Chandas is a
Unicode
Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, ...
compatible
OpenType
OpenType is a format for scalable computer fonts. It was built on its predecessor TrueType, retaining TrueType's basic structure and adding many intricate data structures for prescribing typographic behavior. OpenType is a registered trademark ...
font for the
Devanagari
Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the a ...
script. The font is notable for containing a particularly extensive set of conjunct ligatures for
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...
and also supporting Vedic accents, which were unavailable in other Devanagari fonts when it was released. Though the font was designed primarily for writing Sanskrit, it may be used for all languages written in the Devanagari script, including
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...
,
Konkani,
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people
*Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece
See also
*
* ...
, and
Nepali
Nepali or Nepalese may refer to :
Concerning Nepal
* Anything of, from, or related to Nepal
* Nepali people, citizens of Nepal
* Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...
.
The font was developed and is maintained by Mihail Bayaryn, and is released under the
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end user
In product development, an end user (sometimes end-user) is a person who ultimately uses or is intended to ulti ...
.
Detail
The Chandas font "contains 4347 glyphs: 325 half-forms, 960 half-forms context-variations, 2743 ligature-signs."
The font is, therefore, useful for those who want to see old Sanskrit texts in their original form. "It is designed especially for Vedic and Classical Sanskrit but can also be used for Hindi, Nepali and other modern Indian languages. The font includes Vedic accents and many additional signs and provides maximal support for Devanagari script."
[
The Chandas font has glyphs in the Southern (]Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
) style of Devanagari script, which is the most commonly used today, but there is a companion font, Uttara Uttara, which means "north" in Sanskrit and many other South Asian languages, may refer to:
Places
*Uttara Export Processing Zone, Bangladesh
* Uttara, a suburb north of Dhaka, Bangladesh
*Uttara East Thana
*Uttara West Thana
*Uttaradit, a city in ...
which has glyphs that follow the old Northern or Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
style of Devanagari.
Format and license
The Chandas font is available in OpenType format using TrueType outlines. It is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public Licence.
It may be downloaded from th
SanskritWeb.net
site. The VOLT
The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference ( voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827).
D ...
project files containing the source of the OpenType lookups in the font are also available.
The font is included in several Linux distributions.
References
Related links
* Devanagari
Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the a ...
* Kiran fonts
Kiran ( mr, किरण) is a free Devanagari typeface and a non-Unicode clip font created by Kiran Bhave first released in 1999.
History
In 1999 Kiran Bhave could not find a suitable font for typing Marathi that was free after considerable se ...
* Kruti Dev
Kruti Dev (Devanagari: कृतिदेव) is Devanagari typeface and non-Unicode clip font typeface which uses the keyboard layout of Remington's typewriters. In north Indian states many public service commissions conduct their clerk, ...
* Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...
* Vedas
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...
External links
Chandas font
{{Free and open-source typography
Devanagari typefaces
Free software Unicode typefaces
Indic computing