The Gujarati Language, by RajanBhatt, MD

The Gujarati Language

Spoken by 46 million people worldwide, the Indo-

Aryan language Gujarati remains popular in

Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and other

Indian states. Moreover, people in Kenya, Fiji, South

Africa, Singapore, and the United States adopt this

dialect. A descendant of Devangari, Gujarati first

emerged in the late 16th century. Not used for

literature or scholarly pieces until the 19th century, it

is deemed a script of bankers, merchants, and

traders. It was also the language of Mahatma

Gandhi.

The Gujarati Language

Gujarati is considered a syllabic alphabet, and it

features 36 consonants that possess inherent vowel

sounds. Vowels also exist independently, and they

can be expressed as their own symbol or through

diacritical marks connected to a consonant.

About the Author

A former Cardiology Fellow at the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center, RajanBhatt, MD, cares for patients in Scottsdale, Arizona, and belongs to the American College of Cardiology, the American Society of Echocardiography, and similar organizations.