Nepal Bhasa - Writing Systems

Writing Systems

Nepal Bhasa is now written in the Devanagari script. The script originally used for writing it, Nepal Lipi, or Nepalese script, fell into disuse at the beginning of the 20th century when writing in the language and the script was banned.

Nepal Lipi, also known as Nepal Akha, emerged in the 10th century. Over the centuries, a number of variants of Nepali Lipi have appeared.

Nepal Bhasa has been written in a variety of abugida scripts. The scripts which have been used to write this language are:

• Brahmi script
• Gupta script
• Kutila script
• Prachalit script
• Ranjana script
• Bhujinmol script
• Kunmol script
• Kwenmol script
• Litumol script
• Hinmol script
• Golmol script
• Pachumol script
• Devanagari script

The many scripts used to write Nepal Bhasa are descended from the Brahmi script. They all proceed from left to right, and include two separate sets of characters – a vowel set and a consonant set. Devanagari script is the most widely used script at present, as it is common in Nepal and India. Ranjana script was the most widely used script to write Nepal Bhasa in ancient times and was used by Nepal government to gain membership of UN as Devanagiri Script was already claimed by India as its one of national scripts. It is experiencing a sort of a revival due to recent cultural awareness. The Prachalit script is also in use. The Brahmi and Golmol scripts are rarely used at present.

In overall writing system of Nepal Bhasa, there are four form of alphabets:

• Vowels called Ma Akha
• Consonants called Ba Akha
• Complex consonants called China Akha
• Numericals called Lyaa Akha