Brahmi
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 5th century BCE to 4th century CE
Direction Variable (Horizontal)
The Brahmi script is one of the most important writing systems in the world by virtue of its time depth and influence. It represents the earliest post-Indus corpus of texts, and some of the earliest historical inscriptions found in India. Most importantly, it is the origin of hundreds of scripts found in South, Southeast, and East Asia.
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 5th century BCE to 4th century CE
Direction Variable (Horizontal)
The Brahmi script is one of the most important writing systems in the world by virtue of its time depth and influence. It represents the earliest post-Indus corpus of texts, and some of the earliest historical inscriptions found in India. Most importantly, it is the origin of hundreds of scripts found in South, Southeast, and East Asia.
Kharoshti
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 3rd century BCE to 4th century CE
Direction Left to Right
The Kharoshti Script was more or less contemporary to the Brahmi script, appearing around the 3rd century BCE mainly in modern day northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, although some examples do occur in India. Like Brahmi, Kharoshti seemed to have been developed for 'Prakrit' dialects (which was the common speech of everyday).
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 3rd century BCE to 4th century CE
Direction Left to Right
The Kharoshti Script was more or less contemporary to the Brahmi script, appearing around the 3rd century BCE mainly in modern day northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, although some examples do occur in India. Like Brahmi, Kharoshti seemed to have been developed for 'Prakrit' dialects (which was the common speech of everyday).
Tamil
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 8th century CE to Present
Direction Left to Right
The Tamil script evolved from an ancient southern form of the Brahmi script but was also influenced by the Grantha script. The earliest texts, written in the southern variant of Brahmi, date from just before the 1st century CE. Over time the script changed, and by the 8th century CE, the Tamil script has evolved into more or less its modern form.
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 8th century CE to Present
Direction Left to Right
The Tamil script evolved from an ancient southern form of the Brahmi script but was also influenced by the Grantha script. The earliest texts, written in the southern variant of Brahmi, date from just before the 1st century CE. Over time the script changed, and by the 8th century CE, the Tamil script has evolved into more or less its modern form.
Arabic
Genealogy Proto-Sinaitic > Aramaic
Location West Asia, Africa
Time 3rd century CE to Present
Direction Right to Left
Due to the influence of Islam, the Arabic alphabet is one of the most widespread writing systems in the world, found in large parts of Africa and Western and Central Asia, as well as in ethnic communities in East Asia, Europe, and America. While originally used to write the Arabic language, the alphabet has been adopted by other groups to write their own languages, such as Persian, Pashto, Urdu and more.
Genealogy Proto-Sinaitic > Aramaic
Location West Asia, Africa
Time 3rd century CE to Present
Direction Right to Left
Due to the influence of Islam, the Arabic alphabet is one of the most widespread writing systems in the world, found in large parts of Africa and Western and Central Asia, as well as in ethnic communities in East Asia, Europe, and America. While originally used to write the Arabic language, the alphabet has been adopted by other groups to write their own languages, such as Persian, Pashto, Urdu and more.
Devanagari
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 12th century CE to Present
Direction Left to Right
Even though a descendent of the Brahmi script,
Devanagari has evolved into a highly cursive script. Hindu scriptures and many languages such as Hindi and Sanskrit use Devanagari and few other use local variants of this script in India . "Devanagari" is a compound word with two roots-Deva means "deity", and nagari means "city". Together it implies a script that is both religious and urban.
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 12th century CE to Present
Direction Left to Right
Even though a descendent of the Brahmi script,
Devanagari has evolved into a highly cursive script. Hindu scriptures and many languages such as Hindi and Sanskrit use Devanagari and few other use local variants of this script in India . "Devanagari" is a compound word with two roots-Deva means "deity", and nagari means "city". Together it implies a script that is both religious and urban.
Oriya
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 12th century CE to Present
Direction Left to Right
The Oriya script developed from an early form of the Bengali script, which belongs to the South Asian scripts. Oriya is used to write the Oriya language, which is spoken in the modern Indian state of Orissa. While the cursive shape of the Oriya letters appear to suggest influences from Southern scripts, it is thought that the cursive shape evolved from the need to write on palm leaves with a pointed stylus.
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 12th century CE to Present
Direction Left to Right
The Oriya script developed from an early form of the Bengali script, which belongs to the South Asian scripts. Oriya is used to write the Oriya language, which is spoken in the modern Indian state of Orissa. While the cursive shape of the Oriya letters appear to suggest influences from Southern scripts, it is thought that the cursive shape evolved from the need to write on palm leaves with a pointed stylus.
Gurmukhi
Genealogy : Brahmi
Location : South Asia
Time : 16th century CE to Present
Direction : Left to Right
The Gurmukhi script is tightly associated with the Sikh religion, as the words guru-mukhî literally mean "from the mouth of the guru". It was created in the 16th century CE by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad, to write the Punjabi language. Stylistically, Gurmukhi derives its letter shapes from Landa, but considerable influence from Nagari is evident from the top horizontal bar present in most letters.
Genealogy : Brahmi
Location : South Asia
Time : 16th century CE to Present
Direction : Left to Right
The Gurmukhi script is tightly associated with the Sikh religion, as the words guru-mukhî literally mean "from the mouth of the guru". It was created in the 16th century CE by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad, to write the Punjabi language. Stylistically, Gurmukhi derives its letter shapes from Landa, but considerable influence from Nagari is evident from the top horizontal bar present in most letters.
Malayalam
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 12th century CE to Present CE
Direction Left to Right
The Malayalam script is used to write the language of Malayalam spoken in the southern Indian state of Kerala, as well as the Konkani language in Goa. It is a descendent of the Grantha script.
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 12th century CE to Present CE
Direction Left to Right
The Malayalam script is used to write the language of Malayalam spoken in the southern Indian state of Kerala, as well as the Konkani language in Goa. It is a descendent of the Grantha script.
Gujarati
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 16th century CE to Present
Direction Left to Right
Gujarati script is one of the modern scripts of India, and is derived from the Devanagari script during the 16th century CE. The major difference between Gujarati and Devanagari is the lack of the top horizontal bar in Gujarati. Otherwise the two scripts are fairly similar. The Gujarati script is used in the state of Gujarat in western India to write the Gujarati language.
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 16th century CE to Present
Direction Left to Right
Gujarati script is one of the modern scripts of India, and is derived from the Devanagari script during the 16th century CE. The major difference between Gujarati and Devanagari is the lack of the top horizontal bar in Gujarati. Otherwise the two scripts are fairly similar. The Gujarati script is used in the state of Gujarat in western India to write the Gujarati language.
Telugu
Genealogy : Brahmi
Location : South Asia
Time : 18th century CE to Present
Direction : Left to Right
The Telugu script is used to write the Telugu language which is spoken in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is closely related to the Kannada script and is derived from the Old Kannada script. Like other South Asian writing systems, vowels following a consonant other than the default /a/ is written with extra strokes.
Genealogy : Brahmi
Location : South Asia
Time : 18th century CE to Present
Direction : Left to Right
The Telugu script is used to write the Telugu language which is spoken in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is closely related to the Kannada script and is derived from the Old Kannada script. Like other South Asian writing systems, vowels following a consonant other than the default /a/ is written with extra strokes.
Kannada
Type Syllabic Alphabetic
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 18th century CE to Present
Direction Left to Right
The Kannada script is used in the southern Indian state of Karnataka to write the Kannada language. It is derived from the Old Kannada script and is closely related to the Telugu script. Kannada is also sometimes known as Kanarese or Canarese.
Type Syllabic Alphabetic
Genealogy Brahmi
Location South Asia
Time 18th century CE to Present
Direction Left to Right
The Kannada script is used in the southern Indian state of Karnataka to write the Kannada language. It is derived from the Old Kannada script and is closely related to the Telugu script. Kannada is also sometimes known as Kanarese or Canarese.
