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Research draft

International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration

vr.tr.international-alphabet-of-sanskrit-transliteration · ACT.PRC

Let an agent explain the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration and its conventions, relay its history and use from Indological sources, describe adaptations for other languages, and distinguish IAST from ISO 15919, Harvard-Kyoto, ITRANS and popular romanisation.

Thing Registry Activities and processes

Research draft, second pass

A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.

written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify

Researched by: Claude

Purpose and description

Let an agent explain the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration and its conventions, relay its history and use from Indological sources, describe adaptations for other languages, and distinguish IAST from ISO 15919, Harvard-Kyoto, ITRANS and popular romanisation.

A transliteration scheme for representing Sanskrit and related Indic languages in the Latin alphabet with diacritics, standardised at the 1894 Geneva Oriental Congress and used in scholarly publications to render Devanagari and other Indic scripts losslessly, with macrons for long vowels, dots under retroflex consonants and other marks, and adapted for languages such as Punjabi in schemes like the Bhardwaj IAST transliteration; IAST is distinct from ISO 15919, Harvard-Kyoto and informal romanisations.

What it is for: Romanising Sanskrit and Indic scripts for scholarship.

It can be explain conventions; relay history and use; describe adaptations; distinguish from other schemes.

Distinguishing features

Lossless transliteration

Diacritics

Scholarly standard

Indic script coverage

What it looks like

Latin letters with macrons, underdots and other diacritics.

Physical character

standardised: 1894 year - Geneva

long vowel marker: macron note

retroflex marker: underdot note

How it is recognised

Scholarly romanisation of Sanskrit

IAST with diacritics; adaptations such as the Bhardwaj IAST transliteration for Punjabi

ISO 15919 is a broader standard; Harvard-Kyoto and ITRANS use ASCII; popular romanisation is informal

Related models

is a kind of - in registry terms

phonetic transcription

romanises - and other Indic scripts

Devanagari

is used for - in scholarship

Sanskrit

is contrasted with - the broader ISO standard

ISO 15919

In practice

Families and kinds

IAST for Sanskrit

IAST applied to Pali and Prakrit

adaptations for modern languages such as the Bhardwaj scheme for Punjabi

IAST in Unicode typing and fonts

related schemes ISO 15919, Harvard-Kyoto and ITRANS

Standards and regulation

1894 Geneva Oriental Congress recommendation

ISO 15919 as the related international standard

Unicode support for diacritics

Failure modes and hazards

Loss of diacritics in typing and display

Confusing IAST with ISO 15919 or ASCII schemes

Inconsistent adaptation to modern languages

Also called

Bhardwaj IAST transliteration for Punjabi

Where this came from

wikidata · CC0 1.0

Source repository Registry entry point

Drafted structure

Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.

Understand What IAST is.

Definition.

Definition

Definition.

Definition

Definition.

  1. What is IAST, and how does it differ from ISO 15919, Harvard-Kyoto, ITRANS and popular romanisation? definition
  2. Is the question about IAST, another scheme or an adaptation for a modern language? boundary

Conventions

Conventions.

Conventions

Conventions.

  1. How does IAST represent vowels, consonants, anusvara and visarga with diacritics? definition
  2. Which entry fits the specific convention? action
Use Using IAST.

Practice.

Typing

Typing and fonts.

Typing

Typing.

  1. How is IAST typed and displayed with Unicode and fonts? action
  2. Which references are standard? provenance

Scholarship

Scholarly use.

Scholarship

Scholarship.

  1. How do editions, dictionaries and journals use IAST? provenance
  2. Which sources are cited? provenance
Adapt Adaptations.

Sources.

Languages

Other languages.

Languages

Languages.

  1. How is IAST adapted for Pali, Hindi, Punjabi and other languages, including schemes such as Bhardwaj s? provenance
  2. Which entry fits the specific adaptation? action

Comparison

Comparison.

Comparison

Comparison.

  1. How do IAST, ISO 15919 and ASCII schemes compare in coverage and use? provenance
  2. Which entry fits romanization of Indic scripts? action
Context History.

Context.

History

History.

History

History.

  1. How did IAST arise from 19th-century Orientalist congresses? provenance
  2. Which entry fits the history of Indology? action

Debate

Debates.

Debate

Debate.

  1. What debates exist about transliteration versus native scripts in scholarship, with positions attributed? provenance
  2. Which entry fits transliteration? action

What the second pass must settle

  • Should ISO 15919 and Harvard-Kyoto be separate primary entries?
  • How should Indological sources be linked?
  • The registry entry has a merged alias naming a Punjabi adaptation; should it be split off?
Draft as JSON