| Vatteluttu | |
|---|---|
 Relation of Pallava script or Vattelutu to other modern scripts |
|
| Type | Abugida |
| Spoken languages | Tamil Sanskrit Saurashtra Old Javanese |
| Time period | c. 700–present |
| Parent systems | |
| Child systems | Saurashtra |
| Sister systems | Malayalam, Grantha |
| Unicode range | U+0B80–U+0BFF |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | |
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This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text. |
Vatteluttu (Tamil: வட்டெழுத்து vaṭṭeḻuttu) (means rounded letters) is an abugida writing system originating from the Tamil people of Southern India. The syllabic alphabet is attested from 6th century CE to 14th century CE in present day Tamil Nadu and Kerala states in India.[1] It was later supplanted by modern Tamil script and Malayalam script. The generic term of Vatteluttu was mentioned by scholars of Southeast Asian studies such as George Coedes and D.G.E. Hall.
It was also an ancient writing system used for writing the Tamil language after the second century CE replacing an older Tamil-Brahmi script based on the brahmi writing system. This rounded form of writing was also used in Kerala to write in Tamil as well as in proto-Malayalam and Malayalam language. Currently Malayalam uses the Malayalam script.
Inscriptional records in the Tamil language date from 300 BCE to 1800 CE and have undergone varying changes through history.[1] The Grantha Tamil was an alphabet in which extra letters were created specifically for Sanskrit words. It was also a modified form of Tamil script to write Sanskrit granthas, or books. In Tamil many of the letters which are found in Sanskrit are missing.
See also
- Tamil copper-plate inscriptions
- Indian copper plate inscriptions
- Laguna Copperplate Inscription
- Tamil script
References
- ^ Agesthialingom, S. & S.V. Shanmugam (1970). The Language of Tamil Inscriptions. Annamalainagar, India: Annamalai University.
Gallery
 Vatteluttu inscription dated to 1100 CE left by Tamil soldiers in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka |
 Koneswaram inscription in Sri Lanka, Pandyan era |
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