The Alphabet
48 characters — consonants, vowels, diacritics, numerals, and punctuation — designed from first principles for the sounds of Kokborok.
The Characters
Design Philosophy
Every glyph in Yapiri was drawn from scratch — no shapes borrowed from Bengali, Roman, Devanagari, or any other script. The forms emerged from a consistent calligraphic stroke system designed specifically for Kokborok phonology.
Every sound in Kokborok — including aspirates, affricates, and the schwa — has its own dedicated character. No ambiguity, no compromise.
Each glyph is designed to be immediately distinguishable from every other. High contrast between similar-sounding pairs prevents reading errors.
PUA-encoded for immediate use, with a Unicode submission roadmap in progress. OpenType GPOS anchors ensure correct diacritic placement across rendering engines.
F, V, and Z characters included for loanwords and borrowed modern vocabulary — Yapiri is designed for contemporary use, not just heritage preservation.
Context
| Feature | Yapiri | Bengali Script | Roman Script | Aima |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Designed for Kokborok phonology | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Aspirate consonants | ✓ Dedicated glyphs | Approximate | Digraphs | ✓ Yes |
| Tonal diacritics | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No | Partial |
| Custom numerals | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Unicode roadmap | ✓ In progress | ✓ Encoded | ✓ Encoded | ✗ No |
| Downloadable font | ✓ Free | ✓ Available | ✓ Available | ✗ Limited |