Tirhuta

Tirhuta (तिरहुता / 𑒞𑒱𑒩𑒯𑒳𑒞𑒰) or Mithilakshar (मिथिलाक्षर / 𑒧𑒱𑒟𑒱𑒪𑒰𑒏𑓂𑒭𑒩) is the script used for the Maithili language originated in Mithila region of Bihar and Nepal and the oldest reference to Tirhuta script is in Janaki Mandir of Janakpur where Rama and Sita wed.^[1] The script has a rich history spanning a thousand years, but years of neglect by Nepal and the Bihar government have taken their toll on the use of Tirhuta. Most speakers of Maithili have switched to using the Devanagari script, which is also used to write neighboring Central Indic languages such as Nepali and Hindi. As a result, the number of people with a working knowledge of Tirhuta has dropped considerably in recent years.

History and current status

The oldest specimen of Tirhuta is at Janaki Mandir. It is one of the place that had a major role in the development of the Sanskrit language. Despite the near universal switch from Tirhuta to the Devanagari script for writing Maithili, some traditional pundits still use the script for sending one another ceremonial letters (pātā) related to some important function such as marriage. Fonts for this script were developed in 2003.^[1]

The 2003 inclusion of Maithili in the VIIIth Schedule of the Indian Constitution having accorded official recognition to it as a language independent of Hindi, there is a possibility that this might lead to efforts to reimplement Tirhuta on a wider basis, in accord with similar trends in India reinforcing separate identities.

Signs of the script

Consonant signs

Consonants

Sign		Transcription
Image	Text	IAST	IPA
	𑒏	ka	/kа/
	𑒐	kha	/kʰа/
	𑒑	ga	/gа/
	𑒒	gha	/gʱа/
	𑒓	ṅa	/ŋа/
	𑒔	ca	/t͡ʃa/
	𑒕	cha	/t͡ʃʰa/
	𑒖	ja	/d͡ʒa/
	𑒗	jha	/d͡ʒʱa/
	𑒘	ña	/ɲa/
	𑒙	ṭa	/ʈa/
	𑒚	ṭha	/ʈʰa/
	𑒛	ḍa	/ɖa/
	𑒜	ḍha	/ɖʱa/
	𑒝	ṇa	/ɳa/
	𑒞	ta	/t̪a/
	𑒟	tha	/t̪ʰa/
	𑒠	da	/d̪a/
	𑒡	dha	/d̪ʱa/
	𑒢	na	/na/
	𑒣	pa	/pa/
	𑒤	pha	/pʰa/
	𑒥	ba	/ba/
	𑒦	bha	/bʱa/
	𑒧	ma	/ma/
	𑒨	ya	/ja/
	𑒩	ra	/ra/
	𑒪	la	/la/
	𑒫	va	/ʋa/
	𑒬	śa	/ʃa/
	𑒭	ṣa	/ʂa/
	𑒮	sa	/sa/
	𑒯	ha	/ɦa/

Vowels

Vowels

Independent		Dependent		Transcription
Image	Text	Image	Text	IAST	IPA
	𑒁			a	/а/
	𑒂		𑒰	ā	/а:/
	𑒃		𑒱	і	/і/
	𑒄		𑒲	ī	/і:/
	𑒅		𑒳	u	/u/
	𑒆		𑒴	ū	/u:/
	𑒇		𑒵	ṛ	/r̩/
	𑒈		𑒶	ṝ	/r̩ː/
	𑒉		𑒷	ḷ	/l̩/
	𑒊		𑒸	ḹ	/l̩ː/
	𑒋		𑒹	ē	/е:/
			𑒺	e	/е/
	𑒌		𑒻	аі	/аі/
	𑒍		𑒼	ō	/о:/
			𑒽	о	/о/
	𑒎		𑒾	аu	/аu/

Other signs

Other dependent signs

Image	Text	Name	Notes
	𑒿	candrabindu	marks the nasalization of a vowel
	𑓀	anusvara	marks nasalization
	𑓁	visarga	marks the sound [h], which is an allophone of [r] and [s] in pausa (at the end of an utterance)
	𑓂	virama	used to suppress the inherent vowel
	𑓃	nukta	used to create new consonant signs
	𑓄	avagraha	used to indicate prodelision of an [a]
	𑓅	gvang	used to mark nasalization

Numerals

Tirhuta script uses its own signs for the positional decimal numeral system.

Digits

Image
Text	𑓐	𑓑	𑓒	𑓓	𑓔	𑓕	𑓖	𑓗	𑓘	𑓙
Digit	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Image gallery

The first two images shown below are samples illustrating the history of Tirhuta. The first is the sacred sign of Ganesha, called āñjī, used for millennia by students before beginning Tirhuta studies. Displayed further below are images of tables comparing the Tirhuta and Devanagari scripts.

Unicode

Tirhuta script was added to the Unicode Standard in June 2014 with the release of version 7.0.

The Unicode block for Tirhuta is U+11480–U+114DF:

References

External links

1. free Download Tirhuta (Maithili) Fonts
2. Tirhuta Lipi: Native Script of Maithili
3. Mithila Online
4. Learn Mithilakshara by Gajendra Thakur