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Writing Systems Technical Resources

Oriya (Odia)

From a Buddhist text c. 1060 AD

Script details

See all script details: code, region, status and more
Code Orya
Script type abugida
Region Indic
Status Current
Direction LTR
Baseline hanging
Case no
White space between words
Complex behaviors diacritics, split graphs, required ligatures
OpenType code orya, ory2
ISO 15924 Numeric Code / Key 327 (alphasyllabic)

Explanation of script details

Script description

The Odia (formerly Oriya) script is used for writing the Odia language, the official language of the Indian state of Orissa, as well as a number of Dravidian and Munda minority languages spoken in that region.It is also used in Orissa for transcribing Sanskrit texts. The earliest inscriptions in the Odia language have been dated to 1051 AD, written in the Kalinga script from which modern Odia writing is derived.

Like the other Brahmic scripts used in India, the Odia script is written from left to right and is based on the orthographic syllable called akṣara. An akṣara represents either a lone vowel or a consonant with a vowel attached. Each vowel sound can be written with one of two letters; used at the beginning of a word it is written with an independent vowel letter, but when it follows a consonant it is written with a dependent vowel diacritic which attaches above, below, beside or flanking both sides of the consonant letter. Consonant letters inherently contain a following [ɔ] vowel (transcribed a) unless they are modified with a vowel diacritic indicating a different vowel, or a halanta symbol silencing the vowel entirely.

Consonant clusters can be written in several ways. Some combinations use a special non-decomposable ligature, or conjunct, for example jnya. Others are written using the halanta symbol to silence the vowel in the first member of the cluster. Alternatively, clusters can be written using half- or joining forms of all but one letter in the cluster. In some cases the first member is reduced to a half-form and attached to the second, for example in the cluster dbha; in other cases the second member is reduced and attached to the first, as in dgha. The orthographic syllable does not necessarily correspond to the phonological syllable in words containing consonant clusters.

Ligatures composed of an independent vowel and a consonant are generally not used, with the exception of the letter wa which is a combination of o and ba and is sometimes used for writing the sound [w] in loan words.

The script is largely phonetic, that is, the pronunciation of a word can be deduced from its spelling, but there are a few phonological processes that alter the sound of a written letter. For example, the letters da and dha are pronounced as [ɽ] [ɽh] respectively when used between two vowels. A subscript dot is often written below the letter to indicate this change. So the word ‘Odia’ is written o + (da + dot + i diacritic) + a.

As with many of the Brahmic scripts, the anusvara symbol can be used to indicate a nasal pronounced at the same place of articulation as the following stop, as in the cluster [ŋkɔ], when written anusvara + ka. However, these clusters can also be written using special conjunct letters; a distinct letter also exists for representing the sound [ŋkɔ].

There is one script-specific punctuation mark, isshar, which is used before the name of a person who is deceased.

Languages that use this script

LanguageWriting System
Code		Writing System
Status		SLDR/CLDR
locale		Regional
variants
Bodo Parjabdv-Oryain use bdv-Orya-IN (India)
Bondobfw-Oryain use bfw-Orya-IN (India)
Desiyadso-Oryain use dso-Orya-IN (India)
Duruwapci-Oryain use pci-Orya-IN (India)
Gadaba, Bodogbj-Oryain use gbj-Orya-IN (India)
See complete list

Unicode status

In The Unicode Standard, Odia (formerly Oriya) script implementation is discussed in Chapter 12 South and Central Asia-I — Official Scripts of India.

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