Examination and Comparison of the Handwriting Characteristics of Devanagari Script with Gurumukhi and Telugu Script

India has been acclaimed for the extent diversity especially in the context of cast, culture, languages, religion, and scripts. Brahmi script is the oldest writing system of ancient India, developed in 1st millennium BCE. Brahmi script eventually gave evolution to all the modern scripts of India including Devanagari, Gurumukhi, Telugu, Gujarati, Bengali, Oriya, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Sinhala and scripts found in south and central Asia. Hindi language written in Devanagari script and is one of the official languages of India. About forty five percentage of the Indian population use Hindi. Telugu language is one of the official languages of India with 6.93% native speakers, whereas Punjabi is the language of Punjab state and is the 5th most spoken language in European country which is written in Gurumukhi script. The similar origins, including the divergence among these scripts, are influential and critical. In forensic laboratory document examiners receive distinct handwritten scripts for proving the authentication/genuineness. Undeniably it is difficult for an examiner to know each and every script especially in a country like India where there is an enormous divergence in languages and their scripts. The present study describes the class and individual characteristics of Devanagari, Telugu and Gurumukhi scripts, those originated from the Brahmi script and there by forming a base for forensic examination of scripts unknown to forensic examiner.

Keywords:Scripts - Brahmi; Devanagari; Gurumukhi; Telugu; Examination

Scripts are the writing system of a particular language. A script is a conventionally accepted graphic, i.e. written, representation of the alphabet used in a particular language. Each script can have various styles. It could be assimilated as the symbolic representation of the sounds of a particular language. India being a multi-linguistic country has twenty-two official languages and their scripts Brahmi script is the oldest writing system of ancient India, attestations of which reach back into the 1st millennium BCE [1]. Brahmi script eventually gave evolution to most of the modern scripts of India including Devanagari, Gurumukhi, Telugu, Gujarati, Bengali, Oriya, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Sinhala and a very high number of scripts of central and Southeast Asia [2].

Hindi is written in Devanagari script is one of the official languages of India. Around forty-five percentage of Indian population use Hindi language for communication. Hindi is the most prioritized language which is used officially for documentation in the northern and central region of India. The Dravidian languages consist of Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada languages makes it second largest language family [3]. Telugu is the official language of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Punjabi written in Gurumukhi script is 10th most spoken language of world [4].

Devanagari, Telugu and Gurumukhi scripts originated from Brahmi script are written from left to right, having strong preferences for symmetrical rounded shapes within squared outlines [5]. Devanagari and Gurumukhi script is recognized by a horizontal line that runs along the top of the letter and a puranviram (“|”) is placed at the end of the sentences. Devanagari, Telugu and Gurumukhi scripts belongs to abugida writing system, where the consonant and vowels form a compound word. Devanagari script is composed of eleven vowels and thirty-three consonants, where as Telugu script consists of eighteen vowels, and thirty-five consonants, which combines to form syllables, on the other hand Gurumukhi script have thirty-five consonants, additional six consonants, nine vowels diacritics, two diacritics with nasal sound and one diacritic that germinates consonants, and three subscript characters.

In the present study, 100 samples were collected from natives of Punjab and Andhra Pradesh between the age group of 18-25 years. All the samples were collected from individuals familiar with both the languages, i.e. Devanagari and Telugu followed by Devanagari and Gurumukhi. The fifty handwriting samples written each in Gurmukhi and Devanagari script were collected from the Punjab based population. Also, fifty handwriting samples written in each of Telugu script and Devanagari script were collected from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana based population (Figure 1). The writers were asked to write the content on white colour A4 size sheet using a blue ball point ink. In the samples handwriting characteristics were examined and compared to form a conclusion.

The analysis was carried out using magnifying glass, camera, and a computer system.

The writers were asked to write the content sitting in a comfortable position. Then the exemplars were dictated to the writers. The collected samples were examined in normal light using a magnifying glass. All the individual and class characteristics were studied for handwriting characteristics examination (Figure 2).

The handwriting characteristics studied include alignment, connections, initial and terminal strokes, pen pressure, punctuations, margins, size of letters, slant, and speed of writing, as shown in Table 1.

Numerous individual characteristics were found while comparing the scripts, showing the similar movement of forming a consonant and vowel, example of which is shown as following:

The formation of

in Devanagari script and

in Gurumukhi script is similar.

The formation ofin

in the words of Devanagari and Gurumukhi script are similar.

The formation of

in the words of Devanagari and Gurumukhi script are similar.

The formation of

in the words of Devanagari and Gurumukhi script are similar.

The formation of

in Devanagari script and

in Telugu script is similar.

The results for the observed characteristics were tabulated for Devanagari script and Gurmukhi Script, followed by Devanagari and Telugu script.

The alignment in Devanagari script is (46.66%) uphill, (6.66%) downhill and (46.66%) vertical. In Gurmukhi script, it is (44.64%) uphill, (10.36%) downhill and (45%) vertical. The Connections in Devanagari script are present in (6.66%), while absent in (93.33%), whereas in Gurumukhi Script connections were not found. The initial and terminal strokes in Devanagari script were blunt in (80%) and are tapered in (20%), where as in Gurumukhi script, blunt in (86.66%) and are tapered in (13.33%). Pen pressure in Devanagari script and Gurumukhi script is high (13.33%), low (6.66%) and graduated in (80%). Punctuations in Devanagari and Gurumukhi script were present in (93.33%), while absent in (6.66%). Margins in Devanagari script and Gurumukhi script were (6.66%) at the top, (33.33%) at the bottom, (33.33%) at left and (20%) at right. Size of letters in Devanagari and Gurumukhi script is (46.66%) for 1-3mm, (53.33%) for 4-6mm. The slant of letters in Devanagari and Gurumukhi script were forward (33.33%), backward (30.33%) and vertical for (33.33%). The speed of writing in Devanagari and Gurumukhi script is fast (26.66%), slow (13.33%) and moderate (60%).

While comparing Devanagari and Telugu script, the alignment in Devanagari script is (26.66%) uphill, (33.33%) downhill and (40%) vertical, whereas Telugu script, it is (20%) uphill, (27%) downhill and (45%) vertical. The Connections in Devanagari and Telugu script were not present. The initial and terminal strokes in Devanagari and Telugu script were blunt in (90%) and were tapered in (10%). Pen pressure in Devanagari script and Telugu script is high (13.33%), low (6.66%) and graduated in (80%). Punctuations in Devanagari and Telugu script were present in (93.33%), while absent in (6.66%). Margins in Devanagari and Telugu script were (6.66%) at the top, (33.33%) at the bottom, (40%) at left and (26.66%) at right. Size of letters in Devanagari and Telugu script is (46.66%) for 1-3mm, (53.33%) for 4-6mm. The slant of letters in Devanagari and Telugu script is forward (26.66%), backward (26.66%) and vertical for (46.66%). The speed of writing in Devanagari and Telugu script is fast (33.33%), slow (40%) and moderate (26.66%).

Discussion

The Devanagari, Telugu and Gurumukhi scripts were originated from the Brahmi script, written from left to right direction. The similarities and the differences at the same time generate an essential purpose to compare the handwriting samples of these scripts. Devanagari and Telugu being two of the official languages of India, and Gurumukhi being the official language of Punjab is eminent to be compared forensically. During forensic examination it is necessary to prove the authenticity/geniuses of document. Thus, this study up to an extend helps the examiner to compare two different scripts originated from same background so that the class and individual characteristics can be examined.

Conclusions

The aim of the study is to find the class and individual characteristics among the scripts originated from the same origin and forensically forming a base for the examination of scripts even if unknown to the forensic document examiner.

Based on numerous characteristics that have been carefully studied it could be concluded that in Devanagari and Gurmukhi script the characteristics including pen pressure, punctuation, margins, size of letters, slant and speed of writing were similar in the samples examined. While the characteristics including alignment, connections, and initial and terminal strokes show slight differences. Simultaneously, in Devanagari and Telugu script the characteristics including connections, pen pressure, punctuation, margins, and the size of letters, slant, and speed of writing. While the characteristics alignment shows slight divergence.

Individual characteristics that are present in Devanagari script of the writer were found in a great extent in the Gurumukhi script and to some extent in Telugu script. So it could be concluded that these characteristics of handwriting do not show much divergence in two different scripts originated from a similar background, and a lot of them are present in both the scripts. During a forensic examination, the expert undergoing examination for two distinct scripts that are unknown to him, can generate an idea about the genuineness of handwriting and prove the authenticity of the writer.