ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 N4034

L2/11-212R2
2011-11-05

Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646

Anshuman Pandey
Department of History
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.
pandey@[Link]

November 5, 2011

1 Introduction
This is a proposal to encode the Modi script in the Universal Character Set (ISO/IEC 10646). It replaces the
following documents:

• L2/09-249R “Preliminary Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646”

• N3780 L2/10-084 “Revised Code Chart and Names List for the Modi Script”

2 Background
Modi (मोडी,  moḍī ) is a Brahmi-based script used mainly for writing Marathi (ISO 639-3: mar), an Indo-
Aryan language spoken in western and central India, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. Modi was
also used for writing various other regional languages such as Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, Konkani, Persian,
Tamil, and Telugu. According to an old legend, the Modi script was brought to India from Sri Lanka by
Hemādrī Pan ̣d ̣it, known also as Hemād ̣pant, who was the chief minister of Rāmacandra (r. 1271–1309),
the last king of the Yadava dynasty. Another tradition credits the creation of the script to Bāḷājī Avajī,
the secretary of state to the Maratha king Shivaji Raje Bhonsle (r. 1642–1680), also known as Chhatrapati
Shivaji Maharaj. While the veracity of such accounts are difficult to ascertain, it is clear that Modi derives
from the Nagari family of scripts and is a modification of the Nagari model intended for continous writing.
More historically, Modi emerged as an administrative writing system in the 16th century before the rise of
the Maratha dynasties. It was adopted by the Marathas as an official script beginning in the 17th century
and it was used in such a capacity in Maharashtra until the middle of the 20th century. In the 1950s the
use of Modi was formally discontinued and the Devanagari script, known as ‘Balbodh’, was promoted as
the standard writing system for Marathi. A revival of Modi has occurred over the past decade and its user
community continues to grow.

There are thousands of Modi documents preserved in South Asia and Europe. The majority of these are in
various archives in Maharashtra, while smaller collections are kept in Denmark and other countries, owing
to the presence of these Europeans in Tanjore, Pondicherry, and other regions in South Asia through the
19th century. The earliest extant Modi document is dated to the early 17th century. While the majority of
Modi documents are official letters, land records, and other administrative documents, the script was also

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

used in education, journalism, and other routine activities before the 1950s. Printing in Modi began in the
early 19th century after Charles Wilkins cut the first metal fonts for the script in Calcutta (see figures 36 and
37). Newspapers were published in Modi (see figure 38); primers were produced for teaching the script in
schools (see figure 30); and various personal papers and diaries were kept in the script.

At present, Modi users regularly publish books and magazines in the script (see figure 39). Several in-
stitutions now offer tutorials for learning Modi, which range from weekend workshops organized by the
Maharashtra State Department of Archives (see Daily News and Analysis 2011) to formal courses offered by
Bharat Itihas Samshodhak Mandal (BISM) in Pune. Some colleges also offer certifications in Modi, which
are recognized by the Government of Maharashtra. The revival of Modi runs parallel to a growing need for
Modi experts to catalogue and manage the vast archives of Modi documnents at BISM and other locations.
The Government of India has allocated funds for the cataloguing of these archives, which is being done by
teams recently trained as Modi experts (see Times of India 2011).

Modi users have developed support for using the script on computers, mainly in the form of digitized fonts.
But given the lack of a character-encoding standard for the script, users these fonts are based upon legacy
encodings or are mapped to Unicode blocks such as Devanagari. Electronic materials are produced as images
or in Portable Document Format (PDF). But, these solutions do not allow for the representation of Modi in
plain text. The lack of a Unicode standard for Modi impedes its use in basic computing activities, such
as writing e-mails, creating websites, and in digital publishing, as well as in larger scale efforts such as
localization and internationalization. An encoding for Modi in the UCS will permit its representation in
plain text, which will meet the needs of the growing Modi user community. It will also provide a standard
foundation upon which the community may develop new resources for the script.

2.1 Relationship to Devanagari

Although Modi is based upon the same model as Devanagari, it differs considerably from the latter in terms
of letterforms, rendering behaviors, and orthography. A comparison of the two scripts is shown in figure
3 and 4. The shapes of some consonants, vowels, and vowel signs are similar. The actual differences are
visible in the behaviors of these characters in certain environments, such as consonant-vowel combinations
and in consonant conjuncts, that are standard features of Modi orthography. Proper representation of Modi
in plain-text requires the preservation of its distinct rendering behaviors. This can only be accomplished at
the character level, through character content that is independent of font changes or other formatting.

3 Proposal Details

3.1 Script Name and Allocation

The characters are proposed for encoding in a new script block to be named ‘Modi’.

3.2 Allocation

The block is allocated to the Supplementary Multilingual Plane (SMP) at the range U+11600..1165F.

3.3 Character Repertoire

A total of 79 characters is required to encode a basic character set for Modi. The character names follow the
UCS convention for Indic scripts. The proposed code chart and names list are shown in figures 1 and 2.

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

3.4 Font

The Modi font used in this document was designed by the proposal author. The letterforms are inspired by
the Chitnisi style of Modi used during the Peshve era.

3.5 Encoding Principles

The proposed encoding for Modi seeks to represent the script in plain text. It is understood that Modi is
a highly stylistic and cursive script. The proposed Modi glyphs shown in the code chart are an attempt to
represent the basic graphical structure of Modi letters, as is done in traditional bārākhaḍī, or charts showing
the consonant letters written with each vowel sign. The joining features and other stylistic elements of the
script should be considered typographic matters and managed through the design of fonts and other features
at the presentation level.

4 Writing System Details

4.1 Structure

The general structure (phonetic order, mātrā reordering, use of virāma, etc.) of Modi is similar to that of
Devanagari. Several consonant-vowel combinations are written as ligatures. Consonant clusters are rep-
resented as conjuncts. Some consonants have special behaviors when they occur in certain environments.
These are described below.

4.2 Styles

There are several styles of Modi. The earliest is the ‘proto-Modi’ of the 12th century, known as Adyakalin
आ कालीन. A distinct Modi form emerges during the 13th century and is known as Yadavakalin यादव कालीन.
The next stage of development is the Bahamanikalin बहमनी कालीन of the 14th–16th century, followed by the
Shivakalin िशव कालीन of the 17th century. The well-known Chitnisi form develops during this period. In the
18th century, various Modi styles began to proliferate. This era is known as Peshvekalin पे े कालीन, which
lasted until 1818. The distinct styles of Modi used during this period are known as Chitnisi, Bilavalkari,
Mahadevapanti, and Ranadi. The final stage of Modi is associated with English rule and is called Anglakalin
आंगल कालीन. This form were used from 1818 until 1952.

Four of the most well-known historical forms are Bahamani (figure 26), Chitnisi (figure 27), Peshve (figure
28), and Anglakal (figure 29). Another style of Modi was used in the primary school books produced during
the 19th and 20th centuries (figures 30 and 31). This form was not written in the typical cursive style, a
feature that was consciously avoided in order to ensure legibility.

4.3 Virāma

The Modi ◌𑘿  is identical in function to the corresponding character in other Indic scripts. The Marathi
name for this sign is halant.

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4.4 Vowels

There are 14 vowel letters:

𑘀  𑘄  𑘈   𑘌 
𑘁  𑘅  𑘉   𑘍 
𑘂  𑘆   𑘊 
𑘃  𑘇   𑘋 

Generally, the distinction between regular and long forms of i and u are not preserved in Modi. The letter
𑘃  may represent both i and ī; 𑘄  may be used for writing both u and ū. However, both regular and long
forms are proposed for encoding because they are attested in script charts as distinct letters. The vocalic
letters are shown in Modi charts, but as is the case in other Indic scripts, their inclusion is more a matter of
tradition than usage. Modi 𑘆   may be transcribed as <𑘨 , ◌𑘲   > rī.

Some vowel letters may be represented using a sequence of a base vowel-letter and a combining vowel sign.
This practice is not recommended. The independent vowel letter is always to be used:

  

𑘊    𑘀    + ◌𑘹   
𑘋    𑘀    + ◌𑘺   
𑘌    𑘁    + ◌𑘹   
𑘍    𑘁    + ◌𑘺   

4.5 Vowel Signs

There are 13 combining vowel signs:

◌𑘰   ◌𑘴   ◌𑘸    ◌𑘼  

◌𑘱   ◌𑘵    ◌𑘹  
◌𑘲   ◌𑘶    ◌𑘺  
◌𑘳   ◌𑘷    ◌𑘻  

The descriptor ‘ ’ used in the names of these characters is abbreviated as ‘-’ throughout this
document, eg. ‘  ’ is referred to as ‘-’.

The sign ◌𑘲 - is used for writing both i and ī; ◌𑘳 - is used for both u and ū. As is the case for encoding the
independent letters  and , the dependent vowel signs corresponding to these letters are also proposed for
encoding because they are attested as distinct characters in script charts and other materials.

Certain consonant-vowel combinations are represented as ligatures. These are described in Section 4.7 and
illustrated in Table 1.

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4.6 Consonants

There are 34 consonant letters:

𑘎  𑘗  𑘠  𑘩 
𑘏  𑘘  𑘡  𑘪 
𑘐  𑘙  𑘢  𑘫 
𑘑  𑘚  𑘣  𑘬 
𑘒  𑘛  𑘤  𑘭 
𑘓  𑘜  𑘥  𑘮 
𑘔  𑘝  𑘦  𑘯 
𑘕  𑘞  𑘧 
𑘖  𑘟  𑘨 

Each consonant letter bears an inherent vowel, represented by /a/ (𑘀 ). This inherent vowel is silenced
using ◌𑘿 . When certain consonants appear in combination with certain dependent vowel signs, they
are normally represented as ligatures (see Section 4.7). Similarly, when certain consonant letters appear in
consonant conjuncts or in sequences with other consonants, there are distinct rules that govern their repre-
sentation (see Section 4.8).

4.7 Consonant-Vowel Combinations

Consonant-vowel (CV) combinations are represented by attaching vowel signs to a consonant letter or as
ligatures.

1. Method 1: CV as base letter + sign

(a) Combination with no shaping changes

Only 8 consonants are represented in all CV combinations with no change to glyph shapes: 𑘑
, 𑘒 , 𑘔 , 𑘛 , 𑘜 , 𑘫 , 𑘬 , 𑘯 .

(b) Combination with contextual form of consonant letter

There are 7 consonant letters that take a contextual form when they combine with certain vowel
signs: 𑘞 , 𑘟 , 𑘠 , 𑘢 , 𑘦 , 𑘧 , 𑘨 . The contextual forms never occur
independently and occur only in CV combinations with the vowel signs below:

regular contextual occurs with

 𑘞  ◌𑘰 -, ◌𑘳 -, ◌𑘴 -, ◌𑘻 -, ◌𑘼 -
 𑘟  ◌𑘰 -, ◌𑘻 -, ◌𑘼 -
 𑘠  ◌𑘰 -, ◌𑘴 -, ◌𑘻 -, ◌𑘼 -
 𑘢  ◌𑘰 -, ◌𑘳 -, ◌𑘴 -, ◌𑘻 -, ◌𑘼 -
 𑘦  ◌𑘳 -, ◌𑘴 -
 𑘧  ◌𑘳 -, ◌𑘴 -
 𑘨  ◌𑘰 -, ◌𑘳 -, ◌𑘴 -, ◌𑘻 -, ◌𑘼 -

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2. Method 2: CV as ligature

Certain CV combinations with ◌𑘰 -, ◌𑘳 -, ◌𑘴 -, ◌𑘻 -, ◌𑘼 - are represented as ligatures. Gen-
erally, the ligature consists of a reduced or half-form of the consonant letter and a contextual form of
the vowel sign. These ligatures are illustrated in table 1.

(a) Ligatures with -, -, -

When the vowel signs ◌𑘰 -, ◌𑘻 -, ◌𑘼 -, combine with certain consonant letters, the vertical
descender ◌𑘰 in the signs changes to the contextual form ◌. Ligatures formed with these vowel
signs can be divided into two classes based upon the structure of the consonant:

i. Consonants with looped right-hand terminals The final upwards stroke is directed down-
wards and looped once at the baseline before being joined to the loop of the contextual vowel
sign. This behavior is exhibited by the following letters: 𑘎 , 𑘖 , 𑘗 , 𑘣 . For
example, <𑘎 , ◌𑘰 -> → .

ii. Consonants without looped right-hand terminals The final upwards stroke is truncated and
directed rightwards in order to join to the contextual vowel sign: This behavior is exhibited
by the following letters: 𑘏 , 𑘕 , 𑘘 , 𑘙 , 𑘡 , 𑘤 , 𑘩 , 𑘧 . For example,
<𑘏 , ◌𑘰 -> → .

(b) Ligatures with -, -

The vowel signs ◌𑘳 - and ◌𑘴 - take the shapes ◌ and ◌, respectively, and are writing as
ligatures when combined with 𑘓 , 𑘖 , 𑘗 , 𑘠 , 𑘤 , 𑘩 , 𑘪 . For example,
<𑘓 , ◌𑘳 -> →  and <𑘓 , ◌𑘴 -> → .

(c) Atomic Ligatures

Certain CV combinations are written as atomic ligatures. For example, <𑘓 , ◌𑘰 -> → ;
<𑘭 , ◌𑘰 -> → ; <𑘭 , ◌𑘳 -> → . A complete list of such ligatures is given in table 1.

4.8 Consonant Conjuncts

Consonant clusters are generally represented as conjuncts. Conjuncts are formed by writing  after
each bare consonant in a cluster. Certain consonants have contextual shapes and rendering behaviors when
they are written as part of a conjunct.

1. Ligatures Two conjuncts are written as atomic ligatures: <𑘎 , ◌𑘿 , 𑘬 > →  ksa ; and
<𑘝 , ◌𑘿 , 𑘨 > →  tra.

2. Half Forms C1 is generally represented using a half-form. Some examples are:  𑘝 →  ;  𑘭 →

 ;  𑘦 →  ;  𑘟 → . The half-form of 𑘟  is used for writing 𑘡 <𑘟 , ◌𑘿 , 𑘡 >, the
Modi equivalent of Devanagari <ज , ◌𑘿 , ञ > jña.

3. Contextual Forms Some consonants have a contextual form when they appear in a cluster:  𑘞
→ ;  𑘢 → ;  𑘦 → ;  𑘢 → . For example,  <𑘝 , ◌𑘿 , 𑘧 >. The list of
consonants that exhibit this behavior is given in Section 4.7, item 1(b).

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

4.9 Forms of 

When written independently, the letter 𑘨  retains its basic shape:

When  combines with vowel signs, occurs in conjuncts, or in other environments, it is written using
contextual forms. These cases described below; see also figures 18–21.

1. Conjunct Initial When  appears as C1 in a consonant cluster it takes the following shapes:

(a) Repha The ◌ repha is produced as < 𑘨 , ◌𑘿 >:

(b) Eyelash RA The form ◌ eyelash RA is used in place of repha in certain contexts. In some
instances, it represents a palatalized /r/ and is transliterated as řa, as per ISO 15919. The eyelash
RA is used only in native Marathi words and occurs in clusters involving 𑘧  and 𑘮 . It is to
be produced using the sequence < 𑘨 , ◌𑘿 ,  >, as is the convention in Devanagari.

Compare ryā in the word asaṇāryā

with the rya in cāturya

The distinction between eyelash RA and repha is both morphological and phonemic. The eyelash
RA is used in place of repha at morphological boundaries, eg. the creation of a plural form by
addition of a suffix: compare 𑘟 daryā ‘valleys’ (𑘟 darī ’valley’ [f.s.] +  yā [[Link]])
and 𑘟 daryā ‘ocean’. It is also used with inflectional suffixes: compare 𑘁𑘭 ācāryās ‘to
the cook’ (𑘁 ācārī ‘cook’ + 𑘀𑘭 -as [[Link]]) and 𑘁𑘭 ācāryās ‘to the teacher’ (𑘁𑘧
ācārya ‘teacher’ + 𑘀𑘭 -as [[Link]]). The distinction is also phonemic: the syllabic division
of 𑘟 daryā ‘valleys’ is /[Link]ā/, that of 𑘟 daryā ‘ocean’ is /dar.yā/. The /ryā/ in 𑘟 is
pronounced with a palatalized /r/, which is represented by the eyelash RA.

Additionally, in prosody, as Madhav Deshpande (2011, private correspondence) explains, the

repha in a non-Marathi -initial cluster turns the preceding short vowel into a guru ‘heavy’
syllable, while this change does not occur in a Marathi cluster. Accordingly, the first syllable of
𑘟 /[Link]ā/ is laghu ‘light’, while the first syllable of 𑘟 /dar.yā/ is guru ‘heavy’.

These features of eyelash RA suggest that it may be encoded as an independent character, distinct
from 𑘨 ; see Muller 2004 for additional justification for encoding the character separately in
Devanagari. However, an *  character is not proposed for independent encoding in
Modi for the following reasons:

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

i. The ◌ eyelash RA is a half-form of a letter that does not exist. Hypothetically, it could be
considered a half-form of , a contextual form of  that is used in certain consonant-vowel
ligatures (see Section 4.7). Its graphical structure supports this claim: <, ◌𑘿 > →
◌. However, this  form is never written independently.

ii. It is unclear how an *  would be used in writing a conjunct. Would it be treated
as a combining sign or would it be treated as a letter that would be followed by ?

iii. The writing of eyelash RA using   is an established convention in Devanagari. While
precedent may not offer the most suitable rationale for retaining a particular implementation,
especially when there are reasonable grounds for a different approach, in this case it will be
beneficial to users of Modi, who are Marathi speakers and existing users of Devanagari
familiar with the representation of eyelash RA.

It is recommended that the encoded representation of eyelash RA in Modi be identical to that in

Devanagari: < 𑘨 , ◌𑘿 ,  >.

2. Conjunct Non-Initial When 𑘨  is a non-initial element in a conjunct, it is represented in the

following ways. The encoded representation of all these forms is <C, ◌𑘿 , >. Shaping and
glyph substitutions are managed in the font.

(a) Rakār The subjoined form ◌ rakār. For instance pra:

(b) Vattu The subjoined form ◌ vattu. For instance s ̣tra:

̣

(c) Special ligatures Some consonant clusters with  are represented as distinct ligatures. The
most common of these is the conjunct <, , > tra:

3. Word Level The form of RA is also influenced at the word level depending upon the characters in
the preceding syllable. The forms described below are to be managed in the font using substitutions.

(a) 𑘎  Sequences of <, > are represented using distinct ligatures: As shown below, the
sequence <, > kara is written using the ligature :

Contrast kara with <, , > kra:

The sequence <, -, > kāra is written as the ligature :

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Vowel signs that modify  in such ligatures are written normally, eg. <, , -> karā:

(b) 𑘭  When  occurs after  (<, >) it takes the shape ◌:

(c) Other letters In sequences with consonant letters that have a right descender,  takes the shape
◌. For instance <, > tara:

Contrast the above with <, , > tra:

(d) Rounded letters After rounded letters such as 𑘏 , 𑘠 , 𑘮 , the letter  takes the
shape ◌ . Shown below are the sequences <, > and <, -, >, respectively:

As indicated above, the change in the shape of  in these environments is not suppressed by
the presence of a vowel sign attached to the preceding consonant.

(e) Vowel signs When  follows vowels signs whose graphical structure contains vertical descen-
ders, such as -, -, and -, it takes the shape ◌. For example, observe its form in the word
<, -, , , -, > tāraṇora:

When it occurs after -, it attaches to the bottom of the vowel sign. The word jahāgīrī below
contains the sequence <-, , ->:

When  occurs after the vowel sign -, the two characters form the ligature ◌. The sequence
<, -, > pura appears below:

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Vowel signs that modify  in this ligature are written in the normal practice. For instance, <,
-, , -> pure:

(f) Punctuation When written after  or   in certain environments,  is writ-
ten as ◌ and attached to the terminal of the . See Section 4.12 for additional details.

4.9.1 Nasalization

Nasalization is indicated using ◌𑘽 .

4.10 Ruled Lines and Headstrokes

Several manuscripts and books show Modi with a head-line similar to that of Devanagari. The line is not a
headstroke, but a typographic device. In general practice, lines are drawn upon a page prior to writing. The
text is then written with the Modi letters hanging from the line. In some cases, lines are used in Modi text
for emphasis, titling, or sectioning.

The specimen below shows the indiscriminate use of ruled lines. The text is written upon ruled lines, but
numbers are written freely, except for the last value, which is a total of the preceding figures:

Although the line is not part of a character’s graphical structure it was incorporated into the design of glyphs
for the first Modi metal fonts. This was likely an attempt to represent the appearance of hand-written Modi
documents. The practice of designing Modi glyphs with headstrokes continues in digital typography.

If there is a requirement to represent Modi without the headstroke, font developers should produce sets of
Modi fonts with head-strokes and without. This will facilitate the representation of Modi text that is not
written under ruled lines.

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

4.11 Word and Section Boundaries

Traditionally, word boundaries are generally not marked in Modi. This is on account of Modi being an ad-
ministrative script, which is characterized by the practice of rapid writing without lifting the pen. Paragraph
and other section boundaries are indicated in some Modi documents through the use of whitespace. Modern
practice uses spaces and various punctuation conventions, including  and Western marks.

Spacing in a typical Modi document looks like:

The practice of marking such boundaries depended upon the scribe or the occasion. The following specimen
is written with word-spacing; it is not known if spacing was introduced intentionally, perhaps in order to
enhance legibility:

The manner of marking word boundaries changes between printed and written Modi. In some printed books,
word and sentence boundaries are marked. In the specimen below, word boundaries are indicated with spaces
and the ends of sentences are marked using a period:

4.12 Punctuation

Modi books printed by the American Tract Society use Latin punctuation, such as comma and semi-colons:

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

More commonly used are the 𑙁  and 𑙂  .

These characters exhibit special behavior in Modi. For example, in the figure below the sequence <
, > results in the ligation of the two characters using a contextual form of :

The usage of double daṇdạ̄ in such cases requires that distinctive daṇdạ̄ -s be encoded for Modi. Therefore,
the Modi 𑙁  and 𑙂   are proposed for independent encoding and disunification from the
corresponding Devanagari characters on account of the special behavior required of these characters. The
ligating behavior (eg. <𑙂  , 𑘨 > → ) is to be handled at the font level.

4.13 Abbreviations

Abbreviations are indicated using the 𑙃  :

4.14 Various Signs

1. ◌𑙀  This sign is used for transcribing sounds used in English names and loanwords.

2. ◌𑘾  This sign represents an allophone of 𑘨  or 𑘭  at word-final position in Sanskrit

orthography.

4.15 Special Signs

Several special signs are used in Modi documents for invocations. The Devanagari ी śrī is written at the
top of letters and other correspondence. There are also several Modi-specific signs, such as  īṃ . Some

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

of these signs are shown in figures 23 and 24. Additional research is required in order to determine the
meaning, usage, and suitablility of encoding these characters. Of these, only the following character is
currently proposed for encoding.

1. 𑙄  This sign is written as an invocation in several Modi documents. It is derived from the
Arabic ‫ هوا‬huva.

4.16 Digits

Modi has a full set of decimal digits: 𑙐 , 𑙑 , 𑙒 , 𑙓 , 𑙔 , 𑙕 , 𑙖 , 𑙗 , 𑙘
, 𑙙 .

4.17 Number Forms and Unit Marks

Several number forms and unit marks are used for writing Modi. The majority of these are to be represented
using characters already encoded in the “Common Indic Number Forms” block (U+A830 .. U+A83F):1

1. Currency signs Currency values are written using ꠸ + A838    .

2. Fraction signs Basic fraction signs used in Modi are identical to those used in other northern Indic
scripts. The signs are part of a base-16 system:

꠰ + A830     

꠱ + A831     
꠲ + A832     
꠳ + A833     
꠴ + A834     
꠵ + A835     

The absence of intermediate units is indicated by the ꠷ + A837    ,
which is called आळी āḷī or अळी āḷī in Marathi.

The ꠶ + A836     is used for representing ānnā values.

3. Other signs There are other number forms in Modi documents that are not yet encoded in the UCS.
One of these is ‘÷’, which appears to be associated with fraction notation:

1
See Pandey 2007 for detailed descriptions of these characters.

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

The following figure shows the use of ꠷     as well as ‘÷’:

The Modi ‘÷’ is not currently proposed for encoding. Additional research is required in order to
determine its meaning.

4.18 Collation

The primary collating order for Modi is as follows:

𑘀  < 𑘁  < 𑘂  < 𑘃  < 𑘄  < 𑘅  < 𑘆   < 𑘇   <
𑘈   < 𑘉   < 𑘊  < 𑘋  < 𑘌  < 𑘍  < 𑘎  < 𑘏  <
𑘐  < 𑘑  < 𑘒  < 𑘓  < 𑘔  < 𑘕  < 𑘖  < 𑘗  < 𑘘  <
𑘙  < 𑘚  < 𑘛  < 𑘜  < 𑘝  < 𑘞  < 𑘟  < 𑘠  <
𑘡  < 𑘢  < 𑘣  < 𑘤  < 𑘥  < 𑘦  < 𑘧  < 𑘨  < 𑘩  <
𑘪  < 𑘫  < 𑘬  < 𑘭  < 𑘮  < 𑘯  < ◌𑘰   < ◌𑘱   <
◌𑘲   < ◌𑘳   < ◌𑘴   < ◌𑘵    < ◌𑘶    <
◌𑘷    < ◌𑘸    < ◌𑘹   < ◌𑘺   < ◌𑘻   <
◌𑘼  

The following characters have secondary weights: ◌𑘽 , ◌𑘾 , ◌𑘿 , ◌𑙀 .

5 Character Data

5.1 Character Properties

The properties for Modi characters in the Unicode Character Database format are:
11600;MODI LETTER A;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;

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11601;MODI LETTER AA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;

11602;MODI LETTER I;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11603;MODI LETTER II;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11604;MODI LETTER U;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11605;MODI LETTER UU;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11606;MODI LETTER VOCALIC R;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11607;MODI LETTER VOCALIC RR;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11608;MODI LETTER VOCALIC L;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11609;MODI LETTER VOCALIC LL;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1160A;MODI LETTER E;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1160B;MODI LETTER AI;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1160C;MODI LETTER O;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1160D;MODI LETTER AU;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1160E;MODI LETTER KA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1160F;MODI LETTER KHA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11610;MODI LETTER GA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11611;MODI LETTER GHA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11612;MODI LETTER NGA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11613;MODI LETTER CA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11614;MODI LETTER CHA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11615;MODI LETTER JA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11616;MODI LETTER JHA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11617;MODI LETTER NYA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11618;MODI LETTER TTA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11619;MODI LETTER TTHA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1161A;MODI LETTER DDA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1161B;MODI LETTER DDHA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1161C;MODI LETTER NNA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1161D;MODI LETTER TA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1161E;MODI LETTER THA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1161F;MODI LETTER DA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11620;MODI LETTER DHA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11621;MODI LETTER NA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11622;MODI LETTER PA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11623;MODI LETTER PHA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11624;MODI LETTER BA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11625;MODI LETTER BHA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11626;MODI LETTER MA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11627;MODI LETTER YA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11628;MODI LETTER RA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11629;MODI LETTER LA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1162A;MODI LETTER VA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1162B;MODI LETTER SHA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1162C;MODI LETTER SSA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1162D;MODI LETTER SA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1162E;MODI LETTER HA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1162F;MODI LETTER LLA;Lo;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11630;MODI VOWEL SIGN AA;Mc;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11631;MODI VOWEL SIGN I;Mc;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11632;MODI VOWEL SIGN II;Mc;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11633;MODI VOWEL SIGN U;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
11634;MODI VOWEL SIGN UU;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
11635;MODI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC R;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
11636;MODI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC RR;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
11637;MODI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC L;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
11638;MODI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC LL;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
11639;MODI VOWEL SIGN E;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
1163A;MODI VOWEL SIGN AI;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
1163B;MODI VOWEL SIGN O;Mc;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1163C;MODI VOWEL SIGN AU;Mc;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
1163D;MODI SIGN ANUSVARA;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;

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1163E;MODI SIGN VISARGA;Mc;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;

1163F;MODI SIGN VIRAMA;Mn;9;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11640;MODI SIGN ARDHACANDRA;Mn;0;NSM;;;;;N;;;;;
11641;MODI DANDA;Po;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11642;MODI DOUBLE DANDA;Po;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11643;MODI ABBREVIATION SIGN;Po;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11644;MODI SIGN HUVA;So;0;L;;;;;N;;;;;
11650;MODI DIGIT ZERO;Nd;0;L;;0;0;0;N;;;;;
11651;MODI DIGIT ONE;Nd;0;L;;1;1;1;N;;;;;
11652;MODI DIGIT TWO;Nd;0;L;;2;2;2;N;;;;;
11653;MODI DIGIT THREE;Nd;0;L;;3;3;3;N;;;;;
11654;MODI DIGIT FOUR;Nd;0;L;;4;4;4;N;;;;;
11655;MODI DIGIT FIVE;Nd;0;L;;5;5;5;N;;;;;
11656;MODI DIGIT SIX;Nd;0;L;;6;6;6;N;;;;;
11657;MODI DIGIT SEVEN;Nd;0;L;;7;7;7;N;;;;;
11658;MODI DIGIT EIGHT;Nd;0;L;;8;8;8;N;;;;;
11659;MODI DIGIT NINE;Nd;0;L;;9;9;9;N;;;;;

5.2 Linebreaking

Linebreaking properties of Modi characters given in the data format of [Link]:

11600..1162F; AL # LETTER A .. LETTER LLA
11630..11640; CM # SIGN AA .. SIGN ARDHACANDRA
11641..11642; BA # DANDA .. DOUBLE DANDA
11643; BA # ABBREVIATION SIGN
11644; AL # SIGN HUVA
11650..11659; NU # DIGIT ZERO .. DIGIT NINE

5.3 Syllabic Categories

Syllabic categories given in the data format of [Link]:

# Indic_Syllabic_Category=Bindu
1163D ; Bindu # Mn SIGN ANUSVARA

# Indic_Syllabic_Category=Visarga
1163E ; Visarga # Mc SIGN VISARGA

# Indic_Syllabic_Category=Virama
1163F ; Virama # Mn SIGN VIRAMA

# Indic_Syllabic_Category=Vowel_Independent
11600..1160D ; Vowel_Independent # Lo [14] LETTER A .. LETTER AU

# Indic_Syllabic_Category=Vowel_Dependent
11630..11632 ; Vowel_Dependent # Mc [3] VOWEL SIGN AA .. VOWEL SIGN II
11633..1163A ; Vowel_Dependent # Mn [8] VOWEL SIGN U .. VOWEL SIGN AI
1163B..1163C ; Vowel_Dependent # Mc [2] VOWEL SIGN O .. VOWEL SIGN AU

# Indic_Syllabic_Category=Consonant
1160E..1162F ; Consonant # Lo [34] LETTER KA .. LETTER LLA

5.4 Matra Categories

Matra categories given in the data format of [Link]:

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

# Indic_Matra_Category=Right
11630 ; Right # Mc VOWEL SIGN AA
11632 ; Right # Mc VOWEL SIGN II
1163B..1163C ; Right # Mc [2] VOWEL SIGN O .. VOWEL SIGN AU

# Indic_Matra_Category=Left
11631 ; Left # Mc VOWEL SIGN I

# Indic_Matra_Category=Top
11639..1163A ; Top # Mn [2] VOWEL SIGN E .. VOWEL SIGN AI

# Indic_Matra_Category=Bottom
11633..11638 ; Bottom # Mn [6] VOWEL SIGN U .. VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC LL
1163F ; Bottom # Mn SIGN VIRAMA

5.5 ‘Confusable’ Characters

Below is a list of Modi characters that may resemble others encoded in the UCS:
11608 MODI LETTER VOCALIC L ; 090C DEVANAGARI LETTER VOCALIC L
11609 MODI LETTER VOCALIC LL ; 0961 DEVANAGARI LETTER VOCALIC LL
11610 MODI LETTER GA ; 0917 DEVANAGARI LETTER GA
11611 MODI LETTER GHA ; 0918 DEVANAGARI LETTER GHA
11612 MODI LETTER NGA ; 0919 DEVANAGARI LETTER NGA
11614 MODI LETTER CHA ; 091B DEVANAGARI LETTER CHA
11616 MODI LETTER JHA ; 091D DEVANAGARI LETTER JHA
11617 MODI LETTER NYA ; 091E DEVANAGARI LETTER NYA
11625 MODI LETTER BHA ; 092D DEVANAGARI LETTER BHA
1162C MODI LETTER SSA ; 0937 DEVANAGARI LETTER SSA
1162F MODI LETTER LLA ; 0933 DEVANAGARI LETTER LLA
11631 MODI VOWEL SIGN I ; 0940 DEVANAGARI VOWEL SIGN II
11633 MODI VOWEL SIGN U ; 0941 DEVANAGARI VOWEL SIGN U
11634 MODI VOWEL SIGN UU ; 0942 DEVANAGARI VOWEL SIGN UU
11635 MODI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC R ; 0943 DEVANAGARI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC R
11636 MODI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC RR ; 0944 DEVANAGARI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC RR
11637 MODI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC L ; 0962 DEVANAGARI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC L
11638 MODI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC LL ; 0963 DEVANAGARI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC LL
11639 MODI VOWEL SIGN E ; 0947 DEVANAGARI VOWEL SIGN E
1163D MODI SIGN ANUSVARA ; 0902 DEVANAGARI SIGN ANUSVARA
1163E MODI SIGN VISARGA ; 0903 DEVANAGARI SIGN VISARGA
1163F MODI SIGN VIRAMA ; 094D DEVANAGARI SIGN VIRAMA
11643 MODI ABBREVIATION SIGN ; 0970 DEVANAGARI ABBREVIATION SIGN
11645 MODI SIGN HUVA ; 0644 ARABIC LETTER LAM
11650 MODI DIGIT ZERO ; 0966 DEVANAGARI DIGIT ZERO

Modi digits (U+11650..U+11659) may be considered ‘confusable’ with Devanagari digits (U+0966..U+096F).

6 References
American Tract Society. 1837. “First Book”. Bombay.

———. 1837. Yacavicara. Bombay.

Carey, William. 1810. A dictionary of the Mahratta language. Serampore: Serampore Missionary Press.

Daily News and Analysis. 2011. “With 4,000 followers, Modi script is going strong” (May 6, 2011). http://
[Link]/india/report_with-4000-followers-modi-script-is-going-strong_1540025

17
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Dīks ̣it, Moreśvar G. and V. G. Khobarekar. 1969. मराठे कालीन िस ची ह ता रयु प [Marāthekālīna
̣
prasiddha vyaktīṃ cī hastāks ̣arayukta patra]. पुरािभलेख िवभाग — ऐितहािसक काशन ॰ १. मुंबई: शासक य
म यवत मु णालय.

Faulmann, Carl. 1880. Das Buch der Schrift: Enthaltend die Schriftzeichen und Alphabete aller Zeiten
und aller Völker der Erdkreises. Zweite Vermehrte und verbesserte Auflage. Wein: Der Kaiserlich-
Königlichen Hof- und Staatsdruckerei.

Grierson, George A. 1905. The Linguistic Survey of India. Vol. VII. Indo-Aryan Family. Southern Group.
Specimens of the Marathi language. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing,
India.

Gupte, B. A. 1905. “The Modi Character”. Indian Antiquary, vol. XXXIV, p. 27–30.

Kulkarn ̣ī, Madhukar. 1999. अ र लेणी [Aks ̣ara leṇī ]. मरा ां या इितहासातील ओज वी प ांचा मोडी-मराठी
िल यंतर सं ह. Pun ̣e: Mānasanmāna Prakāśana.

Kunte, B. G. [ed]. 1987. Illustrative Modi Documents. Maharashtra State Archives, Government of Maha-
rashtra. Bombay: Government Central Press.

हा े, कृ णाजी [Mhātre, Kr ̣s ̣n ̣ājī]. 2009. मोडी िल यंतर कौश य (Moḍī Lipyaṃ tar Kauśalya). मुंबई: शील काशन.

Muller, Eric. 2004. “Devanagari Eyelash Ra”. [Link]

Naik, Bapurao S. 1971. Typography of Devanagari. 1st rev. ed. Vol. 1. Bombay: Directorate of Languages,
Government of Maharashtra.

Navalkar, Ganpatrao R. 1925. The Student’s Maráthí

̣ Grammar. 4th ed. Poona: Scottish Mission Press.

Ojhā, Gaurīśaṅkara Hīrācanda. 1971. भारितय ाचीन िलिपमाला [Bhāratīya prācīna lipimālā = The Palæog-
raphy of India]. Reprint of the rev. and enl. 2nd ed., 1918; first ed. published in 1894 under the title
Prācīna lipimālā. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal.

Pandey, Anshuman. 2007. “Proposal to Encode North Indic Number Forms in ISO/IEC 10646.” ISO/IEC
JTC1/SC2/WG2 N3367 L2/07-354. October 7, 2007. [Link]
[Link]

———. 2009. “Preliminary Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646.” L2/09-249R. http:
//[Link]/~pandey/[Link]

———. 2010. “Revised Code Chart and Names List for the Modi Script.” ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 N3780
L2/10-084. [Link]

पठवधन [Pathavardhana].
̣ nd.  𑘢𑘮𑘲𑘩𑘹𑘽 𑘝𑘎 (Moḍī Pahile Pustak) [= First Book for Modi]. पुण:े द ेय
परशुराम जोशी.

Ross, Fiona. 1999. The Printed Bengali Character and its Evolution. Richmond: Curzon.

Strandberg, Elisabeth [ed]. 1983. The Moḍī Documents from Tanjore in Danish Collections. Beiträge
zur Südasienforschung, Südasien-Institut, Universität Heidelberg, Band 81. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner
Verlag.

Times of India. 2011. “25 women help decipher Modi scripts” (March 9, 2011). [Link]
[Link]/2011-03-09/pune/28671782_1_modi-script-peshwa-era

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

7 Acknowledgments
This proposal owes a great deal to many individuals across the globe. Foremost, I would like to thank Rajesh
Khilari (Mumbai), an expert and teacher of Modi, for helping me to understand the intricacies of Modi. He
reviewed drafts of the proposal, gave feedback on the representative glyph shapes, provided specimens of
Modi documents, and explained the orthographic requirements for properly writing Modi. He also put me in
touch with various Modi experts, without whose feedback and advise, this proposal would not be complete.
I would also like to thank Suresh Pethe (Pune), for his diligence in acquiring images of Khabardar, the
first Modi newspaper, from Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal (BISM), and I express my gratitude to BISM
for providing access to the documents. Dhondopant Apte, Somesh Bartakke, Nikhil Bellarykar, Shirish
Bhagavat, Abhay Bhagwat, Sameer Ghate, Aanand Kharde, Dhananjay Mirashi, Bhushan Pathak, Venantius
J. Pinto, and several others provided comments on drafts of the proposal and the design of the Modi typeface.

I am grateful to Professor Madhav Deshpande (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) for his comments on
the proposal and for providing insight into the different forms of repha in Marathi orthography. I also thank
Lee Schlesinger (Ann Arbor) for providing a copy of Pathavardhana’s
̣ Moḍī Pahile Pustak.

This project was made possible in part by a grant from the United States National Endowment for the Hu-
manities, which funded the Universal Scripts Project (part of the Script Encoding Initiative at the University
of California, Berkeley). Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication
do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

19
11600 Modi 1165F
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

1160 1161 1162 1163 1164 1165

0 a 𑘐 𑘠 $𑘰 $ 𑙀 0
11600 11610 11620 11630 11640 11650

1 𑘁 𑘑 𑘡 $i । 1
11601 11611 11621 11631 11641 11651

2 i 𑘒 𑘢 $𑘲 । 2
11602 11612 11622 11632 11642 11652

3 𑘃 𑘓 𑘣 $u 𑙃 3
11603 11613 11623 11633 11643 11653

4 u 𑘔 𑘤 $𑘴 𑙄 4
11604 11614 11624 11634 11644 11654

5 𑘅 𑘕 𑘥 $r 5
11605 11615 11625 11635 11655

6 r 𑘖 𑘦 $𑘶 6
11606 11616 11626 11636 11656

7 𑘇 𑘗 𑘧 $l 7
11607 11617 11627 11637 11657

8 l 𑘘 𑘨 $ll 8
11608 11618 11628 11638 11658

9 ll 𑘙 𑘩 $e 9
11609 11619 11629 11639 11659

A e 𑘚 𑘪 $𑘺
1160A 1161A 1162A 1163A

B 𑘋 𑘛 𑘫 $o
1160B 1161B 1162B 1163B

C o 𑘜 𑘬 $𑘼
1160C 1161C 1162C 1163C

D 𑘍 𑘝 𑘭 $𑘽
1160D 1161D 1162D 1163D

E 𑘎 𑘞 𑘮 $𑘾
1160E 1161E 1162E 1163E

F 𑘏 𑘟 𑘯 $𑘿
1160F 1161F 1162F 1163F

Figure 1: Proposed code chart for Modi.

Printed using UniBook™ Date: 10-Nov-2011 1

([Link] 20
 11600
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646
Modi Anshuman Pandey
11659

Independent vowels 1163E $𑘾 MODI SIGN VISARGA

1163F $𑘿 MODI SIGN VIRAMA
11600 a MODI LETTER A
= halant
11601 𑘁 MODI LETTER AA
11640 $𑙀 MODI SIGN ARDHACANDRA
11602 i MODI LETTER I
11603 𑘃 MODI LETTER II • used for transcribing English
11604 u MODI LETTER U
11605 𑘅 MODI LETTER UU
Punctuation
11606 r MODI LETTER VOCALIC R 11641 । MODI DANDA
11607 𑘇 MODI LETTER VOCALIC RR 11642 । MODI DOUBLE DANDA
11608 l MODI LETTER VOCALIC L
11609 ll MODI LETTER VOCALIC LL Sign
1160A e MODI LETTER E 11643 𑙃 MODI ABBREVIATION SIGN
1160B 𑘋 MODI LETTER AI
1160C o MODI LETTER O Invocation sign
1160D 𑘍 MODI LETTER AU 11644 𑙄 MODI SIGN HUVA
Consonants Digits
1160E 𑘎 MODI LETTER KA 11650 0 MODI DIGIT ZERO
1160F 𑘏 MODI LETTER KHA 11651 1 MODI DIGIT ONE
11610 𑘐 MODI LETTER GA 11652 2 MODI DIGIT TWO
11611 𑘑 MODI LETTER GHA 11653 3 MODI DIGIT THREE
11612 𑘒 MODI LETTER NGA 11654 4 MODI DIGIT FOUR
11613 𑘓 MODI LETTER CA 11655 5 MODI DIGIT FIVE
11614 𑘔 MODI LETTER CHA 11656 6 MODI DIGIT SIX
11615 𑘕 MODI LETTER JA 11657 7 MODI DIGIT SEVEN
11616 𑘖 MODI LETTER JHA 11658 8 MODI DIGIT EIGHT
11617 𑘗 MODI LETTER NYA 11659 9 MODI DIGIT NINE
11618 𑘘 MODI LETTER TTA
11619 𑘙 MODI LETTER TTHA
1161A 𑘚 MODI LETTER DDA
1161B 𑘛 MODI LETTER DDHA
1161C 𑘜 MODI LETTER NNA
1161D 𑘝 MODI LETTER TA
1161E 𑘞 MODI LETTER THA
1161F 𑘟 MODI LETTER DA
11620 𑘠 MODI LETTER DHA
11621 𑘡 MODI LETTER NA
11622 𑘢 MODI LETTER PA
11623 𑘣 MODI LETTER PHA
11624 𑘤 MODI LETTER BA
11625 𑘥 MODI LETTER BHA
11626 𑘦 MODI LETTER MA
11627 𑘧 MODI LETTER YA
11628 𑘨 MODI LETTER RA
11629 𑘩 MODI LETTER LA
1162A 𑘪 MODI LETTER VA
1162B 𑘫 MODI LETTER SHA
1162C 𑘬 MODI LETTER SSA
1162D 𑘭 MODI LETTER SA
1162E 𑘮 MODI LETTER HA
1162F 𑘯 MODI LETTER LLA

Dependent vowel signs

11630 $𑘰 MODI VOWEL SIGN AA
11631 $i MODI VOWEL SIGN I
11632 $𑘲 MODI VOWEL SIGN II
11633 $u MODI VOWEL SIGN U
11634 $𑘴 MODI VOWEL SIGN UU
11635 $r MODI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC R
11636 $𑘶 MODI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC RR
11637 $l MODI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC L
11638 $ll MODI VOWEL SIGN VOCALIC LL
11639 $e MODI VOWEL SIGN E
1163A $𑘺 MODI VOWEL SIGN AI
1163B $o MODI VOWEL SIGN O
1163C $𑘼 MODI VOWEL SIGN AU

Various signs
1163D $𑘽 MODI SIGN ANUSVARA

Figure 2: Proposed names list for Modi.

Printed using UniBook™ 21Date: 10-Nov-2011 2
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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

        

 𑘎   ()   
 𑘏   ()  
 𑘐 
 𑘓     
 𑘕   ()  
 𑘖     
 𑘗     
 𑘘   
 𑘙   
 𑘚  
 𑘝  ()
 𑘞 𑘰   𑘻 𑘼
 𑘟 𑘰   𑘻 𑘼
 𑘠 𑘰   𑘻 𑘼
 𑘡   ()  
 𑘢 𑘰  () 𑘻 𑘼
 𑘣   ()  
 𑘤     
 𑘥   
 𑘦     
 𑘧   ()  
 𑘨 𑘰  () 𑘻 𑘼
 𑘩   ()    
 𑘪     
 𑘭     
 𑘮     

Table 1: Regular consonant-vowel combinations in Modi.

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

       

 A 𑘀  K 𑘎  d 𑘟  0 𑙐
 ; 𑘁  k 𑘏  Q 𑘠  1 𑙑
 e 𑘂  G 𑘐  N 𑘡  2 𑙒
 E 𑘃  g 𑘑  P 𑘢  3 𑙓
 w 𑘄  — 𑘒  F 𑘣  4 𑙔
 W 𑘅  C 𑘓  B 𑘤  5 𑙕
 — 𑘆  c 𑘔  b 𑘥  6 𑙖
 — 𑘇  J 𑘕  M 𑘦  7 𑙗
 — 𑘈  j 𑘖  Y 𑘧  8 𑙘
 — 𑘉  ¡ 𑘗  R 𑘨  9 𑙙
 Ao 𑘊  T 𑘘  L 𑘩
 AO 𑘋  z 𑘙  V 𑘪
 ;o 𑘌  D 𑘚  ] 𑘫
 ;O 𑘍  Z 𑘛  y 𑘬
 n 𑘜  S 𑘭
 t 𑘝  H 𑘮
 q 𑘞  l 𑘯
Table 2: Comparison of basic Modi characters in (‘’) the ‘Hemadree’ font by Somesh Bartakke
and (‘’) the font designed by Anshuman Pandey.

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 Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646

24
Figure 3: Comparison of consonant-vowel combinations in Modi and Devanagari (from Strandberg 1983: 32, 33).
Anshuman Pandey
 Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646

25
Figure 4: Comparison of consonant-vowel combinations in Modi and Devanagari (from Strandberg 1983: 34, 35).
Anshuman Pandey
 Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646

26
Figure 5: Comparison of consonant-vowel combinations in Modi and Devanagari (from Strandberg 1983: 30, 31).
Anshuman Pandey
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 6: Modi table (from Naik 1971: 130, 131).

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 7: Modi table (from Naik 1971: 132, 133).

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 8: Modi table (Naik 1971: 134).

Figure 9: Chart of Modi (from Ojhā 1999: 79).

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 10: Chart of Modi printed in metal types (from Navalkar 1925: 374).

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 11: Chart of Modi from the Linguistic Survey of India (from Grierson 1905: 20).

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 12: Chart of Modi from the Indian Antiquary (from Gupte 1905: 29).

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 13: Specimens of glyphs from a Modi metal font (from Faulmann 1880: 124).

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 14: Variant forms of consonant letters and consonant-vowel combinations (from Strandberg
1983: 36).

Figure 15: More variant forms of consonant-vowel combinations (from Strandberg 1983: 37).

34
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 16: Variant forms of consonant letters and consonant-vowel combinations. Courtesy of
Rajesh Khilari.

35
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 17: Modi letters and combinations that are graphically similar. Courtesy of Rajesh Khilari.

36
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 18: Description of the forms of 𑘨  (from Mhātre 2009: 25). Continued in figure 19.

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 19: Description of the forms of 𑘨  (from Mhātre 2009: 26). Continued in figure 20.

38
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 20: Description of the forms of 𑘨  (from Mhātre 2009: 27). Continued in figure 21.

39
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 21: Description of the forms of 𑘨  (from Mhātre 2009: 28).

40
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 22: Document showing the invocation sign 𑙄  (from Strandberg 1983: 192).

41
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 23: Modi signs used as invocations in correspondence. Examples of some signs are given
in figure 24.

42
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Variant form of 𑙄 

The invocation ī

The invocation īṃ

The invocation īṃ

The invocation īṃ

The invocation īṃ

Figure 24: Some invocations used in Modi documents.

43
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 25: Document showing Modi written upon ruled lines and in free form (from Dīks ̣it and
Khobarekar 1969: 209).

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 26: A letter written by Shahaji Raje Bhonsle in the Bahamani style of Modi.

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 27: A letter written in the Chitnisi style of Modi during the reign of Shivaji.

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 28: A letter written by Madhavrao in the Peshve style of Modi.

47
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 29: A letter written in the Anglakal style of Modi.

48
 Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646

49
Figure 30: Excerpt from a 20th century Modi school book (from Pathavardhana:
̣ 4–5).
Anshuman Pandey
 Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646

50
Anshuman Pandey

Figure 31: Excerpt from Yacavicara (from American Tract Society 1837: 18–19).
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 32: A letter from the office of Bājīrāva Ballāḷa Peśave, dated December 1721 (from Dīks ̣it
and Khobarekar 1969: 71–73). The Modi is written in the clear Peshve style.

51
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 33: A contemporary letter written in modern Modi. Courtesy of Rajesh Khilari.

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 Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646

53
Anshuman Pandey

Figure 34: Excerpts from Carey’s A dictionary of the Mahratta language (from Carey 1810: 1–2).
 Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646

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Figure 35: A Modi document from the Linguistic Survey of India showing Modi written with word spacing (from from Grierson 1905: 259–260).
Anshuman Pandey
Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 36: Proofs of Charles Wilkin’s Modi font (from Ross 1999: 29).

Figure 37: Specimen of Charles Wilkin’s Modi font (from Ross 1999: 29).

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 38: First page of the Khabardar, the first newspaper printed in Modi. Courtesy of Bharat
Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal (BISM) and Suresh Pethe.

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Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646 Anshuman Pandey

Figure 39: Cover of Modi Vaibhav, a monthly magazine published in Modi. Courtesy of Rajesh
Khilari.

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 ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 2/WG 2
PROPOSAL SUMMARY FORM TO ACCOMPANY SUBMISSIONS
1
FOR ADDITIONS TO THE REPERTOIRE OF ISO/IEC 10646
Please fill all the sections A, B and C below.
Please read Principles and Procedures Document (P & P) from [Link] for
guidelines and details before filling this form.
Please ensure you are using the latest Form from [Link]
See also [Link] for latest Roadmaps.
A. Administrative
1. Title: Proposal to Encode the Modi Script in ISO/IEC 10646
2. Requester's name: Script Encoding Initiative (SEI) / Anshuman Pandey <pandey@[Link]>
3. Requester type (Member body/Liaison/Individual contribution): Liaison contribution
4. Submission date: 2011-11-05
5. Requester's reference (if applicable):
6. Choose one of the following:
This is a complete proposal: Yes
(or) More information will be provided later:
B. Technical – General
1. Choose one of the following:
a. This proposal is for a new script (set of characters): Yes
Proposed name of script: Modi
b. The proposal is for addition of character(s) to an existing block:
Name of the existing block:
2. Number of characters in proposal: 79
3. Proposed category (select one from below - see section 2.2 of P&P document):
A-Contemporary X B.1-Specialized (small collection) B.2-Specialized (large collection)
C-Major extinct D-Attested extinct E-Minor extinct
F-Archaic Hieroglyphic or Ideographic G-Obscure or questionable usage symbols
4. Is a repertoire including character names provided? Yes
a. If YES, are the names in accordance with the “character naming guidelines”
in Annex L of P&P document? Yes
b. Are the character shapes attached in a legible form suitable for review? Yes
5. Fonts related:
a. Who will provide the appropriate computerized font to the Project Editor of 10646 for publishing the
standard?
Anshuman Pandey
b. Identify the party granting a license for use of the font by the editors (include address, e-mail, ftp-site, etc.):
Anshuman Pandey <pandey@[Link]>
6. References:
a. Are references (to other character sets, dictionaries, descriptive texts etc.) provided? Yes
b. Are published examples of use (such as samples from newspapers, magazines, or other sources)
of proposed characters attached? Yes
7. Special encoding issues:
Does the proposal address other aspects of character data processing (if applicable) such as input,
presentation, sorting, searching, indexing, transliteration etc. (if yes please enclose information)? Yes
See proposal for additional details
8. Additional Information:
Submitters are invited to provide any additional information about Properties of the proposed Character(s) or Script
that will assist in correct understanding of and correct linguistic processing of the proposed character(s) or script.
Examples of such properties are: Casing information, Numeric information, Currency information, Display behaviour
information such as line breaks, widths etc., Combining behaviour, Spacing behaviour, Directional behaviour, Default
Collation behaviour, relevance in Mark Up contexts, Compatibility equivalence and other Unicode normalization
related information. See the Unicode standard at [Link] for such information on other scripts. Also
see [Link] and associated Unicode Technical Reports for information
needed for consideration by the Unicode Technical Committee for inclusion in the Unicode Standard.

1
Form number: N3702-F (Original 1994-10-14; Revised 1995-01, 1995-04, 1996-04, 1996-08, 1999-03, 2001-05, 2001-09, 2003-11,
2005-01, 2005-09, 2005-10, 2007-03, 2008-05, 2009-11)
C. Technical - Justification
1. Has this proposal for addition of character(s) been submitted before? No
If YES explain
2. Has contact been made to members of the user community (for example: National Body,
user groups of the script or characters, other experts, etc.)? Yes
If YES, with whom? Rajesh Khilari <rajeshkhilari@[Link]>
Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh@[Link]>
If YES, available relevant documents: See citations in text of proposal
3. Information on the user community for the proposed characters (for example:
size, demographics, information technology use, or publishing use) is included? Yes
Reference: Marathi-speaking communities in India and elsewhere; institutions exist for the promotion
and use of Modi; historians, linguists, and other specialists in India and Europe. See text of
proposal for additional details.
4. The context of use for the proposed characters (type of use; common or rare) Common
Reference: Administrative documents from the Maratha period and from European countries with
former presence in Marathi-speaking regions of South Asia. Also, personal
correspondence and private documents of Marathi speakers See text of proposal for
additional details.
5. Are the proposed characters in current use by the user community? Yes
If YES, where? Reference: There is an active scholarly community, primarily in Maharashtra, India
and in parts of Europe, engaged in the study of Modi and documents
written in the script. See text of proposal for further details.
6. After giving due considerations to the principles in the P&P document must the proposed characters be entirely
in the BMP? No
If YES, is a rationale provided?
If YES, reference:
7. Should the proposed characters be kept together in a contiguous range (rather than being scattered)? Yes
8. Can any of the proposed characters be considered a presentation form of an existing
character or character sequence? No
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
If YES, reference:
9. Can any of the proposed characters be encoded using a composed character sequence of either
existing characters or other proposed characters? No
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
If YES, reference:
10. Can any of the proposed character(s) be considered to be similar (in appearance or function)
to an existing character? Yes
If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided? Yes
If YES, reference: See text of proposal.
11. Does the proposal include use of combining characters and/or use of composite sequences? Yes
If YES, is a rationale for such use provided? Yes
If YES, reference: Combining vowel signs; see text of proposal
Is a list of composite sequences and their corresponding glyph images (graphic symbols) provided?
If YES, reference:
12. Does the proposal contain characters with any special properties such as
control function or similar semantics? Yes
If YES, describe in detail (include attachment if necessary) Virama;
see text of proposal

13. Does the proposal contain any Ideographic compatibility character(s)? No

If YES, is the equivalent corresponding unified ideographic character(s) identified?
If YES, reference: