Odia script

Odia is a syllabic alphabet or an abugida wherein all consonants have an inherent vowel embedded within. Diacritics (which can appear above, below, before, or after the consonant they belong to) are used to change the form of the inherent vowel. When vowels appear at the beginning of a syllable, they are written as independent letters. Also, when certain consonants occur together, special conjunct symbols combine the essential parts of each consonant symbol.

An important feature of the Odia language seen in the script is the retention of inherent vowel in consonants, also known as schwa, at both medial and final positions. This absence of schwa deletion, which is also seen in Sanskrit, marks it from the rest of modern Indo-Aryan languages and their equivalent usage in related Brahmic scripts. The absence of the inherent vowel in the consonant is marked by a virama or halanta sign below the consonant.

History

In Eastern India, a derivative of Siddhaṃ script yielded a group of scripts that eventually became Bengali-Assamese scripts, Tirhuta script and the Odia script, with the latter turning the hook into a characteristic umbrella. The earliest known example of Odia language, in the Kalinga script, dates from 1051.

The curved appearance of the Odia script is a result of the practice of writing on palm leaves, which have a tendency to tear with the use of too many straight lines.

As with all the Brahmic scripts in the region, the Odia script developed through four stages which can be seen from the stone inscriptions, copper-plates and the manuscripts. The periods of development are in the following order,

1. Proto-Odia: ca 7th- 9th CE
2. Medieval Odia: ca 10th- 12th CE
3. Transitional Odia: ca 12th- 14th CE
4. Modern (current) Odia: ca 14th- 16th CE

The archaic and medieval forms of Odia are more influenced by the calligraphy of the scripts of neighbouring regions, such as,

1. In Northern Odisha, where the letters are written in Odia, mixed in with Siddham-derived Gaudi style (that is the right vertical part of the letter is slightly bent inwards).
2. In southern Odisha, where it is mixed with Telugu-Kannada round, cursive form.
3. In Western Odisha, where it is mixed with Nagari and Siddham (squarish shape in upper-part).

With regard to the epigraphical sources, the antiquities which display the various historical forms of writing in Odia script include rock-edicts, temple inscriptions, stone-slabs, pillar inscriptions, sculptures, copper-plates, coins and palm-leaf manuscripts, illustrated manuscripts, ivory plates and allied materials. Numerous instances of the items depicting all the respective stages of the development of the Odia script during the illustrious dynasties of Eastern Ganga, Somavanshi, Bhanja, Bhauma-kara, Sailodbhava dynasties.

Some of them belonging to different centuries are as follows-

1. One of the earliest specimens of the Odia script is that of the Urjam inscription dating from the 11th CE (1051 CE). The language used in the inscriptions is a dialect spoken on the border regions of Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. The same applies to a bilingual and biscriptual stone inscription (Odia and Tamil) from the reign of Narasimhadeva (13th CE), found at Bhubaneswar. Odia language in old Odia script is seen on the right side while Tamil in Grantha on the left side.
2. The Gumsur copper-plate grant of Netribhanjadeva (11th CE) depicts the medieval phase of this script in square and round variety.
3. The stone inscription of the Pottesvara temple, Ganjam district (137 CE), is a notable example of Odia script influenced by Telugu-Kannada variety.
4. The Antirigam plate of Yashabhanjadeva (12th CE) depicts Odia calligraphy influenced by northern Nagari. The differences in letters script seems to indicate of the script being in a transitional phase.
5. Khilor inscription of Anantavarman (12th CE) shows the Gaudi or Proto-Oriya script round shape on the upper part, almost developed like the modern ones.
6. The early epigraphical records of the Puri inscriptions of Anangabhima III (1211–1238 CE), which is considered to be as one of the earliest Odia inscriptions showing the Gaudi characters, not only shows the stage of the proto, early and medieval phase if the evolution of the Odia script, but also the numericals in early proto-Oriya type while others to be that of the Telugu-Kannada type. The earlier inscription of Chodagangadeva (1114–1115 CE) shows the Late Siddhaṃ variety where the pristhamatra style of vowel diacritics is quite prominent.
7. In the records of Kenduapatna copper-plates in Sanskrit of the Eastern Ganga King Narasimhadeva II (1278–1305 CE), a transitional variety is seen depicting the development of Odia from Gaudi (showing squarish with round headlines in a ductus that is quite commonly seen on copper-plates and stone inscriptions).
8. The copper-plate land-grant record of the Gajapati King Purushottamadeva (15th CE), inscribed on a copper axe-head, shows the distinct early version of the modern Odia script which are also seen on the palm-leaves manuscripts belonging to the 15th CE.

With regard to the manuscript sources, the full-fledged script of Odia acquires its classical umbrella hook shape through the development, modification as well as simplification between the 14th and 15th CE, when the palm-leaf manuscript culture becomes dominant in this region. Since the palm-leaves are perishable in nature, no manuscripts are currently available pre-15th CE. Hence, recent works are also important as they show the rare and ancient text as well as artistic illustrations. One of the earliest dated palm-leaf manuscripts is that of Abhinava Gita-Govinda kept in Odisha State Museum. The date of completion of the manuscript is estimated to be that of 1494 CE. Among other manuscripts present at the museum, includes historical works like manuscripts of Jayadeva's Gita-Govinda (16th CE) to the relatively recent works of 18th,19th and 20th century.

Overwhelmingly, the Odia script was used to write the Odia language. However, it has been used as a regional writing-system for Sanskrit. Furthermore, Grierson in his famed Linguistic Survey of India mentioned that the Odia script is sometimes used for Chhattisgarhi, an Eastern Hindi language, in the eastern border regions of Chhattisgarh. However it appears to have been replaced with the Devanagari script.