| Newar 𑐥𑑂𑐬𑐔𑐮𑐶𑐟 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑐮Prachalit Nepal | |
|---|---|
The phrase 'Prachalit Nepal' in Newar script | |
| Script type | |
Period | 10th–20th century |
| Direction | Left-to-right |
| Languages | Nepal Bhasa,Sanskrit,Maithili |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Sister systems | Ranjana Bhujimol |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Newa(333), Newa, Newar, Newari, Nepāla lipi |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Newa |
| U+11400–U+1147F | |
| Brahmic scripts |
|---|
| TheBrahmi script and its descendants |


TheNewar script, known in theNewar language asNepal lipi,Nepalakshar andPrachalit, is anabugida, one of theNepalese scripts that descend from theBrahmi script. It is used to writeNepal Bhasa,Maithili andSanskrit. Various publications are still published in this script including theSikkim Herald the bulletin of theSikkim government (Newari edition).[2]
The Newar script is also known as "Nepalakshar" or "Nepal lipi", which means script ofNepal. This script is referred as "Newa" inModern-Newar language, and "Newari" inNepali language. The Newar script is also known as Prachalit script ("popular script"), as it was one of the most widely used script among all of the scripts used inNepal, with majority ofmanuscripts andinscription written in it.
Themultilingual stone inscription ofPratap Malla dated to 1654 CE, uses "nevāra ākhala" (Newar script) to refer this script in Classical Newar language.[3] Similarly, in a 1747 CE work,Capuchin friar Costantino da Ascoli refers to this script as Nepalese.[4]
The Newar script appeared in the inscription of King Shankaradeva at Jaishideval, dated to 920 CE. Similarly, the first coin in Newar script appeared on a coin of King Shivadeva (1098–1126 CE). The oldest surviving manuscript of theAbhijnana Shakuntala, dated to the 12th century, was written in this script and is now situated at theAsiatic Society of Bengal.[5]
Almost all ofMalla dynasty official records and inscription were written in Newar script. It was also used in official documents by early-Shah rulers, as shown by the Nepal-Tibet treaty of 1775, which was written in Newar script. Later since 1906, with rise ofRana dynasty, official documents written in Newar script was declared illegal. Since than, the Newar script started to replaced byDevanagari script.[6]
| Vowels | Diacritic | IAST & IPA | With 𑐎 (ka) | With 𑐐 (ga) | Vowels | Diacritic | IAST & IPA | With 𑐎 (ka) | With 𑐐 (ga) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 𑐀 | — | a /ə/ | 𑐎 | 𑐐 | 𑐁 | 𑐵 | ā /aː/ | 𑐎𑐵 | 𑐐𑐵 |
| 𑐂 | 𑐶 | i /i/ | 𑐎𑐶 | 𑐐𑐶 | 𑐃 | 𑐷 | ī /iː/ | 𑐎𑐷 | 𑐐𑐷 |
| 𑐄 | 𑐸 | u /u/ | 𑐎𑐸 | 𑐐𑐸 | 𑐅 | 𑐹 | ū /uː/ | 𑐎𑐹 | 𑐐𑐹 |
| 𑐆 | 𑐺 | ṛ /r̩/ | 𑐎𑐺 | 𑐐𑐺 | 𑐇 | 𑐻 | ṝ /r̩ː/ | 𑐎𑐻 | 𑐐𑐻 |
| 𑐈 | 𑐼 | ḷ /l̩/ | 𑐎𑐼 | 𑐐𑐼 | 𑐉 | 𑐽 | ḹ /l̩ː/ | 𑐎𑐽 | 𑐐𑐽 |
| 𑐊 | 𑐾 | e /eː/ | 𑐎𑐾 | 𑐐𑐾 | 𑐋 | 𑐿 | ai /ai̯/ | 𑐎𑐿 | 𑐐𑐿 |
| 𑐌 | 𑑀 | o /oː/ | 𑐎𑑀 | 𑐐𑑀 | 𑐍 | 𑑁 | au /au̯/ | 𑐎𑑁 | 𑐐𑑁 |
| 𑐀𑑄 | 𑑄 | ã /ə̃/ | 𑐎𑑄 | 𑐐𑑄 | 𑐀𑑅 | 𑑅 | aḥ /əḥ/ | 𑐎𑑅 | 𑐐𑑅 |
| Phonetics → | Stop | Nasal | Approximant | Fricative | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voicing → | Voiceless | Voiced | Voiceless | Voiced | ||||||||||||
| Aspiration → | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | ||||||||||
| Velar | 𑐎 | ka /k/ | 𑐏 | kha /kʰ/ | 𑐐 | ga /ɡ/ | 𑐑 | gha /ɡʱ/ | 𑐒 | ṅa /ŋ/ | 𑐴 | ha /ɦ/ | ||||
| Palatal | 𑐔 | ca /c/ | 𑐕 | cha /cʰ/ | 𑐖 | ja /ɟ/ | 𑐗 | jha /ɟʱ/ | 𑐘 | ña /ɲ/ | 𑐫 | ya /j/ | 𑐱 | śa /ɕ/ | ||
| Retroflex | 𑐚 | ṭa /ʈ/ | 𑐛 | ṭha /ʈʰ/ | 𑐜 | ḍa /ɖ/ | 𑐝 | ḍha /ɖʱ/ | 𑐞 | ṇa /ɳ/ | 𑐬 | ra /r/ | 𑐲 | ṣa /ʂ/ | ||
| Dental | 𑐟 | ta /t/ | 𑐠 | tha /tʰ/ | 𑐡 | da /d/ | 𑐢 | dha /dʱ/ | 𑐣 | na /n/ | 𑐮 | la /l/ | 𑐳 | sa /s/ | ||
| Labial | 𑐥 | pa /p/ | 𑐦 | pha /pʰ/ | 𑐧 | ba /b/ | 𑐨 | bha /bʱ/ | 𑐩 | ma /m/ | 𑐰 | va /w,ʋ/ | ||||

| 𑑐 | 𑑑 | 𑑒 | 𑑓 | 𑑔 | 𑑕 | 𑑖 | 𑑗 | 𑑘 | 𑑙 |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
Newar script was added to theUnicode Standard in June, 2016 with the release of version 9.0.
The Unicode block for Newar, called Newa, is U+11400–U+1147F:
| Newa[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+1140x | 𑐀 | 𑐁 | 𑐂 | 𑐃 | 𑐄 | 𑐅 | 𑐆 | 𑐇 | 𑐈 | 𑐉 | 𑐊 | 𑐋 | 𑐌 | 𑐍 | 𑐎 | 𑐏 |
| U+1141x | 𑐐 | 𑐑 | 𑐒 | 𑐓 | 𑐔 | 𑐕 | 𑐖 | 𑐗 | 𑐘 | 𑐙 | 𑐚 | 𑐛 | 𑐜 | 𑐝 | 𑐞 | 𑐟 |
| U+1142x | 𑐠 | 𑐡 | 𑐢 | 𑐣 | 𑐤 | 𑐥 | 𑐦 | 𑐧 | 𑐨 | 𑐩 | 𑐪 | 𑐫 | 𑐬 | 𑐭 | 𑐮 | 𑐯 |
| U+1143x | 𑐰 | 𑐱 | 𑐲 | 𑐳 | 𑐴 | 𑐵 | 𑐶 | 𑐷 | 𑐸 | 𑐹 | 𑐺 | 𑐻 | 𑐼 | 𑐽 | 𑐾 | 𑐿 |
| U+1144x | 𑑀 | 𑑁 | 𑑂 | 𑑃 | 𑑄 | 𑑅 | 𑑆 | 𑑇 | 𑑈 | 𑑉 | 𑑊 | 𑑋 | 𑑌 | 𑑍 | 𑑎 | 𑑏 |
| U+1145x | 𑑐 | 𑑑 | 𑑒 | 𑑓 | 𑑔 | 𑑕 | 𑑖 | 𑑗 | 𑑘 | 𑑙 | 𑑚 | 𑑛 | 𑑝 | 𑑞 | 𑑟 | |
| U+1146x | 𑑠 | 𑑡 | ||||||||||||||
| U+1147x | ||||||||||||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Covers Prachalit,Ranjana andBhujimol, development, current use, information about and drawings of character formation.