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Vatteluttu
Vatteluttu (Tamil: வட்டெழுத்து, Vaṭṭeḻuttu and Malayalam: വട്ടെഴുത്ത്, Vaṭṭeḻuttŭ, IPA: [ʋɐʈːeɻut̪ːɨ̆]), also transliterated as Vattezhuthu, was an alphasyllabic or syllabic writing system of south India (Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and Sri Lanka formerly employed for writing the Tamil and Malayalam languages. The script is a sister system of the Pallava-Chola alphabet. The script was patronized by the Pallava, Pandya and Chera rulers of southern India.
Vatteluttu belonged to the "southern group" of Brahmi derivatives (Southern Brahmi, generally associated with Dravidian languages of south India). The script was used in inscriptions and manuscripts of south India for centuries. It is closely related to the Tamil script (although it is more cursive than the Tamil script, with letters with a single curvilinear stroke). The direction of writing in Vatteluttu is from left to right. It notably omits the virama vowel muting device.
Three possible suggestions for the etymology of the term 'Vatteluttu' are commonly proposed. The term Eḻuttu is literally 'written form' in this context; and affixed here it means 'writing system' or 'script'.
The three suggestions are:
The Vatteluttu script was also known as "Tekken-Malayalam" (literally, "Southern Malayalam") or "Nana-mona". The name "Nana-mona" is given to it because, at the time when script is taught, the words "namostu" etc. are begun, which are spelt "nana, mona, ittanna, tuva" (that is, "na, mo and tu"), and the writing system therefore came to be known as the "nana-mona" alphabet.
Vatteluttu script started developing from Tamil-Brahmi Script (the late Tamil-Brahmi, 2nd–4th centuries AD), from around the 4th or 5th century AD. This early form is thus sometimes described as a "a transitional variety" of the Tamil-Brahmi Script.
The Vatteluttu script of 5th–6th centuries AD is called "Early Vatteluttu" script. The earliest forms of the script have been traced to memorial stone and rock inscriptions from this period. These include, among others, the famous Pulankurichi rock inscriptions, and numerous inscribed hero stones from Chengam Taluk and the nearby Dharmapuri District in northern Tamil Nadu. Vatteluttu is unambiguously attested in a number of inscriptions in Tamil Nadu from the 6th century AD.
By the 7th to 8th centuries, Vatteluttu had developed into a completely separate script from the Tamil-Brahmi Script (and was current all over the Tamil country). Some of the inscriptions associated with Pallava rulers from Simhavarman III to Nandivarman (mid-6th to mid-8th century AD) are exclusively in Vatteluttu script. It was also employed by the Pandya and Chera rulers (the later, from mid-9th century in Kerala).
Vatteluttu
Vatteluttu (Tamil: வட்டெழுத்து, Vaṭṭeḻuttu and Malayalam: വട്ടെഴുത്ത്, Vaṭṭeḻuttŭ, IPA: [ʋɐʈːeɻut̪ːɨ̆]), also transliterated as Vattezhuthu, was an alphasyllabic or syllabic writing system of south India (Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and Sri Lanka formerly employed for writing the Tamil and Malayalam languages. The script is a sister system of the Pallava-Chola alphabet. The script was patronized by the Pallava, Pandya and Chera rulers of southern India.
Vatteluttu belonged to the "southern group" of Brahmi derivatives (Southern Brahmi, generally associated with Dravidian languages of south India). The script was used in inscriptions and manuscripts of south India for centuries. It is closely related to the Tamil script (although it is more cursive than the Tamil script, with letters with a single curvilinear stroke). The direction of writing in Vatteluttu is from left to right. It notably omits the virama vowel muting device.
Three possible suggestions for the etymology of the term 'Vatteluttu' are commonly proposed. The term Eḻuttu is literally 'written form' in this context; and affixed here it means 'writing system' or 'script'.
The three suggestions are:
The Vatteluttu script was also known as "Tekken-Malayalam" (literally, "Southern Malayalam") or "Nana-mona". The name "Nana-mona" is given to it because, at the time when script is taught, the words "namostu" etc. are begun, which are spelt "nana, mona, ittanna, tuva" (that is, "na, mo and tu"), and the writing system therefore came to be known as the "nana-mona" alphabet.
Vatteluttu script started developing from Tamil-Brahmi Script (the late Tamil-Brahmi, 2nd–4th centuries AD), from around the 4th or 5th century AD. This early form is thus sometimes described as a "a transitional variety" of the Tamil-Brahmi Script.
The Vatteluttu script of 5th–6th centuries AD is called "Early Vatteluttu" script. The earliest forms of the script have been traced to memorial stone and rock inscriptions from this period. These include, among others, the famous Pulankurichi rock inscriptions, and numerous inscribed hero stones from Chengam Taluk and the nearby Dharmapuri District in northern Tamil Nadu. Vatteluttu is unambiguously attested in a number of inscriptions in Tamil Nadu from the 6th century AD.
By the 7th to 8th centuries, Vatteluttu had developed into a completely separate script from the Tamil-Brahmi Script (and was current all over the Tamil country). Some of the inscriptions associated with Pallava rulers from Simhavarman III to Nandivarman (mid-6th to mid-8th century AD) are exclusively in Vatteluttu script. It was also employed by the Pandya and Chera rulers (the later, from mid-9th century in Kerala).