The Ariyaka script is an obsolete alphabet, invented by King Mongkut as an alternative to transcribing Pali, the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism. The script, inspired by the Greek and Burmese-Mon scripts, did not come into popular use and eventually fell out of usage.
History
Pali, an early-period language, has been traditionally used to preserve cultural heritage and religious teachings. The Ariyaka alphabet was invented by King Mongkut (Rama IV) of Siam (1804–1868) as an alternative script for Pali. Mongkut found the Khom Thai script, which was commonly used for Pali, to be too complex and sought to create a more accessible and Western-style script.
During mid-19th century religious reforms in the Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782–1932), Mongkut discouraged the use of Khom Thai in religious texts, arguing that its exclusivity falsely implied divine or magical significance. Instead, he ordered Buddhist monks to adopt the Thai script for recording the Tripiṭaka. In the 1830s and 40s, he introduced the Ariyaka script to facilitate printing rather than relying on traditional palm-leaf manuscripts.2
Mongkut established a printing press for the script at Bowonniwet Vihara Temple in Bangkok, where a limited number of texts were printed. The Ariyaka script, inspired by Greek and Mon-Burmese scripts, was designed to replace existing Pali transcription scripts such as Khom Thai and Tai Tham.3
The Pali alphabet, including the Ariyaka script, consists of 41 letters:
- 6 vowels
- 2 diphthongs
- 32 consonants
- 1 accessory nasal sound (niggahīta)
Consonants are further classified into 25 mutes, 6 semivowels, 1 sibilant, and 1 aspirant, with vowels divided into long and short forms.4
In modern times, computational research has been conducted on Ariyaka script recognition. A study by Neha Gautam (2015) proposed a PALI Alphabet Recognition System, which utilizes image processing techniques to digitize and identify Ariyaka characters for textual analysis.5
External links
Media related to Ariyaka script at Wikimedia Commons
References
"The Mon Origin of King Rama IV's Ariyaka Script" (PDF). University of Hamburg. 2021. https://www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/soa/aktuelles/21-04-23-hgt-ariyaka-script/hgt-online-shinnakrit.pdf ↩
Ghosh, Lipi (2017). India-Thailand Cultural Interactions: Glimpses from the Past to Present. Springer. ↩
Crosby, Kate; Kyaw, Pyi Phyo (2022-10-19). "Practices of Protection in the Pali World". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.764. Retrieved 2023-03-01. https://oxfordre.com/religion/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-764 ↩
Ray, Himanshu Prabha (2019-01-25), "Archaeology of Buddhism in Asia", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.214, ISBN 978-0-19-027772-7, retrieved 2023-03-01 978-0-19-027772-7 ↩
Gautam, Neha (December 2015). Ariyaka: A PALI Alphabet Recognition Script. 2015 International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Communication Networks (CICN). doi:10.1109/CICN.2015.65. /wiki/Doi_(identifier) ↩