How to Write Santali Language in Ol Chiki Script: PDF Resources and Tips
Ol Chiki Script Download PDF
If you are interested in learning a unique and fascinating writing system for an indigenous language of India, you might want to check out Ol Chiki script. In this article, you will learn what Ol Chiki script is, how it was invented, how you can learn it, and how you can download a PDF file of Ol Chiki script for your convenience. Let's get started!
Ol Chiki Script Download Pdf
Introduction
Ol Chiki script is a writing system that was created for Santali, an Austroasiatic language spoken by about six million people in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Santali is one of the official regional languages of India, and belongs to the Munda branch of the Austroasiatic family.
The inventor of Ol Chiki script was Pandit Raghunath Murmu, a writer and teacher from Mayurbhanj State (now part of Odisha) in India. He created the script in 1925 as a way to promote Santali culture and literature, and also because he thought that Santali should have its own script, like other major languages of India.
Unlike most Indic scripts, which are abugidas (that is, they have consonants with inherent vowels that can be modified by diacritics), Ol Chiki script is a true alphabet: giving the vowels equal representation with the consonants. The script has 30 letters, each with a name that reflects its shape and sound. The script is written from left to right, and has two styles: print (Chapa) and cursive (Usara).
History of Ol Chiki script
Ol Chiki script was first publicized in 1939 at the Mayurbhanj State exhibition. Murmu published over 150 books in Santali in Ol Chiki script, including novels, poetry, drama, grammars, dictionaries and other information about the language and script. He also founded an organization called Adibasi Mahasabha (Tribal Council) to spread awareness and education about Santali culture and Ol Chiki script.
The script faced some challenges from other scripts that were used to write Santali, such as Latin, Odia, Bengali and Devanagari. Some people argued that these scripts were more widely used and accepted, and that using a new script would isolate Santali speakers from other communities. However, Murmu and his followers defended Ol Chiki script as a symbol of Santali identity and pride, and as a better way to represent the sounds and features of Santali language.
Today, Ol Chiki script has received some official recognition and support from the Indian government and various state governments. It is one of the official scripts of the Indian Republic, and is used in education, media, administration and literature in some regions where Santali is spoken. It is also included in the Unicode standard, which allows it to be used in digital platforms and devices.
How to learn Ol Chiki script
If you want to learn Ol Chiki script, you will need to familiarize yourself with the basic letters and sounds of the script, and how to write words and sentences in it. Here are some tips and resources to help you with that.
The basic letters and sounds of Ol Chiki script
Ol Chiki script has 30 letters: six vowels and 24 consonants. The vowels are:
LetterNameSound
ᱚLa/a/ as in father
ᱛAt/æ/ as in cat
ᱜAget/e/ as in bed
ᱝAk/i/ as in sit
ᱞAj/o/ as in hot
ᱟAeet/u/ as in put
The consonants are:
LetterNameSound
ᱠKo/k/ as in sky
ᱡKho/kʰ/ as in khaki (aspirated k)
ᱢGho 71b2f0854b