| |
|---|---|
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| Script type | Alphabet |
| Creator | Raghunath Murmu |
Period | 1925–present |
| Direction | Left-to-right  |
| Languages | Santali language |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Olck(261), Ol Chiki (Ol Cemet’, Ol, Santali) |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Ol Chiki |
| U+1C50–U+1C7F | |
| This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. | |
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TheOl Chiki (ᱚᱞ ᱪᱤᱠᱤ,Santali pronunciation:[ɔltʃiki],ɔl'writing',tʃiki'symbol') script, also known asOl Chemetʼ (ᱚᱞ ᱪᱮᱢᱮᱫ,ol'writing',chemetʼ'learning'),Ol Ciki,Ol, andSantali alphabet is the official writing system forSantali, anAustroasiatic language recognized as an official regional language inIndia. It was invented byPanditRaghunath Murmu in 1925. It has 30 letters, the design of which is intended to evoke natural shapes. The script is written from left to right, and has two styles (the printChapa style and cursiveUsara style). Unicode does not maintain a distinction between these two, as is typical for print and cursive variants of a script. In both styles, the script isunicameral (that is, it does not have separate sets of uppercase and lowercase letters).
The shapes of the letters are not arbitrary, but reflect the names for the letters, which are words, usually the names of objects or actions representing conventionalized form in the pictorial shape of the characters.
— Norman Zide, A portal for Santals[1][self-published source?]
The Ol Chiki script was created in 1925 byRaghunath Murmu for theSantali language, and publicized first in 1939 at aMayurbhanj State exhibition.[2] Unlike most Indic scripts, Ol Chiki is not anabugida, but is a true alphabet: giving thevowels equal representation with theconsonants.
Before the invention of Ol Chiki script, Santali was written in Bangla, Devanagari, Kalinga andLatin script. However, Santali is not anIndo-Aryan language and Indic scripts did not have letters for all of Santal'sphonemes, especially itsstop consonants andvowels, which make it difficult to write the language accurately in an unmodified Indic script.
For example, when missionary and linguistPaul Olaf Bodding, a Norwegian, studied the Santali language and needed to decide how to transcribe it (in producing his widely followed and widely respected reference books such asA Santal Dictionary), he decided to transcribe Santhali in the Roman alphabet: despite his observation that Roman script lacks many of the advantages of the Indic scripts, he concluded that the Indic scripts could not adequately serve the Santali language because the Indic scripts lack a way to indicate important features of Santali pronunciation (such asglottalization, combined glottalization andnasalization, andchecked plosives, which can be more easily represented in the Roman alphabet through the use of diacritics.[3]
The phonology of the Santali language had also been similarly analyzed by various other authors, includingByomkes Chakrabarti inComparative Study of Santali and Bengali and Baghrai Charan Hembram inA Glimpse of Santali Grammar. However, the Ol Chiki alphabet is considered (by many Santali) to be even more appropriate for the language, because its letter-shapes are derived from the sounds of common Santali words and other frequent Santali morphemes:[a] nouns, demonstratives, adjectives, and verb roots in the Santali language.[4] In other words, each Santali letter's name is, or is derived from, a common word or other element of the Santali language, and each letter's shape is derive from a simple drawing of the meaning of that word or other element. For example, the Santali letter “ol” (representing the sound /l/) is written with a shape originally derived from a simplified outline drawing of a hand holding a pen, because the name of this letter is also the Santali word for “writing.”
The existence of these two styles of Ol Chiki was mentioned by the script's creator: Guru Gonke Pandit Raghunath Murmu (also known as Pandit Murmu) in his bookOl Chemed[5] which explains and teaches the Ol Chiki script.[b]Chhapa (Santali for 'print') is used for publication, whileusaraà (Santali for 'quick') is used for handwriting.
Ol Chikichhapa, or print style, is the more common style for digital fonts, and is used in the printing of books and newspapers.
Usaraà orusaraà ol is the cursive style, and is largely limited to pen and paper, though there are digitalusaraà typefaces. Differences include the diacriticahad, which in print style is used withᱜ,ᱡ,ᱦ,ᱫ, andᱵ, all of which can form ligatures withᱽ in cursive.[6] Further, cursiveusaraà seldom uses several letter-shapes which are formed by combining the letterᱦ and the four semi-consonantsᱜ,ᱡ,ᱫ, andᱵ withahad; instead, these are generally written in a shorter form, asᱷ.
The values of the Ol Chiki letters are as follows:
| Letter | Name | IPA[7] | Transliteration | Shape[1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALA-LC[8] | Zide[7] | Deva.[6] | Beng.[6] | Odia[6] | ||||
| ᱚ | la | /ɔ/ | a | ọ | अ | অ | ଅ | burning fire |
| ᱟ | laa | /a/ | ā | a | आ | আ | ଆ | working in the field with a spade |
| ᱤ | li | /i/ | i | i | इ | ই | ଇ | bending tree |
| ᱩ | lu | /u/ | u | u | उ | উ | ଉ | vessel used for preparing food |
| ᱮ | le | /e/ | e | e | ए | এ | ଏ | overflowing rivers changing course |
| ᱳ | lo | /o/ | o | o | ओ | ও | ଓ | a mouth when sounding this letter |
| ᱶ | ov | /w̃/ | ṅ | w̃ | ङ | ঙ | ଙ୍ | nasalized |
| ᱠ | aak | /k/ | k | k | क | ক | କ୍ | bird (sound of a swan) |
| ᱜ | ag | /kʼ/, /g/ | g | kʼ | ग | গ | ଗ୍ | vomiting mouth, which produces the same sound as the name of the letter |
| ᱝ | ang | /ŋ/ | ṃ | ṅ | ं | ং | ଂ | blowing air |
| ᱪ | uch | /c/ | c | c | च | চ | ଚ୍ | peak of a mountain which is usually high |
| ᱡ | aaj | /cʼ/, /ɟ/ | j | cʼ | ज | জ | ଜ୍ | person pointing towards a third person with the right hand (saying “he”) |
| ᱧ | iny | /ɲ/ | ñ | ñ | ञ | ঞ | ଞ୍ | person pointing towards himself/herself with the left hand |
| ᱴ | ott | /ʈ/ | ṭ | ṭ | ट | ট | ଟ୍ | camel hump |
| ᱰ | edd | /ɖ/ | ḍ | ḍ | ड | ড | ଡ୍ | a man with two legs stretching towards his chest and mouth |
| ᱬ | unn | /ɳ/ | ṇ | ṇ | ण | ণ | ଣ୍ | picture of a flying bee (which Is described by Santali speakers as making this sound) |
| ᱛ | at | /t/ | t | t | त | ত | ତ୍ | the Earth |
| ᱫ | ud | /tʼ/, /d/ | d | tʼ | द | দ | ଦ୍ | mushroom or umbrella |
| ᱱ | en | /n/ | n | n | न | ন | ନ୍ | threshing grains with two legs |
| ᱯ | ep | /p/ | p | p | प | প | ପ୍ | person receiving with both hands |
| ᱵ | ob | /pʼ/, /b/ | b | pʼ | ब | ব | ବ୍ | curly hair |
| ᱢ | aam | /m/ | m | m | म | ম | ମ୍ | person pointing towards a second person with the left hand (saying “you”) |
| ᱭ | uy | /j/ | y | y | य | য় | ୟ୍ | a man bending towards the ground to cut something |
| ᱞ | al | /l/ | l | l | ल | ল | ଲ୍ | writing |
| ᱨ | ir | /r/ | r | r | र | র | ର୍ | sickle used for cutting or reaping |
| ᱣ | aaw | /w/, /v/ | w | w | व | ওয় | ୱ୍ | opening lips |
| ᱥ | is | /s/ | s | s | स | স | ସ୍ | plow |
| ᱦ | ih | /ʔ/, /h/ | ẖ | h | ह | হ | ହ୍ | hands up |
| ᱲ | err | /ɽ/ | ṛ | ṛ | ड़ | ড় | ଡ଼୍ | a path that turns to avoid an obstruction or a danger |
| ᱷ | oh | /ʰ/ | h | (C)h | ह | হ | ହ୍ | a man throwing something with one hand |
Aspirated consonants are written as digraphs with the letterᱷ:[9][6]ᱛᱷ /tʰ/,ᱜᱷ /gʱ/,ᱠᱷ /kʰ/,ᱡᱷ /jʱ/,ᱪᱷ /cʰ/,ᱫᱷ /dʱ/,ᱯᱷ /pʰ/,ᱰᱷ /ɖʱ/,ᱲᱷ /ɽʱ/,ᱴᱷ /ʈʰ/, andᱵᱷ /bʱ/.
Ol Chiki employs several marks which are placed after the letter they modify (there are no combining characters):
| Mark | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ᱹ | găhlă ṭuḍăg | This baseline dot is used to extend three vowel letters for the Santal Parganas dialect of Santali:[9]ᱚᱹ ŏ /ɔ/,ᱟᱹ ă /ə/, andᱮᱹ ĕ /ɛ/. The phonetic difference betweenᱚ andᱚᱹ is not clearly defined and there may be only a marginal phonemic difference between the two.ᱚᱹ is rarely used. ALA-LC transliteratesᱟᱹ as "ạ̄".[8] |
| ᱸ | mũ ṭuḍăg | This raised dot indicatesnasalization of the preceding vowel:ᱚᱸ /ɔ̃/,ᱟᱸ /ã/,ᱤᱸ /ĩ/,ᱩᱸ /ũ/,ᱮᱸ /ẽ/, andᱳᱸ /õ/. ALA-LC transliteration uses "m̐" after the affected vowel.[8] |
| ᱺ | mũ găhlă ṭuḍăg | This colon-like mark is used to mark a nasalized extended vowel. It is a combination ofmũ ṭuḍăg andgăhlă ṭuḍăg:ᱚᱺ /ɔ̃/,ᱟᱺ /ə̃/, andᱮᱺ /ɛ̃/. |
| ᱻ | relā | This tilde-like mark indicates the prolongation of any oral or nasalized vowel. Compareᱮ /e/ withᱮᱻ /eː/. It comes after thegăhlă ṭuḍăg for extended vowels:ᱮᱹᱻ /ɛː/. It is omitted in ALA-LC transliteration.[8] |
| ᱽ | ahad | This special letter indicates the deglottalization of a consonant in the word-final position. It preserves themorphophonemic relationship between theglottalized (ejective) andvoiced equivalents of consonants.[9] For example,ᱜ represents a voiced /g/ when word initial but an ejective /kʼ/ when in the word-final position. A voiced /g/ in the word-final position is written asᱜᱽ. Theahad is used withᱜ,ᱡ,ᱦ,ᱫ, andᱵ which can form cursive ligatures withᱽ in handwriting (but not usually in printed text).[6] ALA-LC transliteration uses an apostrophe (ʼ) to represent anahad.[8] |
| ᱼ | phārkā | This hyphen-like mark serves as a glottal protector (the opposite function as theahad.) It preserves the ejective sound, even in the word-initial position. Compareᱜᱚ /gɔ/ withᱜᱼᱚ /kʼɔ/. Thephārkā is only used withᱜ,ᱡ,ᱫ, andᱵ. It is omitted in ALA-LC transliteration.[8] |
Ol Chiki has its own numerals:
| Hindu-Arabic numerals | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ol Chiki | ᱐ | ᱑ | ᱒ | ᱓ | ᱔ | ᱕ | ᱖ | ᱗ | ᱘ | ᱙ |
Some Western-style punctuation marks are used with Ol Chiki: the comma (,), exclamation mark (!), question mark (?), and quotation marks (“ and ”).
The period/fullstop (.) is not used, because it is visually confusible with the găhlă ṭuḍăg mark (ᱹ).;[6] therefore, instead of periods, the script uses single or twoOl Chiki shortdandas:
Ol Chiki script was added to theUnicode Standard in April, 2008 with the release of version 5.1.
The Unicode block for Ol Chiki is U+1C50–U+1C7F:
| Ol Chiki[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+1C5x | ᱐ | ᱑ | ᱒ | ᱓ | ᱔ | ᱕ | ᱖ | ᱗ | ᱘ | ᱙ | ᱚ | ᱛ | ᱜ | ᱝ | ᱞ | ᱟ |
| U+1C6x | ᱠ | ᱡ | ᱢ | ᱣ | ᱤ | ᱥ | ᱦ | ᱧ | ᱨ | ᱩ | ᱪ | ᱫ | ᱬ | ᱭ | ᱮ | ᱯ |
| U+1C7x | ᱰ | ᱱ | ᱲ | ᱳ | ᱴ | ᱵ | ᱶ | ᱷ | ᱸ | ᱹ | ᱺ | ᱻ | ᱼ | ᱽ | ᱾ | ᱿ |
Notes
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Although Ol Chiki (Chapa) and Ol Chiki (Usara) are normally never mixed, and the original inventor never mentioned mixing these letter styles, there have been some works that mix both forms, using them like English capital and small letters. However, this innovation is yet to be accepted officially.[12]
Since 2017, Santali graphic designer, typographer, and film producer Sudip Iglesias Murmu has been working on design principles to provide a lowercase alphabet form for Ol Chiki, which would permit Ol Chiki writing and keyboarding to use a two-case, or bicameral, format (Using both uppercase and lowercase), as is done in many other written languages, including the Roman-alphabet languages such as English (all of which were once unicameral scripts, but evolved into a bicameral stage over time). As the development of a lowercase form is contributed to developing a standardized cursive form (in those writing systems which use one), the evolution of lowercase is likely to allow standardizing cursive to the point of making it type able alongside more rigid "block" printed letterforms forms So far, only Ol Chiki (Chapa) letters are used in keyboarding, typesetting, and publishing (in effect, producing capitals-only text for the entirety of all printed or keyboarded documents). In writing quickly by hand, Ol Chiki (Usara) is used: but, despite Ol Usara's potential for reaching high speed, the circulation of Ol Usara documents is negligible, and Ol Usara is yet to receive Unicode standardization, thus leaving it still neglected.
In hopes to remedy this situation and to harmonize the two scripts, Sudip Iglesias Murmu has innovated by creating a series of lowercase letters, which he has integrated with the already existing font of Ol Chiki. According to him, providing lowercase letters increases the efficiency of keyboarding, both for Ol Chiki (Chapa) and for Ol Chiki (Usara), and allows keyboarding to reach the same speed that can be obtained when typing Santali in Roman-alphabet letters, which are likewise case-sensitive. However, his work is yet to be accepted officially.[13]
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