Learn Santali: Santali alphabet chart and letters
Santali is the language of the Santal people of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Assam. Its own script, Ol Chiki, was created in 1925 by Pandit Raghunath Murmu of Mayurbhanj, Odisha. Unlike the other Indian scripts it has no vowel signs: every vowel is a letter of its own, written in line like English.
Santali vowels
| Santali | Written in English | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| ᱚ | o (ɔ) | 'o' as in 'hot' |
| ᱟ | a | 'a' as in 'father' |
| ᱤ | i | 'ee' as in 'feet' |
| ᱩ | u | 'oo' as in 'pool' |
| ᱮ | e | 'e' as in 'they' |
| ᱳ | o | 'o' as in 'go' |
The Ol Chiki alphabet
- ᱚɔ
- ᱛt
- ᱜg
- ᱝng
- ᱞl
- ᱟa
- ᱠk
- ᱡj
- ᱢm
- ᱣw
- ᱤi
- ᱥs
- ᱦh
- ᱧny
- ᱨr
- ᱩu
- ᱪch
- ᱫd
- ᱬṇ
- ᱭy
- ᱮe
- ᱯp
- ᱰḍ
- ᱱn
- ᱲṛ
- ᱳo
- ᱴṭ
- ᱵb
- ᱶv
- ᱷh (with a letter)
Ol Chiki has 30 letters in six rows of five; each row begins with a vowel. Words are spelled letter by letter, as in English. The last letter adds a breath to the one before it: ᱠᱷ is 'kh'. A small mark over a vowel makes it nasal.
Numbers
- ᱐0
- ᱑1
- ᱒2
- ᱓3
- ᱔4
- ᱕5
- ᱖6
- ᱗7
- ᱘8
- ᱙9
Everyday Santali words
- ᱡᱚᱦᱟᱨjohārHello (a respectful greeting)
- ᱥᱟᱨᱦᱟᱣsārhāwThank you
- ᱦᱮᱸ / ᱵᱟᱝhẽ / bāṅYes / no
- ᱫᱟᱜdāk'Water
- ᱫᱟᱠᱟdākāCooked rice, a meal
- ᱟᱛᱩātuVillage
- ᱚᱞ ᱪᱤᱠᱤol chikiWriting letters: the script's own name
About Santali
Santali is one of the 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India and an official language of Jharkhand and West Bengal. The 2011 Census counted 73.7 lakh people in India whose mother tongue it is. It is written in Ol Chiki. It was added to the Eighth Schedule in 2003.
Links
To go further: Bharatavani, the portal of India's languages run by the Central Institute of Indian Languages, has dictionaries, primers and books in Santali.
- Sahitya Akademi: India's national academy of letters (Ministry of Culture): books, translations and the yearly awards in Santali and the other languages of India
Sources: Census of India 2011, Language (Paper 1 of 2018), speakers of the scheduled languages; the Constitution of India, Eighth Schedule.