Tigalari script. They relate to literature, art, dharmaśāstra, history, astrology, astronomy, medicine, mathematics and veterinary science. There are several collections in the museum, including art objects, arms coins, stone sculptures and copper plate inscriptions belonging to the Vijayanagara and Keladi eras. The Institution is affiliated to Gnana Sahyadri, Shankaraghatta, Kuvempu University of Shimoga.
- Oriental Research Institute Mysore
- The Oriental Research Institute Mysore houses over 33,000 palm leaf manuscripts. It is a research institute which collects, exhibits, edits and publishes rare manuscripts in both Sanskrit and Kannada. It contains many manuscripts, including Sharadatilaka, in Tigalari script. The Sharadatilaka is a treatise on theory and practice of Tantric worship. While the exact date of the composition is not known, the manuscript itself is thought to be about four hundred years old. The author of the text, Lakshmana Deshikendra, is said to have written the text as an aid to worship for those unable to go through voluminous Tantra texts. The composition contains the gist of major Tantra classics and is in verse form.
- Saraswathi Mahal Library, Thanjavur
- Built up by the Nayak and Maratha dynasties of Thanjavur, Saraswathi Mahal Library contains a very rare and valuable collection of manuscripts, books, maps and painting on all aspects of arts, culture and literature. The scripts include Grantha, Devanagari, Telugu and Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Tigalari and Oriya.
- French Institute of Pondicherry
- The French Institute of Pondicherry was established in 1955 with a view to collecting all material relating to Saiva Āgamas, scriptures of the Saiva religious tradition called the Shaiva Siddhanta, which has flourished in South India since the eighth century BCE The manuscript collection of the Institute[18] was compiled under its Founder–Director, Jean Filliozat. The manuscripts, which are in need of urgent preservation, cover a wide variety of topics such as Vedic ritual, Saiva Agama, Sthalapurana and scripts, such as Grantha and Tamil. The collection consists of approximately 8,600 palm-leaf codices, most of which are in the Sanskrit language and written in Grantha script; others are in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Nandinagari and Tigalari scripts.
- The Shaiva Agama is composed in Sanskrit and written in Tigalari script. Though there may be a few copies of these texts available elsewhere, this particular codex comes from southern Karnataka, providing glimpses into the regional variations and peculiarities in ritual patterns. The manuscript was copied in the 18th century on (sritala) palm leaf manuscripts.
Apart from these they are also found in Dharmasthala, Ramachandrapura Matha of Hosanagar, Shimoga, Sonda Swarnavalli Matha of Sirsi and the Ashta Mathas of Udupi.
Characters
The following charts show a complete list of the consonants, vowels and mmarks used in the Tigalari script.
Independent vowels
| Character | Unicode name | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter A | [a] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Aa | [aː] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter I | [i] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ii | [iː] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter U | [u] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Uu | [uː] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Vocalic R | [ru] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Vocalic Rr | [rɯː/rʊː] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Vocalic L | [luː] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ee | [e] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ai | [ai] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Oo | [o] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Au | [au] |
Vowel diacritics
| Character | Unicode name | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vowel Sign Aa | [aː] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vowel Sign I | [i] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vowel Sign Ii | [iː] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vowel Sign U | [u] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vowel Sign Uu | [uː] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vowel Sign Vocalic R | [ru] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vowel Sign Vocalic Rr | [rɯː/rʊː] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vowel Sign Vocalic L | [luː] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vowel Sign Vocalic Ll | [luː] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vowel Sign Ee | [e] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vowel Sign Ai | [ai] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vowel Sign Oo | [o] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vowel Sign Au | [au] |
Consonants
| Character | Unicode name | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ka | [ka] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Kha | [kʰa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ga | [ga] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Gha | [gʰa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Nga | [ŋa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ca | [t͡ʃa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Cha | [t͡ʃʰa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ja | [d͡ʒa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Jha | [d͡ʒʱa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Nya | [ɲa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Tta | [ʈa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ttha | [ʈʰa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Dda | [ɖa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ddha | [ɖʱa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Nna | [ɳa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ta | [ta] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Tha | [tʰa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Da | [da] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Dha | [dʱa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Na | [na] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Pa | [pa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Pha | [pʰa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ba | [ba] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Bha | [bʱa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ma | [ma] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ya | [ja] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ra | [ra] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter La | [la] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Va | [ʋa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Sha | [ɕa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ssa | [ʂa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Sa | [sa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Ha | [ha] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Lla | [ɭa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Rra | [ɻa] |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Letter Llla | [ɭːa] |
Signs
| Character | Unicode name | Function |
|---|---|---|
| | Tulu-Tigalari Sign Avagraha | Marks the elision or omission of a short initial vowel (a), typically in Sanskrit sandhi contexts. |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Au Length Mark | Used as a dependent vowel sign component to extend or represent the length of the au vowel sound. |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Sign Candra Anunasika | Indicates nasalization of the preceding vowel (candrabindu). |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Sign Anusvara | Represents a nasal modifier or pure nasal sound following a vowel (often rendered as m or ṁ). |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Sign Visarga | Represents a post-vocalic voiceless glottal aspirate or breathy release (typically transliterated as ḥ). |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Sign Virama | Suppresses the inherent vowel of a consonant sign, indicating a pure consonant or end of a syllable. |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Sign Looped Virama | A distinct visual or structural variant of the virama, used to suppress inherent vowels or indicate explicit conjunct structures/half-consonants. |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Conjoiner | Serves as a control character (similar to a joiner) to trigger stacked or ligature forms of adjacent consonants. |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Repha | A positional variant representing a pre-consonantal r sound in a consonant cluster. |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Gemination Mark | Explicitly marks double or doubled (geminated) consonants. |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Sign Pluta | Indicates extended or prolonged vowel length (extra-long duration, often 3 moras) in recitation or chant. |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vedic Tone Svarita | Marks the svarita (falling/circumflex) Vedic pitch accent above or alongside a syllable. |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Vedic Tone Anudatta | Marks the anudatta (low/grave) Vedic pitch accent below or alongside a syllable. |
Punctuation
| Character | Unicode name | Function |
|---|---|---|
| | Tulu-Tigalari Danda | Sentence or verse delimiter |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Double Danda | Double sentence or verse delimiter |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Sign Om Pushpika | Ornamental/religious punctuation |
| | Tulu-Tigalari Sign Shrii Pushpika | Ornamental/religious punctuation |
Comparison with other scripts
Tigalari and Malayalam are both descended from Grantha script, and resemble each other both in their individual letters and in using consonant conjuncts less than other Indic scripts. It is assumed that a single script around 9th-10th century called Western Grantha, evolved from Grantha script and later divided into two scripts.[19]
The following table compares the consonants ka, kha, ga, gha, ṅa with other Southern Indic scripts such as Grantha, Tigalari, Malayalam, Kannada and Sinhala.
Unicode
The Tigalari script was added to the Unicode Standard in September 2024 with the release of version 16.0. The Unicode block for Tigalari, named Tulu-Tigalari, is located at U+11380–U+113FF:
| Tulu-Tigalari[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+1138x | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||
| U+1139x | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| U+113Ax | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| U+113Bx | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| U+113Cx | | | | | | | | | | | | |||||
| U+113Dx | | | | | | | | | ||||||||
| U+113Ex | | | ||||||||||||||
| U+113Fx | ||||||||||||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
References
- ↑ https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode16.0.0/core-spec/chapter-15. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ Handbook of Literacy in Akshara Orthography, R. Malatesha Joshi, Catherine McBride(2019), p.28
- ↑ "ScriptSource - Tigalari". scriptsource.org.
- 1 2 3 4 Vaishnavi Murthy K Y; Vinodh Rajan. "L2/17-378 Preliminary proposal to encode Tigalari script in Unicode" (PDF). unicode.org. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- ↑ Kamila, Raviprasad (23 August 2013). "Tulu academy's script classes attract natives". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
- 1 2 Burnell (1874), p. 35.
- ↑ "Grantha alphabet". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
- ↑ "EPIGRAPHY - Inscriptions in Grantha Script". Department of Archaeology, government of Tamil Nadu. Archived from the original on 11 January 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ↑ "Tulu stone inscription in Veeranarayana temple belongs to 1159 A.D.: Historian". The Hindu. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ↑ Steever, Sanford B (2015). The Dravidian Languages. Routledge. pp. 158–163. ISBN 9781136911644.
- ↑ Brigel, J. (1872). A Grammar of the Tuḷu Language.
- ↑ Männer, A. (1886). English-Tulu [Tulu-English] Dictionary.
- ↑ Vaishnavi Murthy Yerkadithaya, “Tending to the Inheritance of Tulu Script,” Typography Day 2012, pp. 2–3.
- ↑ Shenoy, Jaideep (30 November 2019). "Karnataka Tulu Sahitya academy to convene meet of experts for standardisation of Tulu script". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ↑ Shenoy, Jaideep (18 November 2019). "MLA Vedavyas Kamath gives Tulu an online fillip". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ↑ Monteiro, Walter (21 July 2020). "Karkala: Nandalike Abbanadka Friends Club inaugurates road signboard in Tulu". Daijiworld. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ↑ DHNS, Harsha (21 June 2020). "Athikaribettu GP's initiative to publicise Tulu gets good response". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ↑ The digitized Tigalari manuscripts can be viewed at "Welcome to the IFP Manuscripts Database". Retrieved 24 November 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ Andronov, Mikhail Sergeevich. A Grammar of the Malayalam Language in Historical Treatment. Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz, 1996.
Further reading
- S. Muhammad Hussain Nainar (1942), Tuhfat-al-Mujahidin: An Historical Work in The Arabic Language, University of Madras, ISBN 9789839154801
{{citation}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) - J. Sturrock (1894), Madras District Manuals - South Canara (Volume-I), Madras Government Press
- Harold A. Stuart (1895), Madras District Manuals - South Canara (Volume-II), Madras Government Press
- Government of Madras (1905), Madras District Gazetteers: Statistical Appendix for South Canara District, Madras Government Press
- Government of Madras (1915), Madras District Gazetteers South Canara (Volume-II), Madras Government Press
- Government of Madras (1953), 1951 Census Handbook- South Canara District (PDF), Madras Government Press
- J. I. Arputhanathan (1955), South Kanara, The Nilgiris, Malabar and Coimbatore Districts (Village-wise Mother-tongue Data for Bilingual or Multilingual Taluks) (PDF), Madras Government Press
- Rajabhushanam, D. S. (1963), Statistical Atlas of the Madras State (1951) (PDF), Madras (Chennai): Director of Statistics, Government of Madras
See also
External links
- Tulu Alphabet - Tulu Lipi: Tulu Akshara Male by GVS Ullal
- Lessons on Tulu alphabets by Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy
- Tending to the Inheritance of Tulu Script Archived 13 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine