Ol Chiki is a Unicode block that encodes the characters of the Ol Chiki script, also known as the Santali script. The block spans the code point range U+1C50 to U+1C7F and was first introduced in Unicode Standard version 5.1, released in April 2008.
Purpose and Use
The Ol Chiki script was created in 1925 by Pandit Raghunath Murmu for writing the Santali language, spoken primarily in India’s states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Assam, as well as in Bangladesh and Nepal. The Unicode block provides digital representation for the script’s letters, digits, punctuation, and a few formatting characters, enabling consistent encoding, processing, and rendering of Santali text across computer systems and platforms.
Characters Included
The block contains 64 code points, of which the following categories are defined:
| Range | Type |
|---|---|
| U+1C50–U+1C7F | Ol Chiki alphabetic letters, digits, and punctuation |
Key character groups include:
- Consonants (e.g., U+1C50 ᱐, U+1C51 ᱑)
- Vowels (e.g., U+1C55 ᱕, U+1C56 ᱖)
- Signs for nasalisation, virama, and other orthographic functions
- Digits (U+1C50–U+1C59)
- Punctuation marks such as the Ol Chiki danda (U+1C78 ᱸ)
Encoding History
- Unicode 5.1 (2008) – Initial allocation of the block and inclusion of the core script characters.
- Subsequent releases have not added new characters to this block, as the original set was deemed sufficient for the script’s conventional orthography.
Implementation Considerations
- Font support: To display Ol Chiki characters, operating systems and applications require fonts that contain glyphs for the U+1C50–U+1C7F range (e.g., Noto Sans Ol Chiki, Sahadeva).
- Input methods: Keyboard layouts and input editors have been developed for typing Ol Chiki, often integrated into multilingual operating system settings.
- Rendering: Proper shaping is minimal compared to complex scripts; Ol Chiki characters are generally rendered linearly without contextual glyph substitution.
Significance
The inclusion of Ol Chiki in Unicode facilitates the preservation and digital usage of the Santali language, supporting educational materials, literature, and official documentation in the script. It also enables interoperability across different software environments, contributing to linguistic diversity on the internet and in computing.
