Modi script
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Moḍī | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type: | Abugida | |
| Languages: | Marathi | |
| Time period: | ||
 A verse in Modi script |
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| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. | ||
Modi is the name of one of the scripts used to write the Marathi language, which is the primary language spoken in the state of Maharashtra in western India. There are several theories about the origin of this script. One of them claims that it was developed by Hemandpant (or Hemadri Pandit) during the reign of Mahadev Yadav and Ramdev Yadav (1260-1309 CE). Others claim that is was brought by Hemandpant from Sri Lanka.
In any case, there seems to be consensus among scholars that the word "Modi" is a translation of the Persian word "Shikasta", which means "breaking". Modi was developed as a faster way of writing Marathi as compared to the more complicated Devanagari script. This was done by "breaking" some of the characters of the alphabet (to make them simpler) and also by making them more "circular" in shape, which aided in moving from one character to the next without lifting the pen from the paper. Thus, Modi was a sort of "shorthand" style of writing Marathi, although reading it may not have been as easy.
Charles Wilkins developed Modi metal types, which were used to a limited extent to publish books. The script was still in use until around 1950, when it was officially discontinued due to the difficulty in printing with this script. All Marathi writing since then has been written and printed in the Devanagari script, which is the same script as is used to write Hindi and some other Indian languages.
Some linguists in Pune city are now trying to revive the script recently. They are making it more accurate, by improving all the elements in it, which are missing in comparision with Devanagari.
