FACT, INFORMATION, TRUTH: 80. Gujarātī

Origin

The Gujarātī script was adapted from the Devanāgarī script to write the Gujarātī language. The earliest known document in the Gujarātī script is a manuscript dating from 1592, and the script first appeared in print in a 1797 advertisement. Until the 19th century it was used mainly for writing letters and keeping accounts, while the Devanāgarī script was used for literature and academic writings.

Notable Features

The Gujarātī script is also known as the śarāphi (banker's), vāṇiāśāi (merchant's) or mahājani (trader's) script.
Gujarātī is a syllabic alphabet in that consonants all have an inherent vowel.
Vowels can be written as independent letters, or by using a variety of diacritical marks which are written above, below, before or after the consonant they belong to.

Used to write:

Gujarātī, an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 46 million people in the Indian states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, and also in Bangladesh, Fiji, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Oman, Pakistan, Réunion, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Kutchi (કચ્છી), an Indo-Aryan language with about 866,000 speakers mainly in India in the Kutch region of Gujarat, and also in Sindh. There are also some Kutchi speakers in Trinidad and Tobago.
Source: www.ethnologue.com

Gujarātī script

Vowels and vowel diacritics

Consonants

A selection of conjunct consonants

Numerals

Downloads

Download Gujarati alphabet charts in Excel (includes all conjuncts), Word or PDF format

Sample text in Gujarātī

Transliteration
Pratiṣṭhā anē adikhārōnī dr̥ṣṭinē sarvē mānavō janmathī svatantra anē samān hōy chē. Tēmanāmāṁ vicārśakti anē antaḥkaraṇ hōy chē anē tēmaṇē paraspar bandhutvanī vartavuṁ jōiē.

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)
Thanks to Arvind Iyengar for providing the sample text.

Information about Gujarati | Gujarati phrases | Gujarati numbers | Tower of Babel in Gujarati | Gujarati learning materials

Gujarati Translation