L2/06-226 Request to Allocate the Maithili Script in the Unicode Roadmap AnshumanPandey UniversityofWashington Seattle, Washington,USA [email protected] June21, 2006 1 Introduction This proposal seeks to allocate the Maithili script in the Supplementary Multilingual Plane (Plane 1) of Unicode. The Maithili script is a Brahmi-based script that is used predominantly in the state of Bihar in India and in Nepal for writing Maithili, an Indo-Aryan language spoken by more than 22 million people worldwide. Maithili is an officially-recognized language of India and the second most-commonly spoken language inNepal. KnownalsobythenamesMithila¯ks.araandTirahuta¯,thescriptisthetraditional writing systemfortheMaithililanguage. TheMaithili script isassociated withascholarly and scribal tradition that isresponsible for theproduction of literary and philosophical works in the Maithili and Sanskrit languages from at least the 14th century ce. The majority of literary manuscripts in the Maithili language and script are the songs of the famous poet Vidya¯pati T.ha¯kura (14th century) and several Sanskrit dramas. Manuscripts on philosophy include Sanskrit treatises ontheNya¯yasu¯tra andother aspects ofNya¯yaphilosophy. TheMaithilBrahmincommu- nity employs the Maithili script for ceremonial purposes, most notably for keeping pa¯ñj¯ı, or genealogical, records, which have been systematically maintained since the early 14th century. During the 20th century, the use of the Maithili script diminished with the rise of Devanagari, the script now commonly used for printing Maithili-language books and periodicals. Since the 1950s, Maithili literary and cultural societies inIndiaandNepalhavepreserved thelanguage andscriptthrough thesmall-scalepublication ofbooksand pamphletsonMaithiliculture,dictionaries suchastheBrhatMaithil¯ıS´abdakos´a, andscriptprimerssuchas ˚ the Maithil¯ı Prathama Pustaka. The recognition of Maithili as a scheduled language of India in 2004 has revitalized interest indeveloping theMaithililanguage andscript. Although traditionally usedformanuscripts, Maithili entered theworldofprintinthe1920s, whenthefirst Maithili metal types were cut in Calcutta. However, the rate of print production was minimal and there was an absence of high-quality Maithili types. The specimens in Figure 3 and Figure 4 provide examples from the Maithili-English dictionary, Brhat Maithil¯ı S´abdakos´a, of text typeset in Maithili metal fonts. A ˚ better font was used in the production of the Maithil¯ı Prathama Pustaka, an excerpt of which is provided in Figure 5. An analysis of the fonts used in these works reveals dissonance in the optical uniformity and clarity of letterforms. A reason for this is that Maithili metal fonts were at times derived from Bengali sets. Maithili letters not found in the Bengali script were cut anew, but the imprecise nature of the work gave the Maithili letters a rather unpolished appearance, which set them apart from the unmodified letters borrowed from the Bengali font. However, progress in the development of Maithili fonts is evident from a comparisonofthetypesusedintheBrhatMaithil¯ıS´abdakos´a withthoseintheMaithil¯ıPrathamaPustaka. ˚ 1 RequesttoAllocatetheMaithiliScriptintheUnicodeRoadmap AnshumanPandey Recently, technical groups in Nepal, such as eCube: Solutions & Research, have created digitized Maithili fonts. Thesedigitizedfontsarehigh-qualitytypefacessuitableforprintanddisplaypurposes(seeFigure8). Thefontusedinthisproposalwasdesigned bythepresentauthorandwascreatedtoprovideahigh-quality Maithili typeface suitable for digital and print production. It is incomplete in that several consonant con- junctshavenotyetbeendrawn. Incaseswhereconjunctsnotavailableinthefontareneededforillustration, the respective letter has been excerpted from Maithili documents. A complete font will be developed to accompanytheformalproposal. 2 Classifying the Script Due to the historical scribal and manuscript traditions of Maithili; the ceremonial use of the script by the Maithil Brahmincommunity; the continued use ofthescript fortheproduction ofbooks; and thepreserva- tionanddevelopment ofthescriptforcontemporary communication byMaithiliorganizations, theMaithili scriptshould beclassified aseither a“Category A”(contemporary) scriptora“Category B.1”(specialized) script. The appropriate classification of the script will be determined in the formal proposal to encode the MaithiliscriptinUnicode. Thenameofthescriptalsorequiresattention. ThescriptisknownbythenamesMaithil¯ı,Mithila¯ks.ara,and Tirahuta¯. All three names refer to the characters in use within the geographic region of Mithila, or Tirhut, in north Bihar. Each of the names are attested historically and are used interchangably in reference to the script. Asthecommontraditionalnameofthescript,“Tirahuta¯”mightjustifiablyserveasthestandardname ofthescript. TheScriptEncoding Initiative (2006) already recognizes thescript under the name“Tirhuta,” with “Maithili” and “Mithilakshar” as alternate names. Input from the Maithili-speaking community will assistinsettlingthematter. Ofthesenames,“Maithili”isaconvenient designation duetotheassociation of thescriptwiththelanguage ofthesamename,andforthepresentpurposeitissufficientforidentifying the script. 3 Letters of the Maithili Script ApreliminaryglyphchartforMaithiliispresentedinTable1andcharacternamesareshowninTable2. An initialestimateindicates thattheMaithiliscriptwillrequireaminimumof86code-points, consisting of: • Vowels: 14letters • Vowelsigns: 15signs • Consonants: 36letters • Signs: 5(anusva¯ra, candrabindu, visarga, vira¯ma,avagraha) • Punctuation: 3(dan.d.a¯,doubledan.d.a¯,andanabbreviation sign) • Specialsigns: 2(thesacredsymbolsañj¯ıandom) • Digits: 10 AsMaithiliwasusedforrecordingVedicandclassicalSanskrittexts,thescripthasseveralspecializedsigns, liketheVedicanusva¯ra. Atpresent, thereisinsufficient information regardingthenumberofthesesignsto enumerate them fully in the character inventory. Further investigation of Maithili manuscripts and modern Maithili publications may uncover other marks used in Maithili orthography. In order to accommodate characters asyetunaccounted intheabovetabulation, Maithilishouldbeallocated96code-points (6rows). 2 RequesttoAllocatetheMaithiliScriptintheUnicodeRoadmap AnshumanPandey 4 Relationship of Maithili to Bengali The Maithili script is most closely related to the Bengali script. It is often considered a variant of Bengali because of the similarity in the structure and design of the two script, but such conclusions are inaccurate. Traditionally, the Maithili script is regarded as an independent script and is known in Bengal as tiru.te, meaning “of the Tirhuta region,” ie. the Tirahuta¯ script (Chatterji, 1926: 225). The close relationship of Maithili to Bengali, and more distantly to the Oriya, Assamese, and Newari scripts, is due to the genesis of these scripts from a common source, the Proto-Bengali, or Gaud.¯ı, script, which itself evolved from the Kut.ila descendent of Brahmi around 1000 ce. These five scripts became clearly differentiated by the 14th and15thcenturies (Salomon,1998: 41). A comparison of the Maithili script to Bengali indicates that several Maithili letters may be considered identicaltoBengaliletters. Forinstance,4ofthe14Maithilivowelletters;5ofthe15Maithilivowelsigns; 21ofthe37Maithiliconsonant letters;and4ofthe10MaithilidigitsresembleformsfoundinBengali(see Tables3,4,and5forspecificcomparisons). Despitesuchresemblance,Maithilipossessesseveralvowelandconsonantlettershapes,consonantconjunct shapes, and orthographic features that are not found in the modern Bengali script. While several of the MaithiliconsonantlettersresembleBengaliletterswhenwrittenindependently,theconjunctformsproduced bytheselettersaredifferentinthetwoscripts. Forexample,conjunctsliken˙gaandrga,aswellasconsonant- vowel ligatures like gu, take different shapes in the two scripts despite the similarity in the shape of ga. Anothermajordifference betweenMaithiliandBengaliistheuseofphala elementsforwritingconsonant- vowelligaturesandabroaderphalarepertoireforthecreationofconsonantconjuncts. Throughadescription oftheuniquefeaturesoftheMaithiliscript,thisproposalshowsthatMaithiliisanindependentscript,despite itsresemblance toBengali,andshouldbeencodedseparately inUnicode. 5 Unique Features of the Maithili Script 5.1 Symbols andSigns ˙ • Thesacred sign, añj¯ı ( ), isunique to Maithili and isused in theinvocations ofmanuscripts, books, andchartsoftheMaithiliscript, orvarn.ama¯la¯ (seeFigure1andFigure6). • Theform ofMaithili anusva¯ra resembles the Devanagari anusva¯ra more than the Bengali. Compare (cid:2)M (cid:2) Maithili andBengali . (cid:0) 5.2 Vowels (cid:2)E • Avowel sign forshort e: .Thereisno independent orinitial form ofthis vowelbecause the sound itrepresents doesnotoccuratthebeginning ofwords. (cid:2)O • Avowelsignforshorto: .Thereisnoindependent orinitialformofthisvowelbecausethesound itrepresents does notoccur atthebeginning ofwords. Thissign maybesimilar totheletter u+09d7 bengaliaulengthmark. 3 RequesttoAllocatetheMaithiliScriptintheUnicodeRoadmap AnshumanPandey • The vowel sign for ai is a two-part dependent vowel sign. The first element is written before the e(cid:2)E consonant and the other attaches above the letter: . In Bengali, the ai vowel sign is a single sign (cid:2) emE thatiswrittenbeforetheconsonant: . CompareMaithilimai andBengalimai . (cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:3) 5.3 Dependent Vowels (cid:2)u (cid:2) • There aretwoformsofthe signfor thevowel u: and . Thefirstshape isthegeneral ma¯tra¯ sign (cid:2)(cid:4)u (cid:2) andthesecondshapeisthephalaform. Thema¯tra¯ form (comparetoBengali )iswrittenbelow theconsonant: (cid:5) ghu cu .thu Gu cu Zu Maithili Bengali (cid:6)(cid:5) (cid:7)(cid:5) (cid:8)(cid:5) Forcombinationsofconsonantsanduwhereconsonantshaveright-handverticalstems,theuassumes (cid:2) thephalashape . Thephalaelementisattachedtotheconsonantstemtoproduceaconsonant-vowel ligature: (cid:4) gu mu n.u nu pu lu s´u su Ω m ç È p l ï Maithili (cid:0) Bengali (cid:2) (cid:3)(cid:5) (cid:9)(cid:5) (cid:10)(cid:5) (cid:11)(cid:5) (cid:12)(cid:5) (cid:3) (cid:13)(cid:5) Withcertainconsonants independent consonant-u ligatures areproduced: ku tu bhu y˙u yu s.u hu Y y Maithili Bengali (cid:14)(cid:5) (cid:15)(cid:5) (cid:16)(cid:5) (cid:17)(cid:5) (cid:18)(cid:5) (cid:19)(cid:5) (cid:4) (cid:2)W (cid:2) • Thesignforris (compareBengali ).Withmostconsonants, thesigniswrittenbelowtheletter: ˚ (cid:20) pr .tr br p˚W T˚W b˚W Maithili Bengali (cid:11)(cid:20) (cid:21)(cid:20) (cid:22)(cid:20) Withcertainconsonants independent consonant-r ligaturesareproduced: ˚ kr tr bhr hr k˚ t˚ B˚ ˚ Maithili Bengali (cid:14)(cid:20) (cid:15)(cid:20) (cid:16)(cid:20) (cid:5) 5.4 Consonants b v • Maithili possesses distinct characters for ba and va . Bengali uses the single letter ba for both sounds. In consonant conjuncts, Maithili ba is represented by the dotted ba-phala and(cid:22)va is Ü Ü represented bythedotted ba-phala andacandra abovethetop-line, forexample, mba andmva . 4 RequesttoAllocatetheMaithiliScriptintheUnicodeRoadmap AnshumanPandey This is to distinguish such forms from consonant-vowel ligatures formed with the u vowel sign, for m example,mu . • Maithili ba also takes different shapes when it appears in conjuncts with certain consonants. It typi- b b Ý SÝ callyretainsitsbaseshape ,butitalsotakestheform ,asinbda inthewords´abda . 5.5 Consonant Conjuncts (cid:2) • In consonant clusters where ya is the second element, it either takes the phala form or it merges with the consonant to produce an independent ligature. The use of ya-phala in Maith(cid:23)ili is similar to that in Bengali: . The conjunct forms created with ya occur with certain consonants due to the shapeoftheletters:(cid:11)(cid:23) tya dya nya bhya s´ya hya Maithili Bengali (cid:15)(cid:23) (cid:24)(cid:23) (cid:10)(cid:23) (cid:16)(cid:23) (cid:25)(cid:23) (cid:26)(cid:23) • ThefunctionofrephainMaithiliissimilartothatinBengaliandDevanagari. Generally, itiswritten pŽ abovethefollowingconsonant: rpainMaithili andinBengali . Insomecases,therephamerges (cid:27)(cid:11) j withtheconsonanttowhichitisappliedtocreateadistinctligature: rgainMaithili andBengali . (cid:27)(cid:28) (cid:2)d • Some consonant conjuncts involving la are produced using the phala form of la, : kla in Maithili kd fd andinBengali ;phlainMaithili andinBengali . (cid:29) (cid:30) (cid:2)e • Someconsonant conjuncts involving naareproducedusingthephalaformofna, : knainMaithili ke andBengali . (cid:31) • Severalconsonant conjuncts areuniquetoMaithilianddonotoccurinBengali. Someexamplesare: n˙ga cca ccha .t.ta s..ta hra hla f h i Maithili Bengali (cid:6) (cid:7) (cid:8) ! " # 5.6 Special Cases t • When ta is the first element in a consonant cluster, it is represented differently depending on the second element ofthecluster. Whenitappears asthefirstelement inclusters withta, ya, ra, andva, it combines withthese second elements to form conjuncts similar to those in Bengali. With all other e(cid:2)− ek− consonants,tatakestheform . Forexample,tka ,asinthewordsaratka¯laiswritteninMaithili srek−Al as , but inBengali as . Thisshape oftaissemantically similar toBengalikhan.d.a (cid:13)$%(cid:14)&(cid:12) e(cid:2)− ta ; however, unlike khan.d.a ta, it is unnecessary to encode explicitly since all of the possible con%texts foritsuseareknown. • Whentaappearsintheword-finalpositionwithavira¯ma,itiswrittenasistheconvention inDevana- t− g gari: . Avariantmethodistocurvethehead-stroke towardsthebase: . 5 RequesttoAllocatetheMaithiliScriptintheUnicodeRoadmap AnshumanPandey 5.7 Homoglyphs The forms of several Maithili letters resemble those in Bengali, but the meaning of the forms are different inthetwoscripts. Someoftheprominentdifferences arediscussed below. (cid:2) • In Maithili the element represents an alternate form of the vowel sign u. In modern Bengali it (cid:4) representsba-phalaandisusedonlyinthecreationofconjuncts. Forexample,theform represents (cid:0) suinMaithili, butsvainBengali. v r • The Maithili letter represents va. In Bengali, the letter represents ra. Similarly, the letter repre- sentsMaithilira,butBengaliba. N l • Maithilin.a resembles Bengalila ;whileMaithilila resemblesBengalin.a . (cid:12) (cid:9) 6 Encoding the Maithili Script in Unicode TheabovedescriptionoftheMaithiliscriptanditsuniquefeaturesindicatesthatMaithililettersareelements ofadistinctscript,nottypographicalvariantsofBengaliletters. Therefore,Maithilishouldbeencodedasan independentscriptinUnicode. ThesimilaritiesbetweenMaithiliandBengali,however,mightpromptacall tounify Maithili withBengali. Thisapproach isnotrecommended asitwouldcontribute toconflictsinthe semanticsofMaithiliandBengaliletters, especially homoglyphs andscript-specific conjuncts createdfrom independent forms of common letters. A separate encoding for Maithili is required in order to distinguish the Maithili script from Bengali in plain-text. Unification would force distinctions between the scripts to be maintained solely at the font or representation level and would limit the ability to differentiate between the scripts programmatically for text-processing purposes. This would pose technological difficulties in instances whereMaithiliandBengaliappearinthesamedocument. The distinctness of the Maithili script and the historical and contemporary uses of the script support the encoding of Maithili in Unicode as a separate script. A standard encoding for Maithili will benefit the Maithili-speakingcommunitybyenablingittoadaptthetraditionalscriptofitslanguageinelectronicmedia forgeneral communication andforliterary development. Astandard forthescriptwillalsoenable scholars engaged in research on Maithili language and literature to preserve and reproduce Maithili manuscripts through digital technologies. Moreover, organizations in South Asia are working to develop fonts and standards forrepresenting theMaithili script oncomputers. Astandard encoding inUnicode would benefit technical groups that are implementing the Maithili language and script for use in information technology. AlthoughMaithiliisanendangeredscript,theMaithili-speaking communitycontinuestopreservethescript for traditional purposes, while seeking to implement it to meet the needs of modern communication and computing technologies. 7 Acknowledgments The present author would like to acknowledge the advice and generosity of Dr. Dragomir Dimitrov of the Nepal Research Center, Kathmandu, Nepal. Dimitrov provided the author with Maithili primers printed in Nepal,fromwhichselections havebeenextractedtopresentasspecimens inthisproposal. 6 RequesttoAllocatetheMaithiliScriptintheUnicodeRoadmap AnshumanPandey 8 References Chatterji, Suniti Kumar. The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language. Part I: Introduction, Phonology. Reprint of the 1926 ed. by Calcutta University Press. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1970[1926]. eCube: Solutions & Research. “Tirhuta Lipi: The Native Script of Maithilee.” 2003. Electronic resource available athttp://www.tirhutalipi.4t.com/TirhutaLipiAlpha.pdf.AccessedJune2006. Grierson, George A. Linguistic Survey of India. Volume V. Indo-Aryan family, Eastern group. Pt. II. SpecimensoftheBiha¯r¯ıandOr.iya¯ languages. Reprint. Delhi: MotilalBanarsidass, 1968[1903]. Mishra, Jayakanta. bWht− emEizlI SÝekAS[BrhatMaithil¯ıS´abdakos´a =TheGreatMaithiliDictionary]. Fas- ˚ cicule1. 1sted. Simla: IndianInstituteofAdvancedStudy,1973. Ra¯ya, J¯ıvana¯tha. emEizlI pžzm pýk [Maithil¯ı Prathama Pustaka = Maithili Primer]. Reprint of edition published by Pustaka Bhan.d.a¯ra, Laheriya¯sara¯ya, Biha¯ra; (1970?). Mithila¯ks.ara Puraska¯ra Kos.a: Ekarahiya¯, Mahottar¯ı, Nepal,2003. Salomon, Richard. Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the OtherIndo-Aryan Languages. OxfordUniversityPress: NewYork,1998. Script Encoding Initiative. “Unicode Scripts Research.” April 12, 2006. Electronic resource available at http://www.linguistics.berkeley.edu/sei/USR.html#n101.AccessedJune2006. 7 RequesttoAllocatetheMaithiliScriptintheUnicodeRoadmap AnshumanPandey xx00 xx01 xx02 xx03 xx04 xx05 ˙ (cid:4) X l e(cid:2) 0 0 (cid:2)w ˘ V L e(cid:2)E 1 1 (cid:2)M k N v (cid:2)E 2 2 (cid:2)H K t S e(cid:2)A 3 3 a g z F (cid:2)O 4 4 aA G d s e(cid:2)O 5 5 fi q x h (cid:2)− 6 6 fl c n (cid:2)A fi 7 7 ⁄ C p i(cid:2) . 8 8 ˝ j f (cid:2)I < 9 9 Ł J b (cid:2)u # A ł Q B (cid:2)U ˙ B * T m (cid:2)W C + Z Y (cid:2)= D ˛ D y (cid:2)( E ˚ R r (cid:2)) F Table 1: Preliminary Glyph Chart for Maithili. Gray highlighting indicates that there is a similar letterintheBengaliscript. 8 RequesttoAllocatetheMaithiliScriptintheUnicodeRoadmap AnshumanPandey xx00;MAITHILI SYMBOL ANJI xx2C;MAITHILI LETTER MA xx01;MAITHILI SIGN CANDRABINDU xx2D;MAITHILI LETTER YA xx02;MAITHILI SIGN ANUSVARA xx2E;MAITHILI LETTER YYA xx03;MAITHILI SIGN VISARGA xx2F;MAITHILI LETTER RA xx04;MAITHILI LETTER A xx30;MAITHILI LETTER LA xx05;MAITHILI LETTER AA xx31;MAITHILI LETTER LLA xx06;MAITHILI LETTER I xx32;MAITHILI LETTER VA xx07;MAITHILI LETTER II xx33;MAITHILI LETTER SHA xx08;MAITHILI LETTER U xx34;MAITHILI LETTER SSA xx09;MAITHILI LETTER UU xx35;MAITHILI LETTER SA xx0A;MAITHILI LETTER VOCALIC R xx36;MAITHILI LETTER HA xx0B;MAITHILI LETTER VOCALIC RR xx37;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN AA xx0C;MAITHILI LETTER VOCALIC L xx38;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN I xx0D;MAITHILI LETTER VOCALIC LL xx39;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN II xx0E;MAITHILI LETTER E xx3A;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN U xx0F;MAITHILI LETTER AI xx3B;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN UU xx10;MAITHILI LETTER O xx3C;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC R xx11;MAITHILI LETTER AU xx3D;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC RR xx12;MAITHILI LETTER KA xx3E;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC L xx13;MAITHILI LETTER KHA xx3F;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC LL xx14;MAITHILI LETTER GA xx40;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN E xx15;MAITHILI LETTER GHA xx41;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN SHORT E xx16;MAITHILI LETTER NGA xx42;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN AI xx17;MAITHILI LETTER CA xx43;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN O xx18;MAITHILI LETTER CHA xx44;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN SHORT O xx19;MAITHILI LETTER JA xx45;MAITHILI VOWEL SIGN AU xx1A;MAITHILI LETTER JHA xx46;MAITHILI SIGN VIRAMA xx1B;MAITHILI LETTER NYA xx47;MAITHILI SIGN AVAGRAHA xx1C;MAITHILI LETTER TTA xx48;MAITHILI DANDA xx1D;MAITHILI LETTER TTHA xx49;MAITHILI DOUBLE DANDA xx1E;MAITHILI LETTER DDA xx4A;MAITHILI ABBREVIATION SIGN xx1F;MAITHILI LETTER DDDHA xx4B;MAITHILI SYMBOL OM xx20;MAITHILI LETTER DDHA xx50;MAITHILI DIGIT ZERO xx21;MAITHILI LETTER RHA xx51;MAITHILI DIGIT ONE xx22;MAITHILI LETTER NNA xx52;MAITHILI DIGIT TWO xx23;MAITHILI LETTER TA xx53;MAITHILI DIGIT THREE xx24;MAITHILI LETTER THA xx54;MAITHILI DIGIT FOUR xx25;MAITHILI LETTER DA xx55;MAITHILI DIGIT FIVE xx26;MAITHILI LETTER DHA xx56;MAITHILI DIGIT SIX xx27;MAITHILI LETTER NA xx57;MAITHILI DIGIT SEVEN xx28;MAITHILI LETTER PA xx58;MAITHILI DIGIT EIGHT xx29;MAITHILI LETTER PHA xx59;MAITHILI DIGIT NINE xx2A;MAITHILI LETTER BA xx2B;MAITHILI LETTER BHA Table2: PreliminaryCharacterNamesforMaithili 9 RequesttoAllocatetheMaithiliScriptintheUnicodeRoadmap AnshumanPandey maithili bengali maithili bengali a a a implicitvowel (cid:0) aA (cid:2)A (cid:2) a¯ -a¯ (cid:0)(cid:2) (cid:2) fi i(cid:2) (cid:2) i -i (cid:3) (cid:14) fl (cid:2)I (cid:2) ¯ı -¯ı (cid:4) (cid:15) ⁄ (cid:2)u (cid:2) u -u (cid:5) (cid:16) ˝ (cid:2)U (cid:2) u¯ -u¯ DZ (cid:17) Ł (cid:2)W (cid:2) r -r ˚ ˚ (cid:7) (cid:8) ł (cid:2)= (cid:2) r¯ -r¯ ˚ ˚ (cid:7)(cid:8) (cid:8) * (cid:2)( (cid:2)(cid:8) l -l ˚ (cid:9) ˚ (cid:0) + (cid:2)) (cid:2) ¯l -¯l ˚ ˛ (cid:9)(cid:0) ˚ e(cid:2) (cid:2)(cid:0)(cid:0) e -e (cid:10) (cid:18) (cid:2)E e˘ noindependent form -e˘ — ˚ e(cid:2)E (cid:2) ai -ai (cid:11) (cid:19) (cid:4) e(cid:2)A (cid:2) o -o (cid:12) (cid:18) (cid:2) (cid:2)O o˘ noindependent form -o˘ — ˘ e(cid:2)O (cid:2) au -au (cid:13) (cid:18) (cid:20) Table 3: Comparison of Maithili and Bengali vowel letters and signs. Grayhighlighting indicates similarities betweenlettersofthetwoscripts. 10