| Gunjala Gondi Lipi 𑵶𑶍𑶕𑶀𑵵𑶊 𑵶𑶓𑶕𑶂𑶋 𑵵𑶋𑶅𑶋 | |
|---|---|
 "Gunjala Gondi Lipi" written in Gunjala Gondi script | |
| Script type | |
Period | c. 1750-Present |
| Direction | Left-to-right  |
| Languages | Gondi |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Sister systems | Unknown, strong resemblance withModi |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Gong(312), Gunjala Gondi |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Gunjala Gondi |
| U+11D60–U+11DAF | |
TheGunjala Gondi lipi orGunjala Gondi script is a script used to write theGondi language, a Dravidian language spoken by theGond people of northernTelangana, easternMaharashtra, southeasternMadhya Pradesh, andChhattisgarh.[1] Approximately a dozen manuscripts in the script were recovered fromGunjala, a Gond village inAdilabad district ofTelangana, by a team of researchers from theUniversity of Hyderabad, led by Professor Jayadheer Tirumala Rao.[2] The script and preliminary font were unveiled in early 2014.[3]
The manuscripts have been dated to approximately Year 1750, based on knowledge from Gondi pundits and researchers at the Center of Dalit and Adivasi Studies and Translation (CDAST).[4] The information contained in the manuscripts includes that of the names of the months and days, ahoroscope chart, grammar, and numbers. Additionally, manuscripts were found on "knowledge of the seasons, history, and the Gondi code of ethics and literature." Of the historical information that has been discovered, the following cases have been reported: the 6th-7th century trade relationship between thePardhan community and civilizations in Myanmar; the origins of the Indravelli mandal; the early eighteenth century rebellions of theChandrapur Gond kings against the British, with the support of theRohilla community, all of this among other pieces of information.
The characters themselves, while bearing resemblance to similarphonemes found in other Indian scripts, are in a different, "native" order, as the script starts with the letter "ya" instead of the traditional "ka" for other Indian scripts. The script includes 12 vowels and 25 consonants.[5]
The script has seen a very welcoming response by the various government agencies inAndhra Pradesh, at the national level, and local agencies in the region.[6] The existence of the manuscripts has allegedly been known for 5–9 years, but were not prioritized until 2013, when Prof. Jayadheer Tirumala Rao discovered that only four elders in the village were still able to read the script. Currently, approximately eighty students are able to read the script, with students devising stories and elder Kotnak Jangu writing an autobiography. Plans are in place for the expansion of the script to fifteen other government schools in villages with a high Gond population. A reader for the script inTelugu was released for Standard I students.[7] Efforts are being undertaken to get the script into theUnicode standard. In 2015, a Unicode proposal was written by Anshuman Pandey from the Department of Linguistics at theUniversity of California, Berkeley.[8] The proposal was approved by the Unicode Technical Committee in November 2015.[9]
The Gunjala Gondi script was added to theUnicode Standard in June, 2018 with the release of version 11.0.[10]
The Unicode block for Gunjala Gondi is U+11D60–U+11DAF and it contains 63 characters:
| Gunjala Gondi[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+11D6x | 𑵠 | 𑵡 | 𑵢 | 𑵣 | 𑵤 | 𑵥 | 𑵧 | 𑵨 | 𑵪 | 𑵫 | 𑵬 | 𑵭 | 𑵮 | 𑵯 | ||
| U+11D7x | 𑵰 | 𑵱 | 𑵲 | 𑵳 | 𑵴 | 𑵵 | 𑵶 | 𑵷 | 𑵸 | 𑵹 | 𑵺 | 𑵻 | 𑵼 | 𑵽 | 𑵾 | 𑵿 |
| U+11D8x | 𑶀 | 𑶁 | 𑶂 | 𑶃 | 𑶄 | 𑶅 | 𑶆 | 𑶇 | 𑶈 | 𑶉 | 𑶊 | 𑶋 | 𑶌 | 𑶍 | 𑶎 | |
| U+11D9x | 𑶐 | 𑶑 | 𑶓 | 𑶔 | 𑶕 | 𑶖 | 𑶗 | 𑶘 | ||||||||
| U+11DAx | 𑶠 | 𑶡 | 𑶢 | 𑶣 | 𑶤 | 𑶥 | 𑶦 | 𑶧 | 𑶨 | 𑶩 | ||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||