109. Grantha alphabet

 

Origin

The Grantha alphabet is a descendent of the Brahmi alphabet and started to emerge during the 5th century AD. Most of the alphabets of southern India evolved from Grantha, and it also influenced the Sinhala and Thai alphabets.
The Grantha alphabet has traditional been used by Tamil speakers to write Sanskrit and is still used in traditional vedic schools (patasalas)

Notable features

• Each letters represents a consonant with an inherent vowel (a). Other vowels were indicated using a diacritics or separate letters.
• Letters are grouped according to the way they are pronounced.

Grantha vowels

Grantha vowel diacritics (with ka)

Grantha consonants

Grantha numerals

Sample text

Transliteration

Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantratāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api ca, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē´pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Links

Information about the Grantha Script
http://www.ancientscripts.com/grantha.html
http://www.mudgala.com/articles/grantha.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grantha_script
http://noolaham.net/wiki/index.php/வலைவாசல்:கிரந்தம்
Grantha Script Tutorials
http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/gsindex.html
Grantha fonts and software for writing Grantha
http://www.uni-hamburg.de/Wiss/FB/10/IndienS/Kniprath/INDOLIPI/Indolipi.htm