Universal Phonetic Roman Script (UPRS)

Swachid K. Rangan

India is a vast country of more than a billion people. Over 300 languages are spoken. Less than 30 have written script and only 18 of them are recognized as official languages. Scripts vary. Their base, however, is Tamil and Devanagari of Sanskrit. These are the two ancient classical languages of India that have distinctively separate scripts. Barring English and Urdu, all others are indigenous languages. Their scripts are derived from either Devanagari or the Tamil script called vattezuththu (inscribed letters).

With the advent of the British rule, English has become the link language of India. Roman script is familiar to most of the literate class of people. There have been several attempts to devise a common script adopting the Roman script but they failed to gain any significant acceptance. Sentimental resistance apart, the innovations are a little too complicated for the lay learner to grasp. Phonetic codes are confined to the dictionaries. Invariably, names and words written in English are mispronounced. The newsreaders are a glaring example. Hindi speaking people cannot pronounce any South Indian name correctly and vice versa.

All the Indian languages are phonetic. The problem arises when the words and names are written in English and spoken or read out. English pronunciation for the Indians is total confusion. It takes time for a child to grasp the difference between put and but, especially when there is no explanation for the dual sound of the letter 'u'. The vowels A, E, I, O are also erratic in pronunciation. So also are the consonants C and G. It defies logic or reason. UPRS is designed to eliminate such variable pronunciation.

After examining all the efforts to evolve a common script, a simplified phonetic Roman script retaining the natural sound of the Latin alphabet has been devised. Broadly based on the principle 'one letter, one sound', it is easy to follow. UPRS uses only the existing letters in the standard computer keyboard. Capital letters and diacritical marks are avoided. However, two symbols ~hyphen for elongated vowels and the stress mark (`) to indicate the variation in the sound of some letters ~are used. In this article UPRS is made applicable to three dominant languages-- English, Sanskrit and Tamil. With minor changes or additions it can be applied to any language all over the world.

Natural sound of alphabet UPRS usage
Vowels
A `y- (as in Yale) a (at, other, up), `a (an, bank), a- (all, on)
E e- (eel) e (English), e- (easy)
I i (I) i (ice)
O o- (oh) o (one), o- (old)
U u- (use) `u (wood), u- (woo) yu (unite), yu- (unit)
`Y (additional vowel) `y (Edison), `y- (Yale)
OW ow (owl how)

Consonants
B be- (bee) b (bib) b- (beep)
C see c (cara`nam) c- (Ceasar) ch (church)
D de- (deep) d (did) d- deed)
F yf (effort) f (if, fifth)
G jee (gene) g ( gig) g- (geese)
H ych ha (hub, hob)
J jy- (jade) j (jet)
K ky- (Kate) k ( kick)
L yl (elm) l (lull) `l (fly)
M ym (emblem) m (mum)
N yn (envy) n (nun) `n (and)
P pe- (peel) p (peep)
Q kyu- (que) q (quick, queen)
R a-r (are) r (roar) `r (stressed r)
S ys (yes) s (sense)
T te- (tea) t (tut)
V ve- (veil) v (vow)
W dabe`lyu- ow (how)
X yks (x ray) x (six)
Y oy (why) y (yell, yale)
Z ze- (zebra). also ezad z (zigzag) `z (Jean in French)
'u' represents the fifth vowel in Indian languages where it is the beginning of a word and it becomes the attribute of consonants in other places. It gets its natural sound along with y (as in dyu- for due) in UPRS. To indicate that it is a vowel, the stress mark is prefixed (as in `uthsav). Similarly, the consonant 'y' also represents the seventh vowel where it is the beginning of a word. When it follows a vowel it represents the consonant Y as in 'boy' and an attribute of consonants in other places as in (dy- for day). That it is used as vowel is indicated as `y (`ymersan for Emerson).'c' represents a variation from 's' and 'ch' and is extensively used in Indian languages. e.g: sangam cara`nam gachcha-me. The aspirate 'h' when it follows a consonant the latter acquires a distinct sound such as bh (bharath), ch (check), dh (dhal, bandh), gh (ghost), kh (lakh), ph (phone), rh (rhyme) sh (she), th (thought), wh (what). In UPRs this characteristic is retained. '`z' as in the French jean is extensively used in Tamil and Malayalam.Examples: dhes es `y spyseman a-f unevarsal fonatek ro-man skr ept. (UPRS). ef et es tyu-sdy- heyar en endeya-, et es mandy- en amyreka- (If it's Tuesday here in India, it's Monday in America).janyuvare-, fybravare-, ma-rch, y-pral, my-, ju-n, ju-li, a-gast, syptymbar, a-kto-bar, no-vymbar, dezymbar. sandy-, mandy-, tyu-sdy-, vynsdy-, tharsdy-, fridy-, s`a-tardy- The chart that follows shows how UPRS is applicable to languages

Tamil

Vowels: There are twelve vowels in Tamil. They are:

a a- e e- `u `u- `y `y- i o o- ow

The consonants are 18:

k ch t th p `r ng nj `n n m n y r l v z `l

`r is a ligature of 'tr'. ng as in'ring' (g silent), nj 'range' (j silent), `n as in and (d silent), `l (fly)

ka ka- ke ke- ku ku- ky ky- ki ko ko- kow
nja nja- nje nje…
na na- ne ne- nu nu- ny ny- ni no no- now
ya ya- ye ye- yu yu- y y- yo yo- yow

A neuter 'ahk' is seldom used.

There are no letters in Tamil to denote soft letters such as B, D, G. Existing letters acquire soft or deep pronunciation according to the context they are used. Six more consonants are widely in use to denote Sanskrit script. They are:
j (January), c (cara`nam), sh (Shajehan), s (sa re ga ma), h (hari),
ksh (kshetram)

ja ja- je je- ju ju- jy jy- ji jo jo- jow

Examples:
akara mudhala `yzhuththylla-m a-dhe
bagavan mudha`rry- `ulagu
(A is the beginnbing of all letters. God is the beginning of the world)

a`rradhu pa`rrynel `u`rradhu ve-du
(Detachment results in liberation)

ka`nnan thennum pa`ndam ve`nnyy
(Krisha eats butter)
Sanskretham

Vowels: There are 15 vowels, 34 consonants and 9 other letters.

Vowels:

a, a-, e, e-, `u, `u-, ru, ru-, lu, y-, i, o-, ow, am, aha

Consonants:
ka, `ka, ga, `ga, nga
cha, `cha, ja, `ja, nja
ta, `ta, da, `da, `na
tha, `tha, dha, `dha, na
pa, `pa, ba, `ba, ma
ya, ra, la, va, `la
ca, sha, sa, ha

The others are joint letters or ligatures that have distinct characters in Sanskrit. UPRS represents them adequately.

Examples:

Thamez: ba-ratham, gangi, maha-thma- ga-ndhe, ma-tsy- tung
jay hendh, sre-, kowsalya-, lakshme, ce-thi, ra-man, cankaran, kreshnan,
balara-man, ke`resthu, alla-h

Samskretham: sarvy- lo-kah sukeno- `bavanthu
`barathaha, shre-, se-tha-, ra-maha, cankaraha, kreshna-, kresthuhu,
alla-h

UPRS Englesh a-lfabyt

y-, be-, se-, de-, e-, yf, je-, ych, i, jy-, ky-, yl, ym, yn, o-, pe- kyu-, a-r, ys, te- yu-, ve-, dabi`lu-, eks, oi, ze-

Sanskrit-Tamil-EnglishSamskretham-thamez-englesh

sathyamy-va jayathy- va-ymiy- vellum
Truth alone triumphs Tru-th alo-n triamfs

thvam pra-thaha kem pa`tase? ne- ka-liyel `ydhip padekkera-y?
What do you read in the morning? va-t du u- re-d en dha ma-rneng?

aham prathaha pusthakam pa`ta-me na-n ka-liyel puththagam padekkery-n
I read the book in the morning I re-d dha buk en dha ma-rneng

saha kam thathra pacyathe avan `ydhi angy- pa-rkkera-n?
What does he see there? va-t das he- se- dhy-r?

saha thathra gajam pacyanthe avan angy- y-niyip pa-rkkera-n
He sees the elephant there he- se-s dha ylafant dhy-r

sa- kam namathe ava`l ya-ri va`nanggugera-`l
To whom does she bow? tu hu-m das she- bo-?

sa- dhy-vam namathe ava`l dhy-vani va`nanggugera-`l
She bows to God she- bo-s tu Ga-d

ramaha sa-yam greham gachchathe ra-man ma-liyel ve-du selgera-n
Raman goes home in the evening r-aman go-s ho-m en dha e-vneng

UPRS is intended not as a substitute for the orthography of English. Nor does it seek to reform the language. Great men such as Bernard Shaw tried to do that without success. UPRS is devised primarily as a guide to correct pronunciation of names and words written in English, especially by the various linguistic groups in India and elsewhere who communicate with each other in that language. It will be useful for learning other languages without the need to sweat over the scripts. More importantly, UPRS can provide the script for the large number of spoken languages in Asia and Africa.
·
(The author, Kasturi Rangan is a resident of Chennai. India. Age 72. A journalist by profession he has been the New Delhi correspondent of The New York Times for over 20 years since 1961. He retired as Editor, Dinamani, a leading Tamil language newspaper in Tamil Nadu State He was the founder-editor of Kanaiyazhi, a renowned Tamil monthly devoted to social reform and literature. A follower of Mahatma Gandhi, he founded the Swachid Movement and has been the founder-secretary of Gandhi Mission. He is the founder president of People's Alliance for Good Governance.)

 

Banishing Poverty and Illiteracy: Instant Solutions

by Swachid K. Rangan

Corruption, Hunger, Ignorance and Disease are the major problems that confront the Nation today. The foursome defies easy solution. Although poverty and illiteracy have come down percentage-wise the number of poor and illiterate people are going up primarily because of unchecked population growth. Low productivity, ignorance and superstitions are the other causes. It is time people in power realize the urgency to act now to solve the problems. Ready solutions do exist.

Universal Education

Poverty and illiteracy are linked with each other. Mere literacy cannot remove the ignorance and superstition from the minds of the common people. Education up to the level of elementary school should be made Universal. Government initiatives have so far been insufficient and ineffective. To realize the goal, a new Gurukul scheme shifting the initiative to single-teacher schools in every street and hamlet needs to be implemented. The broad features are as follows:

1. To achieve the goal of universal education all the children under 15 years of age will be enrolled compulsorily in a neighborhood government school. Classes at the primary level can be held outside the school compound entrusted to qualified persons such as educated women and retired teachers. This would ease the space problem in schools as also save much expenditure in infrastructure.

2. A network of single teacher schools will be promoted by awarding incentives. There will be common syllabus based on the Gandhian concept of basic education. The government will hold a terminal examination with certificate of literacy, Primary School Leaving Certificate, issued to the successful students.

3. Under the system, the government's responsibility will be limited to conducting public examinations twice a year and allocating funds towards incentives to teachers at the rate of at least Rs 2,000 each for every student who passes out the government examination. Every teacher will be assigned not more than 20 students at a time. They can conduct the classes at their homes or nearby community halls or even in the open. They may be permitted to charge a nominal fee to pay for assistance, equipments and other facilities.

4. NGOs can be involved in this project to identify the eligible children and enroll them in schools and also recruit qualified teachers. Free food, books and notebooks can be distributed through the NGOs.

5. Education from sixth standard onwards up to the Secondary school will be in regular classrooms. Free education, mid-day meal and books and notebooks will be provided by the State in Government schools. The syllabus will be common for both government and private schools. A public examination will be conducted at the end of the 10th standard and a certificate, Secondary School Leaving Certificate, will be issued for the successful candidates making them eligible for most of the government jobs or higher education.

6. The medium of instruction will be mother tongue up to primary level, with English as additional subject. Hindi or one other Indian language will be optional. At secondary level the medium of instruction will be English for science subjects and the respective mother tongue for other subjects.

The new Gurukul scheme will cover all the children, including school dropouts and those engaged in child labour, making Universal Education possible in a very short time at relatively low cost. It will also open up thousands of job opportunities to the educated unemployed.

Linking of Rivers and National Waterways

A 560,000-crore grandiose scheme to link the National Rivers has been finalized and is waiting for execution for years. Thirty segments have been identified but the project is yet to take off in any significant manner. Much confusion prevails over the question of how to go about it. Lack of coordinated approach is evident from the endless discussions and debates resulting in costly delays. Shortcut ways to execute the projects effectively and speedily must be found. The mega project should be brought under the National Waterways scheme as a multipurpose project.

Interlinking Godavari and Cauvery

To begin with, linking Godavari in Andhra Pradesh and Cauvery in Tamil Nadu, which is already under the National Waterways project, should be executed. A navigable canal had been in use as a waterway for over one hundred years before it fell into disuse in the Seventies. The 420 km long Buckingham canal extends from Peddaganjam in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh to Marakkanam near Pondicherry. It passes through the city of Chennai where it serves as a 31 km long storm water drain. It is mostly silted up now.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Shipping has proposed to restore it as a navigable waterway and also extend it further up to Godavari. If it could be extended southwards up to the Cauvery delta region, a major part of interlinking of national rivers would have been completed.

As a means of transportation, the waterway is a viable, revenue-yielding proposition that can be executed in a short time at relatively low cost. It will also generate huge employment opportunities, mostly to the unskilled rural labour force. The surplus water from Godavari and Krishna can be utilized to remove the salinity of the water in the canal since it links several backwater bodies along the seacoast. A moat-cum-dyke structure will separate these water bodies and the sea.

Apart from raising groundwater levels in the coastal districts of Andhra and Tamil Nadu, the extensive Pulicat Lake near Chennai, through which the canal passes, will solve the drinking water problem of the city permanently. More importantly, the coastal canal will help reduce the impact of the invasion of the sea at the time of tsunamis and cyclones. It will also serve as a super drain whenever the city is inundated.

Linking of rivers in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu Government has its own project for linking the rivers in the State. This again should be patterned after the navigable canal in the east coast. The rain shadow districts along the Western Ghats could benefit from this project if the link canal is constructed at the foot of the hills. Eventually, the canal could be extended northward to link the rivers flowing down from the mountains in Karnataka, Andhra and Maharashtra as part of the National Waterways network.

Universal Education and Linking of rivers under the National Waterways offer instant solution to the problems of poverty, unemployment and low agricultural productivity. Funds have been allocated and viable schemes are drawn up. What is needed is collective political will of the rulers at the Centre and in the States.

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K. Kasturi Rangan, 99 Journalists Colony, Chennai 600 041 India. Phone 044 2451 1846
e-mail: swachid@swachid.com website:www.swachid.com