Ī
Ī
Example glyphs
Bengali-AssameseĪ
Tibetan
TamilĪ
Thai
Malayalam
Sinhala
Ashoka BrahmiĪ
DevanagariĪ
Cognates
Hebrewע
GreekΟ, Ω
LatinO
CyrillicО, Ѡ, Ѿ, Ꙋ, Ю
Properties
Phonemic representation/iː/
IAST transliterationī Ī
ISCII code pointA7 (167)

Ī is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Ī is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter ng. As an Indic vowel, Ī comes in two normally distinct forms: 1) as an independent letter, and 2) as a vowel sign for modifying a base consonant. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the inherent "A" vowel.

Āryabhaṭa numeration

Aryabhata used Devanagari letters for numbers, very similar to the Greek numerals, even after the invention of Indian numerals. The ई sign  ी was used to modify a consonant's value ×102, but the vowel letter did not have an inherent value by itself.[1]

Historic Ī

There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Ī as found in standard Brahmi, Ī was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gujarat Ī. Like all Brahmic scripts, Tocharian Ī Ī has an accompanying vowel mark for modifying a base consonant. In Kharoṣṭhī, the only independent vowel letter is for the inherent A. All other independent vowels, including Ī are indicated with vowel marks added to the letter A.

Brahmi Ī

The Brahmi letter Ī Ī, is probably derived from the altered Aramaic Ayin , and is thus related to the modern Latin O and Greek Omicron.[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Ī can be found, most associated with a specific set of inscriptions from an artifact or diverse records from an historic period.[3] As the earliest and most geometric style of Brahmi, the letters found on the Edicts of Ashoka and other records from around that time are normally the reference form for Brahmi letters, with vowel marks not attested until later forms of Brahmi back-formed to match the geometric writing style.

Brahmi Ī historic forms
Ashoka
(3rd-1st c. BCE)
Girnar
(~150 BCE)
Kushana
(~150-250 CE)
Gujarat
(~250 CE)
Gupta
(~350 CE)
No sampleNo sampleNo sample

Tocharian Ī

The Tocharian letter Ī is derived from the Brahmi Ī. Unlike some of the consonants, Tocharian vowels do not have a Fremdzeichen form.

Tocharian consonants with Ī vowel mark
KhīGhīChīJhīNyīṬīṬhīḌīḌhīṆī
ThīDhīPhīBhī
ŚīṢī

Kharoṣṭhī Ī

The Kharoṣṭhī letter Ī is indicated with the I vowel mark Īplus the vowel length mark . As an independent vowel, Ī is indicated by adding the vowel marks to the independent vowel letter A A.

Devanagari Ī

Ī vowel
Ī vowel sign
Devanagari independent Ī and Ī vowel sign.

Ī () is a vowel of the Devanagari abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter Ī. Letters that derive from it are the Gujarati letter , and the Modi letter 𑘃.

Devanagari Using Languages

The Devanagari script is used to write the Hindi language, Sanskrit and the majority of Indo-Aryan languages. In most of these languages, ई is pronounced as [ī]. Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari vowels come in two forms: an independent vowel form for syllables that begin with a vowel sound, and a vowel sign attached to base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel.

Bengali Ī

Ī vowel
Ī vowel sign
Bengali independent Ī and Ī vowel sign.

Ī () is a vowel of the Bengali abugida. It is derived from the Siddhaṃ letter Ī, and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, ई.

Bengali Script Using Languages

The Bengali script is used to write several languages of eastern India, notably the Bengali language and Assamese. In most languages, ঈ is pronounced as [ī]. Like all Indic scripts, Bengali vowels come in two forms: an independent vowel form for syllables that begin with a vowel sound, and a vowel sign attached to base consonant to override the inherent /ɔ/ vowel.

Gujarati Ī

Ī vowel
Ī vowel sign
Gujarati independent Ī and Ī vowel sign.

Ī () is a vowel of the Gujarati abugida. It is derived from the Devanagari Ī ī, and ultimately the Brahmi letter ī.

Gujarati-using Languages

The Gujarati script is used to write the Gujarati and Kutchi languages. In both languages, ઈ is pronounced as [ī]. Like all Indic scripts, Gujarati vowels come in two forms: an independent vowel form for syllables that begin with a vowel sound, and a vowel sign attached to base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel. In addition to the standard vowel sign, Ī forms a unique ligature when combined with the consonant J:

  • જ (j) + ઈ (ī) gives the ligature jī:

Javanese Ī

Telugu Ī

Telugu independent vowel Ī
Telugu vowel sign Ī
Telugu independent vowel and vowel sign Ī.

Ī () is a vowel of the Telugu abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter Ī. It is closely related to the Kannada letter . Like in other Indic scripts, Telugu vowels have two forms: and independent letter for word and syllable-initial vowel sounds, and a vowel sign for changing the inherent "a" of Telugu consonant letters. Vowel signs in Telugu can interact with a base consonant in one of three ways: 1) the vowel sign touches or sits adjacent to the base consonant without modifying the shape of either 2) the vowel sign sits directly above the consonant, replacing its v-shaped headline, 3) the vowel sign and consonant interact, forming a ligature.

Telugu Ī vowel sign on క, ఖ, గ, ఘ & ఙ: Kī, Khī, Gī, Ghī and Ngī. Note that how the vowel sign interacts with the base consonant is dependent on the location of the headline, the absence of a headline, and the presence of a tail to attach to.

Malayalam Ī

Malayalam independent vowel Ī
Malayalam vowel sign Ī
Malayalam independent vowel and vowel sign Ī.

Ī () is a vowel of the Malayalam abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter Ī, via the Grantha letter Ī ī. Like in other Indic scripts, Malayalam vowels have two forms: an independent letter for word and syllable-initial vowel sounds, and a vowel sign for changing the inherent "a" of consonant letters. Vowel signs in Malayalam usually sit adjacent to its base consonant - below, to the left, right, or both left and right, but are always pronounced after the consonant sound.

Odia Ī

Odia independent vowel and vowel sign Ī

Ī () is a vowel of the Odia abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter Ī, via the Siddhaṃ letter Ī ī. Like in other Indic scripts, Odia vowels have two forms: an independent letter for word and syllable-initial vowel sounds, and a vowel sign for changing the inherent "a" of consonant letters. Vowel signs in Odia usually sit adjacent to its base consonant - below, to the left, right, or both left and right, but are always pronounced after the consonant sound. No base consonants are altered in form when adding a vowel sign, and there are no consonant+vowel ligatures in Odia.

Kaithi Ī

Kaithi independent vowel Ī
Kaithi vowel sign Ī
Kaithi independent vowel and vowel sign Ī.

Ī (𑂆) is a vowel of the Kaithi abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter Ī, via the Siddhaṃ letter Ī Ī. Like in other Indic scripts, Kaithi vowels have two forms: an independent letter for word and syllable-initial vowel sounds, and a vowel sign for changing the inherent "a" of consonant letters. Vowel signs in Kaithi usually sit adjacent to its base consonant - below, to the left, right, or both left and right, but are always pronounced after the consonant sound. No base consonants are altered in form when adding a vowel sign, and there are no consonant+vowel ligatures in Kaithi.

Comparison of Ī

The various Indic scripts are generally related to each other through adaptation and borrowing, and as such the glyphs for cognate letters, including Ī, are related as well.

Comparison of Ī in different scripts
Aramaic
Ī
Kharoṣṭhī
-
Ashoka Brahmi
Ī
Kushana Brahmi[lower-alpha 1]
𑀈
Tocharian[lower-alpha 2]
-
Gupta Brahmi
𑀈
Pallava
Ī
Kadamba
-
Bhaiksuki
𑰃
Siddhaṃ
Ī
Grantha
𑌈
Cham
Sinhala
Pyu /
Old Mon[lower-alpha 3]
-
Tibetan
Newa
𑐃
Ahom
𑜣
Malayalam
Telugu
Burmese
Lepcha
-
Ranjana
Ī
Saurashtra
Dives Akuru
𑤃
Kannada
Kayah Li
-
Limbu
-
Soyombo[lower-alpha 4]
-
Khmer
 / 
Tamil
Ī
Chakma
𑄩
Tai Tham
 / 
Meitei Mayek
Gaudi
-
Thai
Lao
Tai Le
-
Marchen
-
Tirhuta
𑒄
New Tai Lue
-
Tai Viet
-
Aksara Kawi
-
'Phags-pa
-
Odia
Sharada
𑆆
Rejang
-
Batak
-
Buginese
-
Zanabazar Square
-
Bengali-Assamese
Ī
Takri
𑚃
Javanese
Balinese
Makasar
-
Hangul[lower-alpha 5]
-
Northern Nagari
-
Dogri
𑠃
Laṇḍā
-
Sundanese
-
Baybayin
-
Modi
𑘃
Gujarati
Khojki
𑈮
Khudabadi
𑊳
Mahajani
-
Tagbanwa
-
Devanagari
Ī
Nandinagari
𑦣
Kaithi
Ī
Gurmukhi
Multani
-
Buhid
-
Canadian Syllabics[lower-alpha 6]
-
Soyombo[lower-alpha 7]
-
Sylheti Nagari
-
Gunjala Gondi
𑵣
Masaram Gondi[lower-alpha 8]
𑴃
Hanuno'o
-
Notes
  1. The middle "Kushana" form of Brahmi is a later style that emerged as Brahmi scripts were beginning to proliferate. Gupta Brahmi was definitely a stylistic descendant from Kushana, but other Brahmi-derived scripts may have descended from earlier forms.
  2. Tocharian is probably derived from the middle period "Kushana" form of Brahmi, although artifacts from that time are not plentiful enough to establish a definite succession.
  3. Pyu and Old Mon are probably the precursors of the Burmese script, and may be derived from either the Pallava or Kadamba script
  4. May also be derived from Devangari (see bottom left of table)
  5. The Origin of Hangul from 'Phags-pa is one of limited influence, inspiring at most a few basic letter shapes. Hangul does not function as an Indic abugida.
  6. Although the basic letter forms of the Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics were derived from handwritten Devanagari letters, this abugida indicates vowel sounds by rotations of the letter form, rather than the use of vowel diacritics as is standard in Indic abugidas.
  7. May also be derived from Ranjana (see above)
  8. Masaram Gondi acts as an Indic abugida, but its letterforms were not derived from any single precursor script.

Character encodings of Ī

Most Indic scripts are encoded in the Unicode Standard, and as such the letter Ī in those scripts can be represented in plain text with unique codepoint. Ī from several modern-use scripts can also be found in legacy encodings, such as ISCII.

Character information
Preview
Unicode name DEVANAGARI LETTER II BENGALI LETTER II TAMIL LETTER II TELUGU LETTER II ORIYA LETTER II KANNADA LETTER II MALAYALAM LETTER II GUJARATI LETTER II GURMUKHI LETTER II
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode2312U+09082440U+09882952U+0B883080U+0C082824U+0B083208U+0C883336U+0D082696U+0A882568U+0A08
UTF-8224 164 136E0 A4 88224 166 136E0 A6 88224 174 136E0 AE 88224 176 136E0 B0 88224 172 136E0 AC 88224 178 136E0 B2 88224 180 136E0 B4 88224 170 136E0 AA 88224 168 136E0 A8 88
Numeric character referenceईईঈঈஈஈఈఈଈଈಈಈഈഈઈઈਈਈ
ISCII167A7167A7167A7167A7167A7167A7167A7167A7167A7


Character information
Preview
Ashoka
Kushana
Gupta
𑌈
Unicode name BRAHMI LETTER II SIDDHAM LETTER II GRANTHA LETTER II
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechex
Unicode69640U+1100871043U+1158370408U+11308
UTF-8240 145 128 136F0 91 80 88240 145 150 131F0 91 96 83240 145 140 136F0 91 8C 88
UTF-1655300 56328D804 DC0855301 56707D805 DD8355300 57096D804 DF08
Numeric character reference𑀈𑀈𑖃𑖃𑌈𑌈


Character information
Preview𑐃𑰃𑆆
Unicode name NEWA LETTER II BHAIKSUKI LETTER II SHARADA LETTER II
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechex
Unicode70659U+1140372707U+11C0370022U+11186
UTF-8240 145 144 131F0 91 90 83240 145 176 131F0 91 B0 83240 145 134 134F0 91 86 86
UTF-1655301 56323D805 DC0355303 56323D807 DC0355300 56710D804 DD86
Numeric character reference𑐃𑐃𑰃𑰃𑆆𑆆


Character information
Preview
Unicode name MYANMAR LETTER II TAI THAM LETTER II
Encodingsdecimalhexdechex
Unicode4132U+10246734U+1A4E
UTF-8225 128 164E1 80 A4225 169 142E1 A9 8E
Numeric character referenceဤဤᩎᩎ


Character information
Preview
Unicode name KHMER INDEPENDENT VOWEL QII THAI CHARACTER SARA II
Encodingsdecimalhexdechex
Unicode6054U+17A63637U+0E35
UTF-8225 158 166E1 9E A6224 184 181E0 B8 B5
Numeric character referenceឦឦีี


Character information
Preview𑤃
Unicode name SINHALA LETTER IIYANNA DIVES AKURU LETTER II SAURASHTRA LETTER II
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechex
Unicode3466U+0D8A71939U+1190343141U+A885
UTF-8224 182 138E0 B6 8A240 145 164 131F0 91 A4 83234 162 133EA A2 85
UTF-1634660D8A55302 56579D806 DD0343141A885
Numeric character referenceඊඊ𑤃𑤃ꢅꢅ


Character information
Preview𑘃𑦣𑵣
Unicode name MODI LETTER II NANDINAGARI LETTER II GUNJALA GONDI LETTER II KAITHI LETTER II
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode71171U+1160372099U+119A373059U+11D6369766U+11086
UTF-8240 145 152 131F0 91 98 83240 145 166 163F0 91 A6 A3240 145 181 163F0 91 B5 A3240 145 130 134F0 91 82 86
UTF-1655301 56835D805 DE0355302 56739D806 DDA355303 56675D807 DD6355300 56454D804 DC86
Numeric character reference𑘃𑘃𑦣𑦣𑵣𑵣𑂆𑂆


Character information
Preview𑒄
Unicode name TIRHUTA LETTER II
Encodingsdecimalhex
Unicode70788U+11484
UTF-8240 145 146 132F0 91 92 84
UTF-1655301 56452D805 DC84
Numeric character reference𑒄𑒄


Character information
Preview𑚃𑠃𑊳
Unicode name TAKRI LETTER II DOGRA LETTER II KHUDAWADI LETTER II
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechex
Unicode71299U+1168371683U+1180370323U+112B3
UTF-8240 145 154 131F0 91 9A 83240 145 160 131F0 91 A0 83240 145 138 179F0 91 8A B3
UTF-1655301 56963D805 DE8355302 56323D806 DC0355300 57011D804 DEB3
Numeric character reference𑚃𑚃𑠃𑠃𑊳𑊳


Character information
Preview
Unicode name BALINESE LETTER IKARA TEDUNG JAVANESE LETTER II
Encodingsdecimalhexdechex
Unicode6920U+1B0843399U+A987
UTF-8225 172 136E1 AC 88234 166 135EA A6 87
Numeric character referenceᬈᬈꦇꦇ


Character information
Preview𑴃
Unicode name MASARAM GONDI LETTER II
Encodingsdecimalhex
Unicode72963U+11D03
UTF-8240 145 180 131F0 91 B4 83
UTF-1655303 56579D807 DD03
Numeric character reference𑴃𑴃


References

  1. Ifrah, Georges (2000). The Universal History of Numbers. From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 447–450. ISBN 0-471-39340-1.
  2. Bühler, Georg (1898). "On the Origin of the Indian Brahmi Alphabet". archive.org. Karl J. Trübner. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  3. Evolutionary chart, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, 1838
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