How it works
The Brahmi alphabet to copy: the vowel letters, then the consonants in chart order, each with its Latin spelling, then the vowel signs on ka, the numbers and the punctuation. It is usually written from left to right.
Read the full guide
A consonant carries a
Each consonant letter is read with a after it: 𑀓 is ka. A sign on the letter changes the vowel, so 𑀓𑀺 is ki and 𑀓𑁄 is ko, and the virama takes the vowel away. A vowel has a letter of its own only where it begins a word. Two consonants with no vowel between them are stacked, the second under the first.
Two ways to write a number
The older signs are added up, the larger first: one for each of 1 to 9, one for each ten from 10 to 90, one for 100 and one for 1,000. A later set of ten digits, with a zero, works by place like modern numbers.
- 104 is 𑁤𑁕, the sign for 100 and then the sign for 4. In digits, 234 is 𑁨𑁩𑁪.
- The earliest Brahmi inscriptions that can be dated for certain are rock-cut edicts in north-central India, of 250 to 232 BCE.
- A device with no Brahmi font shows empty boxes; the Latin spelling under each tile still reads.
Questions and answers
How many letters are in the Brahmi alphabet?
The early chart has 10 vowel letters and 34 consonants. Later Brahmi added four vowels, and Old Tamil writing a few letters of its own. With the signs, numbers and punctuation, the Brahmi block of Unicode holds 115 characters.
What do the Brahmi letters sound like?
Each tile gives a letter's Latin spelling and its note the Sanskrit sound in the International Phonetic Alphabet. The consonants run in five groups of five, from ka to ma, then four liquids, three sibilants and ha; ḷa stands last.
How old is the Brahmi script?
It appeared in ancient India as a fully developed script in the 3rd century BCE. The ability to read it was later lost, and scholars worked it out again in the 19th century. The Brahmic scripts of South and Southeast Asia descend from it.
Is Brahmi in Unicode?
Yes: it arrived with version 6.0, in October 2010. The Brahmi block runs from U+11000 to U+1107F, and every character of it is here except the number joiner, which draws nothing alone.