Newa (Unicode block)

Last updated
Newa
RangeU+11400..U+1147F
(128 code points)
Plane SMP
Scripts Newa
Assigned97 code points
Unused31 reserved code points
Unicode version history
9.0 (2016)92 (+92)
11.0 (2018)93 (+1)
12.0 (2019)94 (+1)
13.0 (2020)97 (+3)
Unicode documentation
Code chart ∣ Web page
Note: [1] [2]

Newa is a Unicode block containing characters from the Newa alphabet, which is used to write Nepal Bhasa.

Newa [1] [2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+1140x𑐀𑐁𑐂𑐃𑐄𑐅𑐆𑐇𑐈𑐉𑐊𑐋𑐌𑐍𑐎𑐏
U+1141x𑐐𑐑𑐒𑐓𑐔𑐕𑐖𑐗𑐘𑐙𑐚𑐛𑐜𑐝𑐞𑐟
U+1142x𑐠𑐡𑐢𑐣𑐤𑐥𑐦𑐧𑐨𑐩𑐪𑐫𑐬𑐭𑐮𑐯
U+1143x𑐰𑐱𑐲𑐳𑐴𑐵𑐶𑐷𑐸𑐹𑐺𑐻𑐼𑐽𑐾𑐿
U+1144x𑑀𑑁𑑂𑑃𑑄𑑅𑑆𑑇𑑈𑑉𑑊𑑋𑑌𑑍𑑎𑑏
U+1145x𑑐𑑑𑑒𑑓𑑔𑑕𑑖𑑗𑑘𑑙𑑚𑑛𑑝𑑞𑑟
U+1146x 𑑠  𑑡 
U+1147x
Notes
1. ^ As of Unicode version 15.1
2. ^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

History

A Unicode character set was initially proposed in May 2011. [3] A previous tentative mapping of the first SMP also included the script [4] and later versions include the proposal. [5] A revised proposal [6] using the name "Newar" is reflected in the roadmap from 6.0.12. [7] This revised proposal was "to enable the broadest representation of the Newar script, from the historical forms of Old Newar manuscripts to the present style of 'Prachalit' known as 'Nepal Lipi'". [6] An alternative proposal was produced by a group of Newars in Kathmandu led by Devdass Manandhar supported by the linguist Tej Ratna Kansakar, which differed in a number of ways from the Pandey proposals, the most significant being the inclusion of a number of breathy (nasalised) consonants which had historically been written with a grapheme that could be mistaken for a conjunct but written the wrong way round. [8]

The following Unicode-related documents record the purpose and process of defining specific characters in the Newa block:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Everson</span> American-Irish type designer (born 1963)

Michael Everson is an American and Irish linguist, script encoder, typesetter, type designer and publisher. He runs a publishing company called Evertype, through which he has published over one hundred books since 2006.

The ConScript Unicode Registry is a volunteer project to coordinate the assignment of code points in the Unicode Private Use Areas (PUA) for the encoding of artificial scripts, such as those for constructed languages. It was founded by John Cowan and was maintained by him and Michael Everson. It is not affiliated with the Unicode Consortium.

ISO 15924, Codes for the representation of names of scripts, is an international standard defining codes for writing systems or scripts. Each script is given both a four-letter code and a numeric code.

The Rañjanā script (Lantsa) is an abugida writing system which developed in the 11th century and until the mid-20th century was used in an area from Nepal to Tibet by the Newar people, the historic inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley, to write Sanskrit and Newar. Nowadays it is also used in Buddhist monasteries in China, especially in the Tibetan Buddhist areas within the Tibet Autonomous Region, Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai and Gansu; Mongolia, and Japan. It is normally written from left to right but the Kutakshar form is written from top to bottom. It is also considered to be the standard Nepali calligraphic script.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tirhuta script</span> Script of Maithili language

The Tirhuta or Maithili script was the primary historical script for the Maithili language, as well as one of the historical scripts for Sanskrit. It is believed to have originated in the 10th century CE. It is very similar to Bengali–Assamese script, with most consonants being effectively identical in appearance. For the most part, writing in Maithili has switched to the Devanagari script, which is used to write neighbouring Central Indic languages to the west and north such as Hindi and Nepali, and the number of people with a working knowledge of Tirhuta has dropped considerably in recent years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nepalese scripts</span> Alphabetic writing systems for Nepal Bhasa

Nepalese scripts are a family of alphabetic writing systems employed historically in Nepal Mandala by the indigenous Newar people for primarily writing Nepal Bhasa. It is also used for transcribing Sanskrit and Pali. There are also some claims they have also been used to write the Parbatiya (Khas) language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pracalit script</span> Nepali script

Prachalit, also known as Newa, Newar, Newari, or Nepāla lipi is a type of abugida script developed from the Nepalese scripts, which are a part of the family of Brahmic scripts descended from Brahmi script. It is used to write Nepal Bhasa, Sanskrit and Pali. Various publications are still published in this script including the Sikkim Herald the bulletin of the Sikkim government.

The Universal Coded Character Set is a standard set of characters defined by the international standard ISO/IEC 10646, Information technology — Universal Coded Character Set (UCS), which is the basis of many character encodings, improving as characters from previously unrepresented typing systems are added.

The rupee sign "" is a currency sign used to represent the monetary unit of account in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Mauritius, Seychelles, and formerly in India. It resembles, and is often written as, the Latin character sequence "Rs", of which it is an orthographic ligature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyu script</span> Historic Brahmic script used in Burma

The Pyu script is a writing system used to write the Pyu language, an extinct Sino-Tibetan language that was mainly spoken in present-day central Burma. It was based on the Brahmi-based scripts of both north and south India. The best available evidence suggests that the Pyu script gradually developed between the 2nd and 6th centuries CE. The Pyu script's immediate precursor appears to be the Kadamba script of southwest India. The early period Pyu inscriptions always included interlinear Brahmi scripts. It was not until the 7th and 8th centuries that Sri Ksetra's inscriptions appeared all in the Pyu script, without any interlinear Brahmi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhaiksuki script</span> Abugida script

Bhaiksuki is a Brahmi-based script that was used around the 11th and 12th centuries CE. It used to be known in English as the "Arrow-Headed Script" or "Point-Headed Script," while an older designation, "Sindhura," had been used in Tibet for at least three centuries. Records showing usage of the script mainly appeared in the present-day states of Bihar and West Bengal in India, and in regions of Bangladesh. Records have also been located in Tibet, Nepal, and Burma.

Khudawadi is a Unicode block containing characters of the Khudabadi script used by some Sindhis in India for writing the Sindhi language.

Mahajani is a Unicode block containing characters historically used for writing Punjabi and Marwari.

Modi is a Unicode block containing the Modi alphabet characters for writing the Marathi language.

Pau Cin Hau is a Unicode block containing characters for the Pau Cin Hau alphabet which was created by Pau Cin Hau, founder of the Laipian religion, to represent his religious teachings. It was used primarily in the 1930s to write Tedim which is spoken in Chin State, Myanmar.

Siddham is a Unicode block containing characters for the historical, Brahmi-derived Siddham script used for writing Sanskrit between the years c. 550 – c. 1200.

Tirhuta is a Unicode block containing characters for Brahmi-derived Tirhuta script which was the primary writing system for Maithili in Bihar, India and Madhesh, Nepal until the 20th century.

The Pau Cin Hau scripts, known as Pau Cin Hau lai, or Zo tual lai in Zomi, are two scripts, a logographic script and an alphabetic script created by Pau Cin Hau, a Zomi religious leader from Chin State, Burma. The logographic script consists of 1,050 characters, which is a traditionally significant number based on the number of characters appearing in a religious text. The alphabetic script is a simplified script of 57 characters, which is divided into 21 consonants, 7 vowels, 9 final consonants, and 20 tone, length, and glottal marks. The original script was produced in 1902, but it is thought to have undergone at least two revisions, of which the first revision produced the logographic script.

Bhaiksuki is a Unicode block containing characters from the Bhaiksuki alphabet, which is a Brahmi-based script that was used for writing Sanskrit during the 11th and 12th centuries CE, mainly in the present-day states of Bihar and West Bengal in India, and in parts of Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lontara Bilang-bilang script</span>

Lontara Bilang-bilang is a cipher of the Lontara script, currently used for Buginese poetry. This script uses the Eastern Arabic numerals-inspired letterform to substitute the Lontara script, as a way to hide it to the Dutch at the time. It was an adaptation to a similar ciphers of the Arabic script that has been used in South Asia around the 19th century.

References

  1. "Unicode character database". The Unicode Standard. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  2. "Enumerated Versions of The Unicode Standard". The Unicode Standard. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  3. Pandey, Anshuman (2011-05-03). "N4038: Preliminary Proposal to Encode the Prachalit Nepal Script in ISO/IEC 10646" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  4. Michael Everson; Rick McGowan; Ken Whistler (2009-04-24). "Roadmap to the SMP, Revision 5.1.5" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  5. Michael Everson; Rick McGowan; Ken Whistler; V.S. Umamaheswaran (2011-11-28). "Roadmap to the SMP, Revision 6.0.11" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  6. 1 2 Pandey, Anshuman (2012-02-29). "N4184: Proposal to Encode the Newar Script in ISO/IEC 10646" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  7. Michael Everson; Rick McGowan; Ken Whistler; V.S. Umamaheswaran (2012-01-06). "Roadmap to the SMP, Revision 6.0.12" . Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  8. Dev Dass Manandhar; Samir Karmacharya; Bishnu Chitrakar (2012-02-05). "N4322: Proposal for the Nepālalipi Script in the Universal Character Set for inclusion in the Unicode Standard" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-06-24.