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 Gujarati today
The history of Gujarati
Names and writing system
More about Gujarati
The writing system
Gujarati uses a syllabic writing system which goes from left to right and hangs from - rather than resting on - the line. It is closely related to Hindi and Panjabi scripts, but without the continuous horizontal line running along the top. 
Gujarati names
Gujarati Hindu and Muslim names follow different patterns.Typical Hindu names are shown in the table below: | Personal name | Family name | | Father | Chandrakant | Patel | | Mother | Lalitadevi | Patel | | Son | Rajkumar | Patel | | Daughter | Savita | Patel |
The first name is a given name used by family and friends; it is often shortened, eg Lalitadevi becomes Lalita. The family name shows the family's traditional status and occupation. Children have the same family name as the father; wives take their husband's family name on marriage. Many children also use their father's personal name after their own; many married women will use their husband's name in this way, eg Lalitadevi Chandrakant Patel. Gujarati Muslims have an Islamic personal name. As is the case for Gujarati Hindus, children use the same family name as their father. It is thus possible to determine a person's religion only by their personal name. For instance, Chandrakant Jetha will be a Hindu, Arif Jetha will be a Muslim.
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