Difference between Nagari and Kaithi (Kaithi, Caste & Politics)

[Guest guest]

Modi and Devanagari are significantly different, although obviously

related. But what is the difference between the two scripts: Kaithi

and Nagari?

 

naga_ganesan wrote:

 

"Without the baseline like Nagari, and more like the Gujarati

script."

 

True.

 

"Practically speaking, the former may be looked upon as the current

hand of the latter, though epigraphically it is not a corruption of

it as some think"

 

True.

 

How does Kaithi look like?

 

According to Ethnologue organization, Bhojpuri language is written

in Kaithi. I have not seen any written Bhojpuri material.

 

However Ojha in Bhartiya Prachin Lipimala gives the Kaithi alphabet.

You can see a manuscript partly in Devanagari and partly in Kaithi

at

http://www.library.upenn.edu/etext/sasia/skt-mss/1876/

 

Kaithi is nothing but a simple variation of Devanagari that mainly

differs in not having the top-line, similar to the difference

between cursive and printed English. Since the top-line was formed

by the serifs, Kaithi is the sans serif version of Devanagari.

 

Thus the Kaithi-vs-Devanagari discussion is truely artificial.

 

Let me also mention:

 

- Gujarati too was originally written with the top-line, it got

dropped when type-faces for Gujarat were created for printing.

 

- There is a script called Sylhati-nagari, which is said to be

derived from Kaithi. Even fonts are available for it. However it has

the top-line. That suggests that script with a top-line may also

sometimes have been called Kaithi.

 

- I have seen people sometimes writing Hindi (in Devanagari) without

a top line. I remember a joke I had read somewhere about "bhar

jayegei" being read as "mar jayegi".

 

- I think most of the Devanagari manuscripts were also written by

Kayasthas.

 

Yashwant