Abhishek Avtans

Abhishek Avtans teaches Indic languages and linguistics at Leiden University (the Netherlands). He tweets at @avtansa.

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Thaana has characteristics of both an abugida (diacritic, virama / vowel-killer strokes) and a true alphabet (all vowels are written), with consonants derived from indigenous and Arabic numerals, and vowels derived from the vowel diacritics of the Arabic abjad. Its orthography is largely phonemic, and may be called an alphasyllabary. Thaana is perhaps the only script in Southasia where letters are derived from numerals. Photo: IMAGO / UIG

Language of the islanders in Southasia: Part 2

Abhishek Avtans

03 Jul 2023

Communal village meal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Indian Ocean, c1890. Artist: Gillot. Photo: Heritage Images / IMAGO

Languages of the islanders in Southasia: Part 1

Abhishek Avtans

14 Apr 2023

The President of India, Droupadi Murmu. September 2022, New Delhi, India. Photo: ZUMA Wire / IMAGO.

Beyond the binary

Abhishek Avtans

22 Nov 2022

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