Hanifi Rohingya script
The Hanifi Rohingya script is a unified script for the Rohingya language. Rohingya today is written in three scripts, Hanafi, Arabic (Rohingya Fonna), and Latin (Rohingyalish).[1] The Rohingya language was first written in the 19th century with a version of the Perso-Arabic script. In 1975, an orthographic Arabic script was developed and approved by the community leaders, based on the Urdu alphabet but with unique innovations to make the script suitable to Rohingya.
| Hanifi Rohingya script 𐴌𐴟𐴇𐴥𐴝𐴚𐴒𐴙𐴝 𐴇𐴝𐴕𐴞𐴉𐴞 𐴓𐴠𐴑𐴤𐴝 رُحَ࣪ڠۡگَ࣪ࢬ حَنِفِي لࣦكَ࣪ Ruáingga Hanifi leká | |
|---|---|
 The word "Rohingya" written in the script | |
| Script type | Alphabet
|
| Creator | Mohammad Hanif |
| Created | 1980s |
| Direction | right-to-left script  |
| Languages | Rohingya language |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Rohg (167), Hanifi Rohingya |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Hanifi Rohingya |
| U+10D00–U+10D3F | |
In the 1980s, Mohammad Hanif and his colleagues created a suitable phonetic script based on the Arabic alphabet; it has been compared to the N’ko script.
This script, unlike the Arabic script, is alphabetical, meaning that all vowels are independent letters, as opposed to diacritics as is the case in Arabic. However, vowels can't stand on their own and always need to be connected to a consonant similar to diacritics. Therefore diphthongs can't be written as vowel-vowel combination even though typographically this is possible. Tone markers are shown as diacritics in Hanifi script. It is written from right to left, following the direction of the Arabic script.[2][3]
Characters
The script has 32 consonant letters. Four of the consonant letters are unique to Rohingya and represent consonants that undergo fusion with a preceding consonant.
| 𐴆 | 𐴅 | 𐴄 | 𐴃 | 𐴁 | 𐴀 |
| 𐴋 | 𐴊 | 𐴉 | 𐴂 | 𐴈 | 𐴇 |
| 𐴑 | 𐴐 | 𐴏 | 𐴎 | 𐴍 | 𐴌 |
| 𐴘 | 𐴖 | 𐴕 | 𐴔 | 𐴓 | 𐴒 |
| ◌𐴧 | 𐴜 | 𐴛 | 𐴚 |
The script has 6 vowels and 2 semi-vowels.
| 𐴢 | 𐴡 | 𐴠 | 𐴟 | 𐴞 | 𐴝 |
| 𐴗 | 𐴙 |
The script has three tone markers that are shown as diacritics above or below the vowel letters. The tone markers indicate high, low or falling tones.
| ◌𐴦 | ◌𐴥 | ◌𐴤 |
Letters and their pronunciations and their equivalents
Consonants
| Character [4] | Burmese | Name | Final | Medial | Latin Script | Arabic Script | Pronunciation | Unicode [5] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 𐴀 | အ | A | 𐴀 | ـ𐴀ـ | - | ا, ع | /ɔ/, /ʔ/ | U+10D00 |
| 𐴁 | ဗ | BA | 𐴁𐴢 | ـ𐴁ـ | b | ب | /b/ | U+10D01 |
| 𐴃 | တ | TA | 𐴃𐴢 | ـ𐴃ـ | t | ت, ط | /t/ | U+10D03 |
| 𐴄 | ထ | TTA | 𐴄𐴢 | ـ𐴄ـ | th | ٹ | /ʈ/ | U+10D04 |
| 𐴅 | ဇ | JA | 𐴅 | ـ𐴅ـ | j | ج | /ɟ/ | U+10D05 |
| 𐴆 | ဆ | CA | 𐴆 | ـ𐴆ـ | ch | چ | /c/ | U+10D06 |
| 𐴇 | ဟ | HA | 𐴇𐴢 | ـ𐴇ـ | h, h' | ح, ه | /h/ | U+10D07 |
| 𐴈 | ခ | KHA | 𐴈𐴢 | ـ𐴈ـ | h, kh | خ | /x/ | U+10D08 |
| 𐴉 | ဖဟ | FA | 𐴉𐴢 | ـ𐴉ـ | f | ف | /f/ | U+10D09 |
| 𐴂 | ပ | PA | 𐴂𐴢 | ـ𐴂ـ | p | پ | /p/ | U+10D02 |
| 𐴊 | ဒ | DA | 𐴊𐴢 | ـ𐴊ـ | d | د, ض | /d/ | U+10D0A |
| 𐴋 | ဓ | DDA | 𐴋 | ـ𐴋ـ | dh | ڈ | /ɖ/ | U+10D0B |
| 𐴌 | ရ | RA | 𐴌 | ـ𐴌ـ | r | ر | /ɾ/ | U+10D0C |
| 𐴍 | RRA | 𐴍 | ـ𐴍ـ | ç | ڑ | /ɽ/ | U+10D0D | |
| 𐴎 | ဇ | ZA | 𐴎 | ـ𐴎ـ | z | ز, ذ, ظ | /z/ | U+10D0E |
| 𐴏 | သ | SA | 𐴏𐴢 | ـ𐴏ـ | s | س, ص | /s/ | U+10D0F |
| 𐴐 | စ | SHA | 𐴐𐴢 | ـ𐴐ـ | c | ش | /ʃ/ | U+10D10 |
| 𐴑 | ခ | KA | 𐴑 | ـ𐴑ـ | k | ك, ق | /k/ | U+10D11 |
| 𐴒 | ဂ | GA | 𐴒𐴢 | ـ𐴒ـ | g | گ | /g/ | U+10D12 |
| 𐴓 | လ | LA | 𐴓𐴢 | ـ𐴓ـ | l | ل | /l/ | U+10D13 |
| 𐴔 | မ | MA | 𐴔𐴢 | ـ𐴔ـ | m | م | /m/ | U+10D14 |
| 𐴕 | န | NA | 𐴕 | ـ𐴕ـ | n | ن | /n/ | U+10D15 |
| 𐴖 | ဝ | WA | 𐴖𐴢 | ـ𐴖ـ | v | و | /ʋ/, /v/ | U+10D16 |
| 𐴗 | ဥ | KINNA WA | 𐴗𐴢 | ـ𐴗ـ | u | و | /u̯/ (for cluster or diphthong) | U+10D17 |
| 𐴘 | ယ | YA | 𐴘 | ـ𐴘ـ | y | ي | /j/ | U+10D18 |
| 𐴙 | ဣ | KINNA YA | 𐴙𐴢 | ـ𐴙ـ | i | ي | /i̯/ (for cluster or diphthong) | U+10D19 |
| 𐴚 | င | NGA = gan | 𐴚 | ـ𐴚ـ | ng | ڠ | /ŋ/ | U+10D1A |
| 𐴛 | ည | NYA = nayya | 𐴛 | ـ𐴛ـ | ny | ني | /ɲ/ | U+10D1B |
| 𐴜 | ဝ | VA | 𐴜𐴢 | ـ𐴜ـ | v | ڤ | /v/ | U+10D1C |
| 𐴧 | Tassi | double consonant | ّ | U+10D27 |
Vowels and tone markers
| Character | Name | Latin Script | Arabic Script | Pronunciation | Unicode | Character | Name | Latin Script | Arabic Script | Type | IPA | Unicode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 𐴝 | aa-for | a | ◌َ | /a/ | U+10D1D | 𐴢 | Sakin (Ttura/Les) | none | ◌ۡ | Vowel silencer | none | U+10D22 |
| 𐴞 | i-for | i | ◌ِ | /i/ | U+10D1E | 𐴣 | Na-Khonna | ñ (full letter) | ں, ◌ً, ◌ࣧ, ◌ٍ, ◌ࣩ, ◌ٌ, ◌ࣨ | Nasalization mark | /◌̃/ | U+10D23 |
| 𐴟 | u-for | u | ◌ُ | /u/ | U+10D1F | ◌𐴤 | Harbai | á (acute accent) | ◌࣪ / ◌࣭ | Short high tone | /˥/ | U+10D24 |
| 𐴠 | e-for | e | ◌ࣦ | /e/ | U+10D20 | ◌𐴥 | Tela | áa (double, acute at first) | ◌࣫ / ◌࣮ | Long falling tone | /˥˩/ | U+10D25 |
| 𐴡 | o-for | o | ◌ࣤ, ◌ࣥ | /o/ | U+10D21 | ◌𐴦 | Tana | aá (double, acute at second) | ◌࣬ / ◌࣯ | Long rising tone | /˨˦/ | U+10D26 |
Numbers
Mohammad Hanif and his colleagues also created a set of numerals for the Rohingya language, The numbers are based on the Hindu–Arabic numerals but with some modifications.
| Name | sifír | ek | dui | tin | sair | fañs | só | háñt | añctho | no |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 𐴏𐴞𐴉𐴞𐴥𐴌 | 𐴀𐴠𐴑 | 𐴊𐴟𐴘 | 𐴃𐴞𐴕 | 𐴏𐴝𐴙𐴌 | 𐴉𐴝𐴣𐴏𐴢 | 𐴏𐴡𐴥 | 𐴇𐴝𐴥𐴣𐴃𐴢 | 𐴀𐴝𐴣𐴐𐴄𐴡 | 𐴕𐴡 | |
| سِفِ࣭رۡ | اࣦكۡ | دُيۡ | تِنۡ | سَيۡرۡ | فَنسۡ | سࣤ࣪ | حَ࣪نتۡ | اَنشۡٹࣤ | نࣤ | |
| Digit | 𐴰 | 𐴱 | 𐴲 | 𐴳 | 𐴴 | 𐴵 | 𐴶 | 𐴷 | 𐴸 | 𐴹 |
| Unicode | U+10D30 | U+10D31 | U+10D32 | U+10D33 | U+10D34 | U+10D35 | U+10D36 | U+10D37 | U+10D38 | U+10D39 |
Unicode
The Hanifi Rohingya script was added to the Unicode Standard in June 2018 with the release of version 11.0. Proposals to include it in Unicode were written by linguist Anshuman Pandey.[6]
The Unicode block for Hanifi Rohingya is U+10D00–U+10D3F and contains 50 characters:[7]
| Hanifi Rohingya[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+10D0x | 𐴀 | 𐴁 | 𐴂 | 𐴃 | 𐴄 | 𐴅 | 𐴆 | 𐴇 | 𐴈 | 𐴉 | 𐴊 | 𐴋 | 𐴌 | 𐴍 | 𐴎 | 𐴏 |
| U+10D1x | 𐴐 | 𐴑 | 𐴒 | 𐴓 | 𐴔 | 𐴕 | 𐴖 | 𐴗 | 𐴘 | 𐴙 | 𐴚 | 𐴛 | 𐴜 | 𐴝 | 𐴞 | 𐴟 |
| U+10D2x | 𐴠 | 𐴡 | 𐴢 | 𐴣 | 𐴤 | 𐴥 | 𐴦 | 𐴧 | ||||||||
| U+10D3x | 𐴰 | 𐴱 | 𐴲 | 𐴳 | 𐴴 | 𐴵 | 𐴶 | 𐴷 | 𐴸 | 𐴹 | ||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
Fonts
Google's Noto Sans has developed a Rohingya script font called Noto Sans Hanifi Rohingya, available at GitHub.
Rohingya keyboard
A virtual keyboard was developed by Google for the Rohingya language in 2019 and allows users to type in the Rohingya script. Ahkter Husin, a Rohingya software developer developed a keyboard for Android phones which is available on Google Play Store. Users can download here. Ahkter Husin and Kyaw Zay Ya Lin Tun developed a keyboard app for iOS which can be found here. The Rohingya Unicode keyboard layout can be found here.
Sample text
The following is a sample text in Rohingya of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with English, contrasted with versions of the text in Bengali and Assamese.
| Rohingya in Hanifi Script | .𐴔𐴝𐴕𐴟𐴤𐴞𐴐 𐴁𐴠𐴒𐴧𐴟𐴤𐴕 𐴝𐴎𐴝𐴊 𐴇𐴞𐴤𐴏𐴝𐴉𐴠,. 𐴝𐴌 𐴞𐴎𐴧𐴡𐴃𐴝𐴌𐴊𐴠 𐴇𐴡𐴤𐴑 𐴡𐴤𐴑𐴧𐴡𐴓 𐴡𐴤𐴃, 𐴉𐴟𐴤𐴝𐴞𐴕𐴧𐴝 𐴇𐴞𐴤𐴏𐴝𐴉𐴠 𐴉𐴡𐴞𐴊𐴝 𐴡𐴤𐴞𐴘𐴠. 𐴉𐴡𐴃𐴧𐴞𐴤 𐴞𐴕𐴏𐴝𐴤𐴕 𐴡𐴤𐴃𐴧𐴟 𐴇𐴡𐴕𐴡𐴤 𐴉𐴡𐴌𐴡𐴤𐴑. 𐴏𐴝𐴤𐴌𐴝 𐴠𐴓𐴝𐴕 𐴡𐴃 𐴀𐴏𐴠𐴤𐴊𐴠 𐴃𐴝𐴔𐴝𐴤𐴔 𐴇𐴡𐴤𐴑 𐴡𐴤𐴑𐴧𐴡𐴓 𐴝𐴌𐴊𐴠 𐴝𐴎𐴝𐴊𐴞 𐴡𐴤𐴑𐴧𐴡𐴓 𐴓𐴡𐴞 𐴉𐴝𐴥𐴞𐴊𐴝 𐴒𐴡𐴌𐴡𐴥𐴕 𐴡𐴤𐴌 𐴇𐴡𐴤𐴑 𐴝𐴌, 𐴃𐴝𐴌𐴝𐴤𐴌𐴠, 𐴊𐴞𐴓 𐴝𐴌𐴊𐴠 𐴊𐴠𐴔𐴝𐴑 𐴊𐴞𐴘𐴠𐴤. 𐴡𐴤𐴃𐴡𐴓𐴧𐴝, 𐴃𐴝𐴌𐴝𐴤𐴃𐴧𐴟 𐴠𐴑𐴎𐴡𐴕 𐴓𐴡𐴞. 𐴝𐴌𐴠𐴑𐴎𐴡𐴕 𐴁𐴝𐴤𐴞 𐴇𐴞𐴤𐴏𐴝𐴉𐴠 𐴔𐴝𐴧𐴔𐴠𐴓𐴝 𐴒𐴡𐴌𐴡𐴥𐴕 𐴏𐴝𐴦. |
|---|---|
| Rohingya in Rohingya Arabic Script | مَنُ࣪شۡ بࣦگُّ࣪نۡ اَزَدۡ حِ࣭سَفࣦ، اَرۡ عِزّࣤتۡ اَرۡدࣦ حࣤ࣪قۡ اࣤ࣪كّࣤلۡ اࣤ࣪تۡ، فُ࣪وَ࣪نَّ࣪ࢬ حِ࣭سَفࣦ فࣤيۡدَ اࣤ࣪يّࣦ. فࣤتِّ اِنۡسَ࣪نۡ اࣤ࣪تُّ هࣤنࣤ࣪ فࣤرࣤ࣪كۡ سَ࣪رَ࣪ عࣦلَنۡ اࣤتۡ اَسࣦ࣭دࣦ تَمَ࣪مۡ حࣤ࣪قۡ اࣤ࣪كّࣤلۡ اَرۡدࣦ اَزَدِ اࣤ࣪كّࣤلۡ لࣤيۡ فَ࣫يۡدَ࣪ گࣤرࣤ࣫نۡ اࣤ࣪رۡ حࣤ࣪قۡ اَسࣦ࣭. اَرۡ، تَرَ࣪رࣦ࣭ دِلۡ اَرۡدࣦ دࣦمَكۡ دِيࣦ࣭ اࣤ࣪تࣤ࣪لَّ، تَرَ࣪تُّ࣪ اࣦك زࣤنۡ لࣤيۡ اَرۡ اࣦكۡزࣤنۡ بَ࣪يۡ حِ࣭سَفࣦ مَامَلَ گࣤرࣤ࣫نۡ سَ࣬. |
| Rohingya in Rohingya Latin alphabet | Manúic beggún azad hísafe, ar izzot arde hók ókkol ót, fúainna hísafe foida óiye. Fottí insán óttu honó forók sára elan ot aséde tamám hók ókkol arde azadi ókkol loi fáaida goróon ór hók asé. Ar, taráre dil arde demak diyé. Ótolla, taráttu ekzon loi arekzon bái hísafe maamela goróon saá. |
| English original: | "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood." |
References
- "Rohingya alphabets, pronunciation and language". Omniglot. Simon Ager. Archived from the original on 15 November 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- James, Ian (5 July 2012). "Hanifi alphabet for Rohingya". Sky Knowledge. Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- Ager, Simon. "Hanifi Rohingya alphabet".
- This table can be viewed correctly using Firefox and the font Noto Sans Rohingya.
- "Unicode 11.0.0". Unicode Consortium. Archived from the original on 2018-06-06. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- Pandey, Anshuman (27 October 2015). "Proposal to encode the Hanifi Rohingya script in Unicode" (PDF). The Unicode Consortium. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- "Unicode 11.0.0". Unicode Consortium. 5 June 2018. Archived from the original on 6 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.