Va or Wa is a consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Va is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter ng after having gone through the Gupta letter . It is generally romanized as "Va" in scripts for Indic languages, but as "Wa" in many scripts for other language families.

Va
Va
Example glyphs
Bengali–AssameseVa
Tibetan
TamilVa
Thai
Malayalam
Sinhala
Ashoka BrahmiVa
DevanagariVa
Cognates
Hebrewו
GreekϜ (Ϛ), Υ (Ȣ)
LatinF, V, U, W, Y, Ⅎ
CyrillicЅ, У (Ꙋ), Ѵ, Ю
Properties
Phonemic representation/ʋ/
IAST transliterationv V
ISCII code pointD4 (212)

Āryabhaṭa numeration edit

Aryabhata used Devanagari letters for numbers, very similar to the Greek numerals, even after the invention of Indian numerals. The values of the different forms of व are:[1]

  • [ʋə] = 60 (६०)
  • वि [ʋɪ] = 6,000 (६ ०००)
  • वु [ʋʊ] = 600,000 (६ ०० ०००)
  • वृ [ʋri] = 60,000,000 (६ ०० ०० ०००)
  • वॢ [ʋlə] = 6×109 (६×१०)
  • वे [ʋe] = 6×1011 (६×१०११)
  • वै [ʋɛː] = 6×1013 (६×१०१३)
  • वो [ʋoː] = 6×1015 (६×१०१५)
  • वौ [ʋɔː] = 6×1017 (६×१०१७)

Historic Va edit

There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Va as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta . The Tocharian Va had an alternate Fremdzeichen form, . The third form of va, in Kharoshthi ( ) was probably derived from Aramaic separately from the Brahmi letter.

Brahmi Va edit

The Brahmi letter , Va, is probably derived from the Aramaic Waw , and is thus related to the modern Latin F, V, U, W, Y, and Greek Upsilon.[2] There are numerous distinguishable Brahmi Va writing styles, most of which are connected to a collection of inscriptions from an artifact or a variety of documents from a historical era.[3] As the earliest and most geometric style of Brahmi, the letters found on the Edicts of Ashoka and other records from around that time are normally the reference form for Brahmi letters, with vowel marks not attested until later forms of Brahmi back-formed to match the geometric writing style.

Brahmi Va historic forms
Ashoka
(3rd-1st c. BCE)
Girnar
(~150 BCE)
Kushana
(~150-250 CE)
Gujarat
(~250 CE)
Gupta
(~350 CE)

Tocharian Va edit

The Tocharian letter is derived from the Brahmi , and has an alternate Fremdzeichen form used in conjuncts and as an alternate representation of Vä.

Tocharian Va with vowel marks
VaViVuVrVr̄VeVaiVoVauFremdzeichen

Kharoṣṭhī Va edit

The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the Aramaic Waw , and is thus related to F, V, U, W, Y, and Upsilon, in addition to the Brahmi Va.[2]

Devanagari Va edit

Va () is a consonant of the Devanagari abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , after having gone through the Gupta letter . Letters that derive from it are the Gujarati letter , and the Modi letter 𑘪.

Devanagari-using Languages edit

In most languages, व is pronounced as [və] or [v] when appropriate, while in Nepali it is [wʌ] Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:

Devanagari व with vowel marks
VaViVuVrVr̄VlVl̄VeVaiVoVauV
वाविवीवुवूवृवॄवॢवॣवेवैवोवौव्

Conjuncts with व edit

Half form of Va.

Devanagari exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts. In modern Devanagari texts, most conjuncts are formed by reducing the letter shape to fit tightly to the following letter, usually by dropping a character's vertical stem, sometimes referred to as a "half form". Some conjunct clusters are always represented by a true ligature, instead of a shape that can be broken into constituent independent letters. Vertically stacked conjuncts are ubiquitous in older texts, while only a few are still used routinely in modern Devanagari texts. The use of ligatures and vertical conjuncts may vary across languages using the Devanagari script, with Marathi in particular preferring the use of half forms where texts in other languages would show ligatures and vertical stacks.[4]

Ligature conjuncts of व edit

True ligatures are quite rare in Indic scripts. The most common ligated conjuncts in Devanagari are in the form of a slight mutation to fit in context or as a consistent variant form appended to the adjacent characters. Those variants include Na and the Repha and Rakar forms of Ra. Nepali and Marathi texts use the "eyelash" Ra half form for an initial "R" instead of repha.

  • Repha र্ (r) + व (va) gives the ligature rva: note

  • Eyelash र্ (r) + व (va) gives the ligature rva:

  • व্ (v) + न (na) gives the ligature vna:

  • व্ (v) + rakar र (ra) gives the ligature vra:

  • द্ (d) + ध্ (dʱ) + व (va) gives the ligature ddʱva:

  • द্ (d) + व (va) gives the ligature dva:

  • द্ (d) + व্ (v) + य (ya) gives the ligature dvya:

  • Repha र্ (r) + द্ (d) + व (va) gives the ligature rdva:

Stacked conjuncts of व edit

Vertically stacked ligatures are the most common conjunct forms found in Devanagari text. Although the constituent characters may need to be stretched and moved slightly in order to stack neatly, stacked conjuncts can be broken down into recognizable base letters, or a letter and an otherwise standard ligature.

  • ब্ (b) + व (va) gives the ligature bva:

  • छ্ (cʰ) + व (va) gives the ligature cʰva:

  • च্ (c) + व (va) gives the ligature cva:

  • ढ্ (ḍʱ) + व (va) gives the ligature ḍʱva:

  • ड্ (ḍ) + व (va) gives the ligature ḍva:

  • ह্ (h) + व (va) gives the ligature hva:

  • झ্ (jʰ) + व (va) gives the ligature jʰva:

  • ज্ (j) + ज্ (j) + व (va) gives the ligature jjva:

  • ख্ (kʰ) + व (va) gives the ligature kʰva:

  • क্ (k) + त্ (t) + व (va) gives the ligature ktva:

  • क্ (k) + व (va) gives the ligature kva:

  • ळ্ (ḷ) + व (va) gives the ligature ḷva:

  • ल্ (l) + व (va) gives the ligature lva:

  • ङ্ (ŋ) + व (va) gives the ligature ŋva:

  • ञ্ (ñ) + व (va) gives the ligature ñva:

  • फ্ (pʰ) + व (va) gives the ligature pʰva:

  • Repha र্ (r) + स্ (s) + व (va) gives the ligature rsva:

  • श্ (ʃ) + व (va) gives the ligature ʃva:

  • ष্ (ṣ) + ट্ (ṭ) + व (va) gives the ligature ṣṭva:

  • स্ (s) + व (va) gives the ligature sva:

  • ठ্ (ṭʰ) + व (va) gives the ligature ṭʰva:

  • ट্ (ṭ) + व (va) gives the ligature ṭva:

  • त্ (t) + त্ (t) + व (va) gives the ligature ttva:

  • त্ (t) + व (va) gives the ligature tva:

  • व্ (v) + ब (ba) gives the ligature vba:

  • व্ (v) + च (ca) gives the ligature vca:

  • व্ (v) + छ (cʰa) gives the ligature vcʰa:

  • व্ (v) + ड (ḍa) gives the ligature vḍa:

  • व্ (v) + ग (ga) gives the ligature vga:

  • व্ (v) + ज (ja) gives the ligature vja:

  • व্ (v) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature vjña:

  • व্ (v) + क (ka) gives the ligature vka:

  • व্ (v) + ल (la) gives the ligature vla:

  • व্ (v) + ङ (ŋa) gives the ligature vŋa:

  • व্ (v) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature vña:

  • व্ (v) + व (va) gives the ligature vva:

Bengali Va edit

The Bengali script ব is derived from the Siddhaṃ , and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, व. Unlike many of its cognates in other Indic scripts, ব is primarily identified as the /b/ consonant, especially as an independent consonant. It tends to have no inherent pronunciation itself when in a non-head position of a conjuct conjunct, often serving as an indication of gemination (doubling) of the preceding consonant sound, although there are a few words where it retains its /b/ pronunciation.Like all Indic consonants, ব can be modified by marks to indicate another (or no) vowel than its inherent "a".

Bengali ব with vowel marks
babibubrbr̄bebaibobaub
বাবিবীবুবূবৃবৄবেবৈবোবৌব্

ব in Bengali-using languages edit

ব is used as a basic consonant character in all of the major Bengali script orthographies, including Bengali and Assamese.

Conjuncts with non-head ব edit

Bengali ব exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with a tendency towards stacked ligatures. When used as the head (first) consonant in a conjunct, ব is normally pronounced as /b/.[5]

Bengali Va-phala edit

Bengali Va-phala

Like Ra and Ya, the Bengali Va is almost always realized in a reduced form called "Va phala" (vo pholo) when found as the final consonant of a conjunct. This reduced form is appended at the bottom of a vertical stem, or otherwise attached at the bottom of a preceding consonant or conjunct.

  • ভ্ (bʰ) + ব (va) gives the ligature bʰva:

  • চ্ (c) + ছ্ (cʰ) + ব (va) gives the ligature ccʰva:

  • চ্ (c) + ব (va) gives the ligature cva:

  • ড্ (ḍ) + ব (va) gives the ligature ḍva:

  • দ্ (d) + দ্ (d) + ব (va) gives the ligature ddva:

  • দ্ (d) + ব (va) gives the ligature dva:

  • গ্ (g) + ব (va) gives the ligature gva:

  • জ্ (j) + জ্ (j) + ব (va) gives the ligature jjva:

  • জ্ (j) + ব (va) gives the ligature jva:

  • খ্ (kʰ) + ব (va) gives the ligature kʰva:

  • ক্ (k) + ষ্ (ṣ) + ব (va) gives the ligature kṣva:

  • ক্ (k) + ব (va) gives the ligature kva:

  • ল্ (l) + ব (va) gives the ligature lva:

  • ম্ (m) + ব (va) gives the ligature mva:

  • ন্ (n) + দ্ (d) + ব (va) gives the ligature ndva:

  • ন্ (n) + ত্ (t) + ব (va) gives the ligature ntva:

  • ন্ (n) + ব (va) gives the ligature nva:

  • র্ (r) + দ্ (d) + ব (va) gives the ligature rdva, with repha in addition to va phala:

  • র্ (r) + শ্ (ʃ) + ব (va) gives the ligature rʃva, with repha in addition to va phala:

  • শ্ (ʃ) + ব (va) gives the ligature ʃva:

  • ষ্ (ṣ) + ব (va) gives the ligature ṣva:

  • স্ (s) + ত্ (t) + ব (va) gives the ligature stva:

  • স্ (s) + ব (va) gives the ligature sva:

  • থ্ (tʰ) + ব (va) gives the ligature tʰva:

  • ট্ (ṭ) + ব (va) gives the ligature ṭva:

  • ত্ (t) + ত্ (t) + ব (va) gives the ligature ttva:

  • ত্ (t) + ব (va) gives the ligature tva:

Other ব conjuncts edit

A few letters conjoin with ব by keeping it in its full form instead of the reduced Va-phala.

  • ধ্ (dʱ) + ব (va) gives the ligature dʱva with full-form va:

  • র্ (r) + ধ্ (dʱ) + ব (va) gives the ligature rdʱva, with repha:

  • ম্ (m) + ব্ (v) + র (ra) gives the ligature mvra, with the ra phala suffix. Note that this is a different base conjunct than mva, above:

Gujarati Va edit

Gujarati Va.

Va () is the twenty-ninth consonant of the Gujarati abugida. It is derived from the Devanagari Va with the top bar (shiro rekha) removed, and ultimately the Brahmi letter .

Gujarati-using Languages edit

The Gujarati script is used to write the Gujarati and Kutchi languages. In both languages, વ is pronounced as [və] or [v] when appropriate. Like all Indic scripts, Gujarati uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:

VaViVuVrVlVr̄Vl̄VeVaiVoVauV
Gujarati Va syllables, with vowel marks in red.

Conjuncts with વ edit

Half form of Va.

Gujarati વ exhibits conjunct ligatures, much like its parent Devanagari Script. Most Gujarati conjuncts can only be formed by reducing the letter shape to fit tightly to the following letter, usually by dropping a character's vertical stem, sometimes referred to as a "half form". A few conjunct clusters can be represented by a true ligature, instead of a shape that can be broken into constituent independent letters, and vertically stacked conjuncts can also be found in Gujarati, although much less commonly than in Devanagari.True ligatures are quite rare in Indic scripts. The most common ligated conjuncts in Gujarati are in the form of a slight mutation to fit in context or as a consistent variant form appended to the adjacent characters. Those variants include Na and the Repha and Rakar forms of Ra.

  • ર્ (r) + વ (va) gives the ligature RVa:

  • વ્ (v) + ર (ra) gives the ligature VRa:

  • ટ્ (ʈ) + વ (va) gives the ligature ṬVa:

  • ડ્ (ɖ) + વ (va) gives the ligature ḌVa:

  • દ્ (d) + વ (va) gives the ligature DVa:

  • વ્ (v) + ન (na) gives the ligature VNa:

  • શ્ (ʃ) + વ (va) gives the ligature ŚVa:

  • હ્ (h) + વ (va) gives the ligature HVa:

Telugu Va edit

Telugu independent and subjoined Va.

Va () is a consonant of the Telugu abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter . It is closely related to the Kannada letter . Most Telugu consonants contain a v-shaped headstroke that is related to the horizontal headline found in other Indic scripts, although headstrokes do not connect adjacent letters in Telugu. The headstroke is normally lost when adding vowel matras.Telugu conjuncts are created by reducing trailing letters to a subjoined form that appears below the initial consonant of the conjunct. Many subjoined forms are created by dropping their headline, with many extending the end of the stroke of the main letter body to form an extended tail reaching up to the right of the preceding consonant. This subjoining of trailing letters to create conjuncts is in contrast to the leading half forms of Devanagari and Bengali letters. Ligature conjuncts are not a feature in Telugu, with the only non-standard construction being an alternate subjoined form of Ṣa (borrowed from Kannada) in the KṢa conjunct.

Malayalam Va edit

Malayalam letter Va

Va () is a consonant of the Malayalam abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Grantha letter Va. Like in other Indic scripts, Malayalam consonants have the inherent vowel "a", and take one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel or no vowel at all.

Malayalam Va matras: Va, Vā, Vi, Vī, Vu, Vū, Vr̥, Vr̥̄, Vl̥, Vl̥̄, Ve, Vē, Vai, Vo, Vō, Vau, and V.

Conjuncts of വ edit

As is common in Indic scripts, Malayalam joins letters together to form conjunct consonant clusters. There are several ways in which conjuncts are formed in Malayalam texts: using a post-base form of a trailing consonant placed under the initial consonant of a conjunct, a combined ligature of two or more consonants joined, a conjoining form that appears as a combining mark on the rest of the conjunct, the use of an explicit candrakkala mark to suppress the inherent "a" vowel, or a special consonant form called a "chillu" letter, representing a bare consonant without the inherent "a" vowel. Texts written with the modern reformed Malayalam orthography, put̪iya lipi, may favor more regular conjunct forms than older texts in paḻaya lipi, due to changes undertaken in the 1970s by the Government of Kerala.

  • വ് (v) + വ (va) gives the ligature vva:

Odia Wa edit

Odia independent and subjoined letter Wa.

Wa () is a consonant of the Odia abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Siddhaṃ letter Va.[citation needed] Like in other Indic scripts, Odia consonants have the inherent vowel "a", and take one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel or no vowel at all.

Odia Wa with vowel matras
WaWiWuWr̥Wr̥̄Wl̥Wl̥̄WeWaiWoWauW
ୱାୱିୱୀୱୁୱୂୱୃୱୄୱୢୱୣୱେୱୈୱୋୱୌୱ୍

As is common in Indic scripts, Odia joins letters together to form conjunct consonant clusters. The most common conjunct formation is achieved by using a small subjoined form of trailing consonants. Most consonants' subjoined forms are identical to the full form, just reduced in size, although a few drop the curved headline or have a subjoined form not directly related to the full form of the consonant. Wa shares its subjoined form with Ba, called "Ba Phala" or "Wa Phala" depending on its pronunciation in context. Ba is the character normally used for the /w/ and /v/ sounds of the letter Wa. ୱ generates conjuncts only by subjoining and does not form ligatures.

Kaithi Va edit

Kaithi consonant and half-form Va.

Va (𑂫) is a consonant of the Kaithi abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Siddhaṃ letter Va. Like in other Indic scripts, Kaithi consonants have the inherent vowel "a", and take one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel or no vowel at all.

Kaithi Va with vowel matras
VaViVuVeVaiVoVauV
𑂫𑂫𑂰𑂫𑂱𑂫𑂲𑂫𑂳𑂫𑂴𑂫𑂵𑂫𑂶𑂫𑂷𑂫𑂸𑂫𑂹

Conjuncts of 𑂫 edit

As is common in Indic scripts, Kaithi joins letters together to form conjunct consonant clusters. The most common conjunct formation is achieved by using a half form of preceding consonants, although several consonants use an explicit virama. Most half forms are derived from the full form by removing the vertical stem. As is common in most Indic scripts, conjucts of ra are indicated with a repha or rakar mark attached to the rest of the consonant cluster. In addition, there are a few vertical conjuncts that can be found in Kaithi writing, but true ligatures are not used in the modern Kaithi script.

  • 𑂫୍ (v) + 𑂩 (ra) gives the ligature vra:


Khmer Vo edit

្វ
IndependentSubscriptua
Khmer independent and subjoined letter Vo.

Vo () is a consonant of the Khmer abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Pallava letter Va. Like in other Indic scripts, Khmer consonants have the inherent vowel "a", and take one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel. Actually, the sounds of the vowels are modified by the consonant; see the article on the Khmer writing system for details.

Khmer Vo with vowel matras
VaViVuVr̥Vr̥̄Vl̥Vl̥̄VeVaiVoVauVẏVuaVoeVẏaViaVae
វាវិវីវុវូវ្ឫវ្ឬវ្ឭវ្ឮវេវៃវោវៅវឹវឺវួវើវឿវៀវែវៈ

Note: The vowels (other than vocalic liquids) are shown using the ALA-LC scheme.[6]

Pali and Sanskrit are written as abugidas with the lack of a vowel between consonants notated as consonants indicated by vertically stacking the consonants without their touching. For phonetically final consonants, the lack of a vowel is marked by virama.

The Khmer language works the same, except that a different method is used for the last consonant of a word. The final consonant in a consonant stack is indicated as having no implicit vowel by applying tôndôkhéad to it. By default, a consonant surmounted by robat is silent and lacks an inherent vowel. The yŭkôlpĭntŭ positively indicates the presence of a final implicit vowel, plus its automatic glottal stop. Otherwise, there is no final vowel, unless the word is of Pali or Sanskrit origin, in which case the spelling is ambiguous. Up until the start of the 20th century, the lack of a final vowel could be indicating by subscripting the consonant, as then done in Lao and in other non-Indic languages using the Tai Tham script.

As in the Thai, Lao and Tai Tham scripts, Va served as a mater lectionis representing the sound /ua/. In this rôle, it was subscripted. In Cambodian usage, a new form of subscript was developed for consonantal usage, and the two are now used contrastively.

Tai Tham Wa edit

Tai Tham independent, subjoined and superscript letter Wa.

Wa () is a consonant of the Tai Tham abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Pallava letter Va. Like in other Indic scripts, Tai Tham consonants have the inherent vowel "a", and take one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel.

Tai Tham Wa with vowel matras
Syllable typeVaViVư̄Vu
Closed or openᩅᩤᩅᩥᩅᩦᩅᩧᩅᩨᩅᩩᩅᩪᩅᩮᩅᩯᩅᩮᩤ
VaiVaưVauVō̹i
Openᩅᩱᩅᩲᩅᩮᩢᩤᩅᩮᩫᩢᩤᩅᩮᩫᩤᩅᩳᩅᩭ
VoVaVœ̄Vō̹Vo̹
Openᩅᩰᩡᩅᩡᩅᩰᩅᩮᩬᩥᩅᩮᩦᩅᩬᩴᩅᩴᩅᩬᩳᩅᩳᩅᩰᩬᩡᩅᩰᩬ
Closedᩅᩫᩅᩢᩅᩰᩫᩅᩮᩥᩅᩮᩦᩅᩬᩅᩬᩢ
VūaVīaVư̄a
Openᩅ᩠ᩅᩫᩅ᩠ᨿᩮᩅᩮᩢ᩠ᨿᩅᩮᩬᩥᩋᩅᩮᩬᩨᩋᩅᩮᩬᩨ
Closedᩅ᩠ᩅᩅ᩠ᨿᩅᩮᩬᩥᩅᩮᩬᩨ

Notes:

  1. The transliteration scheme is an amalgamation of the ALA-LC schemes of Khmer[6], Pali[7] and Lao[8].
  2. Many of the matras include subscript wa ( ), subscript ya ( ), subscript a ( ) or even the letter a ( ) itself. Anusvara ( ) and visarga ( ) are also used.
  3. In the relevant Tai languages, a short vowel in an open syllable includes an underlyinɡ ɡlottal stop.

Additional short vowels not shown above may be synthesised from the corresponding long vowel by appending visarga for open syllables (as shown for Vo) or applying mai sat ( ) for closed syllables (as shown for Vo̹). Unlike the other languages, Lao instead replaces an ī or ư̄ glyph by the corresponding short vowel.

The lack of a vowel between consonants notated as consonants is indicated by vertically stacking the consonants, generally without their touching. The Brahmi style of writing final consonants small and low developed, as vestigially seen in Khmer and Lao, into using subscripting to indicate that a consonant had no vowel of its own. In theory this leaves it ambiguous as to whether a consonant precedes or follows the vowel, but ambiguous cases are rare. Finally, if there is no room for the consonant below, it may be left as an 'independent' consonant or. in some cases, written superscript. Occasionally the visible virama (ra haam) is used, but this may signify that the consonant so marked is silent. The vowel /a/ will be made explicit if the final consonant is notated by a letter and is included in the same stack as the initial consonant or is written in a stack just consisting of that consonant.

Thus Wa may appear as the 'base' consonant with almost any other consonant. Northern Thai traditionally allows it to form an initial consonant cluster with almost any other consonant sound, it can act as a mater lectionis (as shown in the list of matras above for Vūa), and it can be a final consonant, as in the fairly common rime -iv, e.g. 'to be hungry'. To accommodate a lack of space below the base consonants, there are several strategies:

  1. Subscript Wa can be written significantly smaller than usual, typically at the size of anusvara. Certain other consonants also exhibit vertically compressed subscript forms, most notably La and Nga.
  2. Subscript Wa can be nested within subscript Ma and Na, e.g. Northern Thai <hmūaḍ> /muːat/ 'to twist'.
  3. A sequence of subscript items can be written horizontally, rather than vertically. This sequence can continue beneath another base consonant. It can sometime be hard to see that the second subscript belongs with the first consonant rather than the second.
  4. For several letters, including Wa, if the space below the base letter is occupied, a final consonant can be written above instead. The result for Wa is frequently indistinguishable from anusvara, and is currently encoded the same, namely as TAI THAM SIGN MAI KANG. It occurs in the sequence <Ya, Wa>, as in the Tai Lue word ᨯ᩠ᨿᩴ '(just) one', where the subscripted letter Ya is used as a mater lectionis. This practice is extremely rare for Wa in Northern Thai.

For example, Northern Thai <hlūaṅ> 'big' can be written as:

  1. - two stacks of (1) ha, la, wa all stacked vertically and (2) ṅa;
  2. - two stacks: (1) a bent stack of ha, la below ha, wa to the right of la and (2) the single character ṅa. Visually, this is only subtly different from the meaningless two stacks of (1) ha, la and (2) ṅa, wa - ;
  3. - two stacks of (1) ha, la and (2) wa, ṅa;

The first two alternatives have the same encoding in Unicode; the font and its configuration determine the rendering.


Comparison of Va edit

The various Indic scripts are generally related to each other through adaptation and borrowing, and as such the glyphs for cognate letters, including Va, are related as well.

Comparison of Va in different scripts
Aramaic
Kharoṣṭhī
𐨬
Ashoka Brahmi
Kushana Brahmi[a]
Tocharian[b]
 / 
Gupta Brahmi
Pallava
Kadamba
-
Bhaiksuki
𑰪
Siddhaṃ
Grantha
𑌵
Cham
Sinhala
Pyu /
Old Mon[c]
-
Tibetan
Newa
𑐰
Ahom
-
Malayalam
Telugu
Burmese
Lepcha
Ranjana
Saurashtra
Dives Akuru
𑤩
Kannada
Kayah Li
Limbu
Soyombo[d]
𑩾
Khmer
Tamil
Chakma
𑄤
Tai Tham
Meitei Mayek
Gaudi
-
Thai
Lao
Tai Le
Marchen
𑲅
Tirhuta
𑒫
New Tai Lue
ᦞ / ᦛ
Tai Viet
ꪫ / ꪪ
Aksara Kawi
'Phags-pa
Odia
Sharada
𑆮
Rejang
Batak
Buginese
Zanabazar Square
𑨭
Bengali-Assamese
Takri
𑚦
Javanese
Balinese
Makasar
𑻯
Hangul[e]
-
Northern Nagari
-
Dogri
𑠦
Laṇḍā
-
Sundanese
Baybayin
Modi
𑘪
Gujarati
Khojki
𑈨
Khudabadi
𑋛
Mahajani
𑅯
Tagbanwa
Devanagari
Nandinagari
𑧊
Kaithi
Gurmukhi
Multani
𑊤
Buhid
Canadian Syllabics[f]
-
Soyombo[g]
𑩾
Sylheti Nagari
Gunjala Gondi
𑵭
Masaram Gondi[h]
𑴨
Hanuno'o
Notes
  1. ^ The middle "Kushana" form of Brahmi is a later style that emerged as Brahmi scripts were beginning to proliferate. Gupta Brahmi was definitely a stylistic descendant from Kushana, but other Brahmi-derived scripts may have descended from earlier forms.
  2. ^ Tocharian is probably derived from the middle period "Kushana" form of Brahmi, although artifacts from that time are not plentiful enough to establish a definite succession.
  3. ^ Pyu and Old Mon are probably the precursors of the Burmese script, and may be derived from either the Pallava or Kadamba script
  4. ^ May also be derived from Devangari (see bottom left of table)
  5. ^ The Origin of Hangul from 'Phags-pa is one of limited influence, inspiring at most a few basic letter shapes. Hangul does not function as an Indic abugida.
  6. ^ Although the basic letter forms of the Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics were derived from handwritten Devanagari letters, this abugida indicates vowel sounds by rotations of the letter form, rather than the use of vowel diacritics as is standard in Indic abugidas.
  7. ^ May also be derived from Ranjana (see above)
  8. ^ Masaram Gondi acts as an Indic abugida, but its letterforms were not derived from any single precursor script.


Character encodings of Va edit

Most Indic scripts are encoded in the Unicode Standard, and as such the letter Va in those scripts can be represented in plain text with unique codepoint. Va from several modern-use scripts can also be found in legacy encodings, such as ISCII.

Character information
Preview
Unicode nameDEVANAGARI LETTER VABENGALI LETTER BATAMIL LETTER VATELUGU LETTER VAORIYA LETTER VAKANNADA LETTER VAMALAYALAM LETTER VAGUJARATI LETTER VAGURMUKHI LETTER VA
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode2357U+09352476U+09AC2997U+0BB53125U+0C352869U+0B353253U+0CB53381U+0D352741U+0AB52613U+0A35
UTF-8224 164 181E0 A4 B5224 166 172E0 A6 AC224 174 181E0 AE B5224 176 181E0 B0 B5224 172 181E0 AC B5224 178 181E0 B2 B5224 180 181E0 B4 B5224 170 181E0 AA B5224 168 181E0 A8 B5
Numeric character reference&#2357;&#x935;&#2476;&#x9AC;&#2997;&#xBB5;&#3125;&#xC35;&#2869;&#xB35;&#3253;&#xCB5;&#3381;&#xD35;&#2741;&#xAB5;&#2613;&#xA35;
ISCII212D4212D4212D4212D4212D4212D4212D4212D4212D4


Character information
Preview
Ashoka
Kushana
Gupta
𐨬 𑌵
Unicode nameBRAHMI LETTER VAKHAROSHTHI LETTER VASIDDHAM LETTER VAGRANTHA LETTER VA
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode69679U+1102F68140U+10A2C71082U+115AA70453U+11335
UTF-8240 145 128 175F0 91 80 AF240 144 168 172F0 90 A8 AC240 145 150 170F0 91 96 AA240 145 140 181F0 91 8C B5
UTF-1655300 56367D804 DC2F55298 56876D802 DE2C55301 56746D805 DDAA55300 57141D804 DF35
Numeric character reference&#69679;&#x1102F;&#68140;&#x10A2C;&#71082;&#x115AA;&#70453;&#x11335;


Character information
Preview𑨭𑐰𑰪𑆮
Unicode nameTIBETAN LETTER WATIBETAN SUBJOINED LETTER WAPHAGS-PA LETTER WAZANABAZAR SQUARE LETTER VANEWA LETTER WABHAIKSUKI LETTER VASHARADA LETTER VA
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode3933U+0F5D4013U+0FAD43091U+A85372237U+11A2D70704U+1143072746U+11C2A70062U+111AE
UTF-8224 189 157E0 BD 9D224 190 173E0 BE AD234 161 147EA A1 93240 145 168 173F0 91 A8 AD240 145 144 176F0 91 90 B0240 145 176 170F0 91 B0 AA240 145 134 174F0 91 86 AE
UTF-1639330F5D40130FAD43091A85355302 56877D806 DE2D55301 56368D805 DC3055303 56362D807 DC2A55300 56750D804 DDAE
Numeric character reference&#3933;&#xF5D;&#4013;&#xFAD;&#43091;&#xA853;&#72237;&#x11A2D;&#70704;&#x11430;&#72746;&#x11C2A;&#70062;&#x111AE;


Character information
Preview
Unicode nameMYANMAR LETTER WATAI THAM LETTER WATAI THAM SIGN MAI KANGNEW TAI LUE LETTER LOW VANEW TAI LUE LETTER HIGH VANEW TAI LUE LETTER FINAL V
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode4125U+101D6725U+1A456772U+1A746558U+199E6555U+199B6593U+19C1
UTF-8225 128 157E1 80 9D225 169 133E1 A9 85225 169 180E1 A9 B4225 166 158E1 A6 9E225 166 155E1 A6 9B225 167 129E1 A7 81
Numeric character reference&#4125;&#x101D;&#6725;&#x1A45;&#6772;&#x1A74;&#6558;&#x199E;&#6555;&#x199B;&#6593;&#x19C1;


Character information
Preview
Unicode nameKHMER LETTER VOKHMER VOWEL SIGN UALAO LETTER WOTHAI CHARACTER WO WAENTAI VIET LETTER HIGH VOTAI VIET LETTER LOW VO
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode6044U+179C6077U+17BD3751U+0EA73623U+0E2743691U+AAAB43690U+AAAA
UTF-8225 158 156E1 9E 9C225 158 189E1 9E BD224 186 167E0 BA A7224 184 167E0 B8 A7234 170 171EA AA AB234 170 170EA AA AA
Numeric character reference&#6044;&#x179C;&#6077;&#x17BD;&#3751;&#xEA7;&#3623;&#xE27;&#43691;&#xAAAB;&#43690;&#xAAAA;


Character information
Preview𑄤𑤩
Unicode nameSINHALA LETTER VAYANNAKAYAH LI LETTER VACHAKMA LETTER WAATAI LE LETTER VADIVES AKURU LETTER VASAURASHTRA LETTER VACHAM LETTER VA
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode3520U+0DC043296U+A92069924U+111246493U+195D71977U+1192943182U+A8AE43557U+AA25
UTF-8224 183 128E0 B7 80234 164 160EA A4 A0240 145 132 164F0 91 84 A4225 165 157E1 A5 9D240 145 164 169F0 91 A4 A9234 162 174EA A2 AE234 168 165EA A8 A5
UTF-1635200DC043296A92055300 56612D804 DD246493195D55302 56617D806 DD2943182A8AE43557AA25
Numeric character reference&#3520;&#xDC0;&#43296;&#xA920;&#69924;&#x11124;&#6493;&#x195D;&#71977;&#x11929;&#43182;&#xA8AE;&#43557;&#xAA25;


Character information
Preview𑘪𑧊𑩾𑵭
Unicode nameMODI LETTER VANANDINAGARI LETTER VASOYOMBO LETTER VASYLOTI NAGRI LETTER BOGUNJALA GONDI LETTER VAKAITHI LETTER VA
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode71210U+1162A72138U+119CA72318U+11A7E43035U+A81B73069U+11D6D69803U+110AB
UTF-8240 145 152 170F0 91 98 AA240 145 167 138F0 91 A7 8A240 145 169 190F0 91 A9 BE234 160 155EA A0 9B240 145 181 173F0 91 B5 AD240 145 130 171F0 91 82 AB
UTF-1655301 56874D805 DE2A55302 56778D806 DDCA55302 56958D806 DE7E43035A81B55303 56685D807 DD6D55300 56491D804 DCAB
Numeric character reference&#71210;&#x1162A;&#72138;&#x119CA;&#72318;&#x11A7E;&#43035;&#xA81B;&#73069;&#x11D6D;&#69803;&#x110AB;


Character information
Preview𑒫𑲅
Unicode nameTIRHUTA LETTER VALEPCHA LETTER VALIMBU LETTER WAMEETEI MAYEK LETTER WAIMARCHEN LETTER WA
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode70827U+114AB7199U+1C1F6424U+191843979U+ABCB72837U+11C85
UTF-8240 145 146 171F0 91 92 AB225 176 159E1 B0 9F225 164 152E1 A4 98234 175 139EA AF 8B240 145 178 133F0 91 B2 85
UTF-1655301 56491D805 DCAB71991C1F6424191843979ABCB55303 56453D807 DC85
Numeric character reference&#70827;&#x114AB;&#7199;&#x1C1F;&#6424;&#x1918;&#43979;&#xABCB;&#72837;&#x11C85;


Character information
Preview𑚦𑠦𑈨𑋛𑅯𑊤
Unicode nameTAKRI LETTER VADOGRA LETTER VAKHOJKI LETTER VAKHUDAWADI LETTER VAMAHAJANI LETTER VAMULTANI LETTER VA
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode71334U+116A671718U+1182670184U+1122870363U+112DB69999U+1116F70308U+112A4
UTF-8240 145 154 166F0 91 9A A6240 145 160 166F0 91 A0 A6240 145 136 168F0 91 88 A8240 145 139 155F0 91 8B 9B240 145 133 175F0 91 85 AF240 145 138 164F0 91 8A A4
UTF-1655301 56998D805 DEA655302 56358D806 DC2655300 56872D804 DE2855300 57051D804 DEDB55300 56687D804 DD6F55300 56996D804 DEA4
Numeric character reference&#71334;&#x116A6;&#71718;&#x11826;&#70184;&#x11228;&#70363;&#x112DB;&#69999;&#x1116F;&#70308;&#x112A4;


Character information
Preview𑻯
Unicode nameBALINESE LETTER WABATAK LETTER WABUGINESE LETTER VAJAVANESE LETTER WAMAKASAR LETTER VAREJANG LETTER WASUNDANESE LETTER WA
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode6959U+1B2F7115U+1BCB6675U+1A1343438U+A9AE73455U+11EEF43328U+A9407069U+1B9D
UTF-8225 172 175E1 AC AF225 175 139E1 AF 8B225 168 147E1 A8 93234 166 174EA A6 AE240 145 187 175F0 91 BB AF234 165 128EA A5 80225 174 157E1 AE 9D
UTF-1669591B2F71151BCB66751A1343438A9AE55303 57071D807 DEEF43328A94070691B9D
Numeric character reference&#6959;&#x1B2F;&#7115;&#x1BCB;&#6675;&#x1A13;&#43438;&#xA9AE;&#73455;&#x11EEF;&#43328;&#xA940;&#7069;&#x1B9D;


Character information
Preview𑴨
Unicode nameTAGALOG LETTER WATAGBANWA LETTER WABUHID LETTER WAHANUNOO LETTER WAMASARAM GONDI LETTER VA
Encodingsdecimalhexdechexdechexdechexdechex
Unicode5903U+170F5999U+176F5967U+174F5935U+172F73000U+11D28
UTF-8225 156 143E1 9C 8F225 157 175E1 9D AF225 157 143E1 9D 8F225 156 175E1 9C AF240 145 180 168F0 91 B4 A8
UTF-165903170F5999176F5967174F5935172F55303 56616D807 DD28
Numeric character reference&#5903;&#x170F;&#5999;&#x176F;&#5967;&#x174F;&#5935;&#x172F;&#73000;&#x11D28;



References edit

  1. ^ Ifrah, Georges (2000). The Universal History of Numbers. From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 447–450. ISBN 0-471-39340-1.
  2. ^ a b Bühler, Georg (1898). "On the Origin of the Indian Brahmi Alphabet". archive.org. Karl J. Trübner. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  3. ^ Evolutionary chart, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, 1838 [1]
  4. ^ Pall, Peeter. "Microsoft Word - kblhi2" (PDF). Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  5. ^ "The Bengali Alphabet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-28.
  6. ^ a b ALA-LC Romanization Tables, Khmer, rev. 2012.
  7. ^ Pali (in various scripts) romanization table (ALA-LC)
  8. ^ [https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/lao.pdf Lao romanization table (ALA-LC)
^note Conjuncts are identified by IAST transliteration, except aspirated consonants are indicated with a superscript "h" to distinguish from an unaspirated cononant + Ha, and the use of the IPA "ŋ" and "ʃ" instead of the less dinstinctive "ṅ" and "ś".