| Bharati script Bhārati Lipi | |
|---|---|
 "Bhārati" written in the Bharati script | |
| Script type | |
| Creator | Research team led by Srinivasa Chakravathy |
| Direction | Left-to-right  |
| Language | Multiple Indian languages |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
| 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. | |
TheBharati (ISO: Bhārati) script is aconstructed script created by a research team led by V. Srinivasa Chakravarthy atIIT Madras. It is designed to serve as a common script or link script forIndian languages.[1][2][3][4][5][6] It is a left-to-rightabugida in which the voweldiacritics may be placed below, upon, or to the right of the primary character.[4]
The script borrows characters and concepts from multiplescripts including theLatin script,Devanagari,Tamil script,Telugu script,Kannada script,Malayalam script, and theBengali–Assamese script.[2][7] Like theGujarati script, it does not feature a running horizontal line above the characters, which is a characteristic of the Devanagari and Bengali-Assamese scripts.
Bharati is proposed to be a common script or link script ofIndian languages, including bothIndo-Aryan andDravidian language families, much as theLatin script serves as a common script for manyEuropean languages.
It may also serve the purpose of providing a written means for tribal languages that do not have a writing system.
V. Srinivasa Chakravarthy started this project atIIT Madras and a research team led by him developed it.[1][8][2][3][4][5][6]
The Bharati script is supported on all operating systems using fonts created by the Bharati team, namely NavBharati and SundarBharati, whichtransliterate characters of supported scripts into their Bharati equivalents.[8]
NavBharati is aTrueTypesans-serif font which supports transliteration of the Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam scripts. SundarBharati is anOpenTypeserif font which supports transliteration of all of the scripts supported by NavBharati, in addition to the Bengali-Assamese script.
Three Android apps are also offered, which can output text in chosen scripts using a Bharati-based keyboard and handwriting, and transliterate other scripts into Bharati.[8]
AnOCR system for the script has also been developed.[9][3] It is yet to be added toUnicode.
Afinger-spelling system is proposed alongside the Bharati script named Mudra Bharati, for use as asign language.[8]
Unlike theAmerican Sign Language convention, Mudra Bharati utilises two hands.
A prototype has been developed usingself-organizing maps andconvolutional neural networks, which can give out characters in Devanagari and Tamil scripts after recognition from Mudra Bharati.[10]
