View source for Social:Tirhuta

{{short description|Script of Maithili language}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox Writing system
|name=Tirhuta
|altname=Mithilakshar
|sample= Tirhuta script.svg
|imagesize=160px
|type=Abugida
|languages=[[Social:Maithili language|Maithili]], [[Social:Sanskrit|Sanskrit]]
|time=c. 13th century&ndash;present day<ref name="n4035">{{cite web | url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11175r-tirhuta.pdf | title=N4035: Proposal to Encode the Tirhuta Script in ISO/IEC 10646 | first1=Anshuman | last1=Pandey | publisher=Working Group Document, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 | date=2011-05-05 | url-status=live | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213054204/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11175r-tirhuta.pdf | archivedate=13 December 2016 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>
|fam1=[[Social:Proto-Sinaitic script|Proto-Sinaitic script]]
|fam2=[[Phoenician alphabet]]
|fam3=[[Social:Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic alphabet]]
|fam4=[[Social:Brahmi script|Brāhmī]]
|fam5=Gupta
|fam6=Siddhaṃ<ref name="salomon">{{cite book |last1=Salomon |first1=Richard |title=Indian Epigraphy |date=1998 |page=41}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Daniels |first1=Peter T. |title=Writing systems of major and minor languages |date=January 2008}}</ref>
|sisters= Bengali–Assamese, Odia 
|iso15924=Tirh
|unicode=[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U11480.pdf U+11480&ndash;U+114DF]<br />
[https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11175r-tirhuta.pdf Final&nbsp;Accepted&nbsp;Script&nbsp;Proposal]
|note=none
}}

The '''Tirhuta'''  or '''Mithilakshar''' [[Social:Writing system|script]] was the primary historical script for the [[Social:Maithili language|Maithili language]], as well as one of the historical scripts for [[Social:Sanskrit|Sanskrit]]. It is believed to be originated in the 10th century CE, but its use declined over years of neglect by the Bihar government. It is very similar to Bengali–Assamese script, with most consonants being effectively identical in appearance. For the most part, writing in Maithili has switched to the Devanagari script, which is used to write neighboring Central Indic languages to the west and north such as Hindi and Nepali, and the number of people with a working knowledge of Tirhuta has dropped considerably in recent years.
[[File:12th century Stone Inscription from Simroungarh in Tirhuta script.jpg|thumb|12th Century Stone inscription from Simroungarh showing early Tirhuta writing ]]

==History and current status==
Before 14th CE, Tirhuta was exclusively used to write Sanskrit, later Maithili was written in this script. Despite the near universal switch from Tirhuta to the Devanagari script for writing Maithili, some traditional pundits still use the script for sending one another ceremonial letters (''pātā'') related to some important function such as marriage. Metal type for this script was first produced in the 1920s, and digital fonts in the 1990s.<ref name="n4035"/>

The 2003 inclusion of Maithili in the VIIIth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, having accorded official recognition to it as a language independent of Hindi, there is a possibility that this might lead to efforts to re-implement Tirhuta on a wider basis, in accord with similar trends in India reinforcing separate identities. However, currently, only Maithili in the Devanagari script is officially recognized.

==Signs of the script==

=== Consonant letters ===
Most of the consonant letters are effectively identical to Bengali–Assamese. The Unicode submission, for example, only bothered to create new graphic designs for 7 of the 33 letters: {{angbr|jh, ṭ, ḍh, ṇ, l, ś, h}}.

{|class="wikitable nounderlines Unicode" style="border-collapse:collapse;background:#FFFFFF;text-align:center"
|+ Consonants 
! colspan="2" | Sign
! colspan="2" | Transcription
|-
! Image !! Text !! [[International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration|IAST]] !! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква КА. Tirhuta letter КA.png|23px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒏
| ka
| /kə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква КHА. Tirhuta letter КHA.png|19px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒐
| kha
| /kʱə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква GА. Tirhuta letter GA.png|19px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒑
| ga
| /gə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква GHА. Tirhuta letter GHA.png|19px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒒
| gha
| /gʱə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква NGА. Tirhuta letter NGA.png|16px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒓
| ṅa
| /ŋə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква CА. Tirhuta letter CA.png|19px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒔
| ca
| /t͡ʃə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква CHА. Tirhuta letter CHA.png|19px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒕
| cha
| /t͡ʃʱə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква JА. Tirhuta letter JA.png|22px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒖
| ja
| /d͡ʒə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква JHА. Tirhuta letter JHA.png|21px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒗
| jha
| /d͡ʒʱə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква NYА. Tirhuta letter NYA.png|23px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒘
| ña
| /ɲə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква TTА. Tirhuta letter TTA.png|19px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒙
| ṭa
| /ʈə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква TTHА. Tirhuta letter TTHA.png|19px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒚
| ṭha
| /ʈʱə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква DDА. Tirhuta letter DDA.png|22px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒛
| ḍa
| /ɖə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква DDHА. Tirhuta letter DDHA.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒜
| ḍha
| /ɖʱə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква NNА. Tirhuta letter NNA.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒝
| ṇa
| /ɳə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква TА. Tirhuta letter TA.png|21px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒞
| ta
| /t̪ə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква THА. Tirhuta letter THA.png|18px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒟
| tha
| /t̪ʱə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква DА. Tirhuta letter DA.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒠
| da
| /d̪ə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква DHА. Tirhuta letter DHA.png|18px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒡
| dha
| /d̪ʱə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква NА. Tirhuta letter NA.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒢
| na
| /nə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква PА. Tirhuta letter PA.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒣
| pa
| /pə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква PHА. Tirhuta letter PHA.png|22px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒤
| pha
| /pʱə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква BА. Tirhuta letter BA.png|19px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒥
| ba
| /bə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква BHА. Tirhuta letter BHA.png|21px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒦
| bha
| /bʱə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква MА. Tirhuta letter MA.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒧
| ma
| /mə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква YА. Tirhuta letter YA.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒨
| ya
| /jə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква RА. Tirhuta letter RA.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒩
| ra
| /rə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква LА. Tirhuta letter LA.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒪
| la
| /lə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква VА. Tirhuta letter VA.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒫
| va
| /ʋə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква SHА. Tirhuta letter SHA.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒬
| śa
| /ʃə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква SSА. Tirhuta letter SSA.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒭
| ṣa
| /ʂə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква SА. Tirhuta letter SA.png|21px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒮
| sa
| /sə/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква HА. Tirhuta letter HA.png|19px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒯
| ha
| /ɦə/
|}

=== Vowels ===

{|class="wikitable nounderlines Unicode" style="border-collapse:collapse;background:#FFFFFF;text-align:center"
|+ Vowels
! colspan="2" | Independent
! colspan="2" | Dependent
! colspan="2" | Transcription
|-
! Image !! Text !! Image !! Text !! [[International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration|IAST]] !! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква А. Tirhuta letter A.png|25px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒁
| colspan="2" |
| a
| /а/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква АА. Tirhuta letter AА.png|30px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒂
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для голосної АА. Tirhuta vowel sign AA.png|27px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114b0;
| ā
| /а:/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква І. Tirhuta letter І.png|25px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒃
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для голосної І. Tirhuta vowel sign І.png|28px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114b1;
| і
| /і/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква ІІ. Tirhuta letter ІІ.png|25px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒄
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для голосної ІІ. Tirhuta vowel sign ІІ.png|25px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114b2;
| ī
| /і:/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква У. Tirhuta letter U.png|18px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒅
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для голосної U. Tirhuta vowel sign U.png|16px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114b3;
| u
| /u/
|-
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква УУ. Tirhuta letter UU.png|18px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒆
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для голосної UU. Tirhuta vowel sign UU.png|18px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114b4;
| ū
| /u:/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква складове Р. Tirhuta letter vocalic R.png|25px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒇
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для голосної складове R. Tirhuta vowel sign vocalic R.png|17px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114b5;
| ṛ
| /r̩/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква складове РР. Tirhuta letter vocalic RR.png|25px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒈
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для голосної складове RR. Tirhuta vowel sign vocalic RR.png|17px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114b6;
| ṝ
| /r̩ː/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква складове Л. Tirhuta letter vocalic L.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒉
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для голосної складове L. Tirhuta vowel sign vocalic L.png|17px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114b7;
| ḷ
| /l̩/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква складове ЛЛ. Tirhuta letter vocalic LL.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒊
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для голосної складове LL. Tirhuta vowel sign vocalic LL.png|17px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114b8;
| ḹ
| /l̩ː/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква Е. Tirhuta letter Е.png|18px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒋
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для голосної E. Tirhuta vowel sign E.png|29px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114b9;
| ē
| /е:/
|-
| colspan="2" | 
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для голосної коротке E. Tirhuta vowel sign short E.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114ba;
| e
| /е/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква АІ. Tirhuta letter AІ.png|19px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒌
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для дифтонга АІ. Tirhuta vowel sign АІ.png|30px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114bb;
| аі
| /аі/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква О. Tirhuta letter О.png|18px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒍
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для голосної О. Tirhuta vowel sign О.png|37px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114bc;
| ō
| /о:/
|-
| colspan="2" |
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для голосної коротке О. Tirhuta vowel sign short О.png|25px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114bd;
| о
| /о/
|-
| [[File:Тірхутська буква АУ. Tirhuta letter AU.png|20px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑒎
| [[File:Тірхутський залежний знак для дифтонга АU. Tirhuta vowel sign АU.png|34px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114be;
| аu
| /аu/
|}

=== Other signs ===

{|class="wikitable nounderlines Unicode" style="border-collapse:collapse;background:#FFFFFF;text-align:center"
|+ Other dependent signs 
! Image
! Text
! style="text-align:left" | Name
! style="text-align:left" | Notes
|-
| [[File:Тірхутський знак чандрабінду. Tirhuta sign candrabindu.png|17px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114bf;
| style="text-align:left" | candrabindu
| style="text-align:left" | marks the nasalization of a vowel
|-
| [[File:Тірхутський знак анусвара. Tirhuta sign anusvara.png|17px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;𑓀
| style="text-align:left" | anusvara
| style="text-align:left" | marks nasalization
|-
| [[File:Тірхутський знак вісарґа. Tirhuta sign visarga.png|28px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114c1;
| style="text-align:left" | visarga
| style="text-align:left" | marks the sound [h], which is an allophone of [r] and [s] in pausa (at the end of an [[Philosophy:Utterance|utterance]])
|-
| [[File:Тірхутський знак вірама. Tirhuta sign virama.png|21px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114c2;
| style="text-align:left" | virama
| style="text-align:left" | used to suppress the inherent vowel
|-
| [[File:Тірхутський знак нукта . Tirhuta sign nukta.png|17px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | &nbsp;&#x114c3;
| style="text-align:left" | nukta
| style="text-align:left" | used to create new consonant signs
|-
| [[File:Тірхутський знак аваґраха. Tirhuta sign avagraha.png|18px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑓄
| style="text-align:left" | avagraha
| style="text-align:left" | used to indicate prodelision of an [a]
|-
| [[File:Тірхутський знак ґванґ . Tirhuta sign gvang.png|18px]]
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑓅
| style="text-align:left" | gvang
| style="text-align:left" | used to mark nasalization
|}

=== Numerals ===
Tirhuta script uses its own signs for the [[Positional notation|positional]] [[Decimal|decimal numeral system]].

{|class="wikitable nounderlines Unicode" style="border-collapse:collapse;background:#FFFFFF;text-align:center"
|+ Digits
|-
! Image
| [[File:Tirhuta numeral 0.png|20px]]
| [[File:Tirhuta numeral 1.png|16px]]
| [[File:Tirhuta numeral 2.png|22px]]
| [[File:Tirhuta numeral 3.png|20px]]
| [[File:Tirhuta numeral 4.png|20px]]
| [[File:Tirhuta numeral 5.png|28px]]
| [[File:Tirhuta numeral 6.png|24px]]
| [[File:Tirhuta numeral 7.png|20px]]
| [[File:Tirhuta numeral 8.png|24px]]
| [[File:Tirhuta numeral 9.png|24px]]
|-
! Text
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑓐
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑓑
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑓒
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑓓
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑓔
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑓕
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑓖
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑓗
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑓘
| style="font-size: x-large;" class="Unicode" | 𑓙
|-
! Digit
| 0 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9
|}

==Image gallery==
The first two images shown below are samples illustrating the history of Tirhuta. The first is the sacred sign of [[Biology:Ganesha|Ganesha]], called ''āñjī'', used for millennia by students before beginning Tirhuta studies. Displayed further below are images of tables comparing the Tirhuta and Devanagari scripts.

<gallery>
<!-- Unsourced image removed: Image:vowels.jpg -->
Image:consonants.jpg
Image:matra1.jpg
Image:matra2and3.jpg
Image:matra4.jpg
Image:matra5.jpg
Image:matra6.jpg
Image:matra7.jpg
Image:matra8.jpg
Image:lastmatras.jpg
Image:comboletters1.jpg
Image:comboletters2.jpg
Image:comboletters3.jpg
</gallery>

==Unicode==
{{Main|Tirhuta (Unicode block)}}

Tirhuta script was added to the [[Unicode]] Standard in June 2014 with the release of version 7.0.

The Unicode block for Tirhuta is U+11480&ndash;U+114DF:


== References ==
{{Reflist}}


[[Category:Writing systems]]

{{Sourceattribution|Tirhuta|1}}