A Semiotic Analysis of the Anatomy of Odia Letterforms

In typographic practices, letterform anatomy facilitates the design of typefaces that are legible, readable, and visually appealing. However, such structural aspects of letterforms in numerous Indic scripts have not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, using a semiotic approach, this study seeks to describe the anatomy of letterforms in the Odia script, one of the Indic scripts. Firstly, a grid model for Odia letterforms was formulated by comparing the inherent gridlines of existing Odia typefaces. Then, syntactic and syntagmatic methods were employed to identify the anatomical components of Odia letterforms, followed by a paradigmatic analysis to compare their arrangement and variances across various typefaces. The study concludes with recommendations for applying these morphological features in Odia typeface design and handwriting education.