Va (Indic)

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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)

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 Gupta allahabad v.svg. It is generally romanized as "Va" in scripts for Indic languages, but as "Wa" in many scripts for other language families.

Āryabhaṭa numeration

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

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, Va was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta Va. The Tocharian Va Va had an alternate Fremdzeichen form, Va. The third form of va, in Kharoshthi (Va) was probably derived from Aramaic separately from the Brahmi letter.

Brahmi Va

The Brahmi letter Va, Va, is probably derived from the Aramaic Waw Waw.svg, and is thus related to the modern Latin F, V, U, W, Y, and Greek Upsilon.[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Va can be found, most associated with a specific set of inscriptions from an artifact or diverse records from an historic period.[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)
Brahmi v.svg Gupta girnar v.svg Gupta ashoka v.svg Gupta gujarat v.svg Gupta allahabad v.svg

Tocharian Va

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

Tocharian Va with vowel marks
Va Vi Vu Vr Vr̄ Ve Vai Vo Vau Fremdzeichen
Tocharian letter va.gif Tocharian letter vaa.gif Tocharian letter vi.gif Tocharian letter vii.gif Tocharian letter vu.gif Tocharian letter vuu.gif Tocharian letter vr.gif Tocharian letter ve.gif Tocharian letter vai.gif Tocharian letter vo.gif Tocharian letter vau.gif Tocharian letter vä.gif Tocharian letter và.gif

Kharoṣṭhī Va

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

Devanagari Va

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

Devanagari-using Languages

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

Devanagari व with vowel marks
Va Vi Vu Vr Vr̄ Vl Vl̄ Ve Vai Vo Vau V
वा वि वी वु वू वृ वॄ वॢ वॣ वे वै वो वौ व्

Conjuncts with व

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

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 Ra for an initial "R" instead of repha.

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

Devanagari Conjunct RVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct Eyelash RVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct VNa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct VRa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct DDhVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct DVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct DVYa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct RDVa.svg

Stacked conjuncts of व

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:

Devanagari Conjunct BVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct ChVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct CVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct DdhVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct DdVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct HVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct JhVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct JJVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct KhVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct KTVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct KVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct LlVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct LVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct NgVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct NyVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct PhVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct RSVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct ShVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct SsTtVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct SVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct TthVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct TtVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct TTVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct TVa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct VBa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct VCa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct VCha.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct VDda.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct VGa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct VJa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct VJNya.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct VKa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct VLa.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct VNga.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct VNya.svg

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

Devanagari Conjunct VVa.svg

Bengali Va

The Bengali script ব is derived from the Siddhaṃ Siddham v.svg, 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
ba bi bu br br̄ be bai bo bau b
বা বি বী বু বূ বৃ বৄ বে বৈ বো বৌ ব্

ব in Bengali-using languages

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

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

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:

Bengali Conjunct BHva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Cchva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Cva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct DDva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Ddva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Dva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Gva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Jjva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Jva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct KHva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Kssva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Kva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Lva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Mva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Ndva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Ntva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Nva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Rdva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Rshva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct SHva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct SSva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Stva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Sva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct THva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct TTva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Ttva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Tva.svg

Other ব conjuncts

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:

Bengali Conjunct DHva.svg

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

Bengali Conjunct Rdhva.svg

  • 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:

Bengali Conjunct Mvra.svg

Gujarati Va

Gujarati Va.

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

Gujarati-using Languages

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:

Va Vi Vu Vr Vl Vr̄ Vl̄ Ve Vai Vo Vau V
Gujarati Va Matras.svg
Gujarati Va syllables, with vowel marks in red.

Conjuncts with વ

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:

Gujarati conjunct RVa.svg

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

Gujarati conjunct VRa.svg

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

Gujarati conjunct TtVa.svg

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

Gujarati conjunct DdVa.svg

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

Gujarati conjunct DVa.svg

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

Gujarati conjunct VNa.svg

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

Gujarati conjunct ShVa.svg

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

Gujarati conjunct HVa.svg

Telugu Va

Telugu Va
Telugu subjoined Va
Telugu independent and subjoined Va.

Va () is a consonant of the Telugu abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter V. 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

Malayalam letter Va

Va () is a consonant of the Malayalam abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter V, via the Grantha letter Va 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

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:

Malayalam conjunct VVa.svg

Odia Wa

Odia independent letter Wa
Odia subjoined letter Wa
Odia independent and subjoined letter Wa.

Wa () is a consonant of the Odia abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter Brahmi v.svg, via the Siddhaṃ letter Va 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
Wa Wi Wu Wr̥ Wr̥̄ Wl̥ Wl̥̄ We Wai Wo Wau W
ୱା ୱି ୱୀ ୱୁ ୱୂ ୱୃ ୱୄ ୱୢ ୱୣ ୱେ ୱୈ ୱୋ ୱୌ ୱ୍

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.

Khmer Vo

style="text-align:center" | style="text-align:center" | ្វ style="text-align:center" |
Independent Subscript ua
Khmer independent and subjoined letter Vo.

Vo () is a consonant of the Khmer abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter Brahmi v.svg, via the Pallava letter Va 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
Va Vi Vu Vr̥ Vr̥̄ Vl̥ Vl̥̄ Ve Vai Vo Vau Vẏ Vua Voe Vẏa Via Vae
វា វិ វី វុ វូ វ្ឫ វ្ឬ វ្ឭ វ្ឮ វេ វៃ វោ វៅ វឹ វឺ វួ វើ វឿ វៀ វែ វៈ

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

Tai Tham independent letter Wa
Tai Tham subscript letter Wa
Tai Tham superscript letter Wa
Tai Tham independent, subjoined and superscript letter Wa.

Wa () is a consonant of the Tai Tham abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter Brahmi v.svg, via the Pallava letter Va 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 type Va Vi Vư̄ Vu
Closed or open ᩅᩤ ᩅᩥ ᩅᩦ ᩅᩧ ᩅᩨ ᩅᩩ ᩅᩪ ᩅᩮ ᩅᩯ ᩅᩮᩤ
Vai Vaư Vau Vō̹i
Open ᩅᩱ ᩅᩲ ᩅᩮᩢᩤ ᩅᩮᩫᩢᩤ ᩅᩮᩫᩤ ᩅᩳ ᩅᩭ
Vo Va Vœ̄ Vō̹ Vo̹
Open ᩅᩰᩡ ᩅᩡ ᩅᩰ ᩅᩮᩬᩥ ᩅᩮᩦ ᩅᩬᩴ ᩅᩴ ᩅᩬᩳ ᩅᩳ ᩅᩰᩬᩡ ᩅᩰᩬ
Closed ᩅᩫ ᩅᩢ ᩅᩰᩫ ᩅᩮᩥ ᩅᩮᩦ ᩅᩬ ᩅᩬᩢ
Vūa Vīa Vư̄a
Open ᩅ᩠ᩅᩫ ᩅ᩠ᨿᩮ ᩅᩮᩢ᩠ᨿ ᩅᩮᩬᩥᩋ ᩅᩮᩬᩨᩋ ᩅᩮᩬᩨ
Closed ᩅ᩠ᩅ ᩅ᩠ᨿ ᩅᩮᩬᩥ ᩅᩮᩬᩨ

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 (Lanna subscript wa.svg), subscript ya (Lanna subscript ya.svg), subscript a (Lanna subscript a.svg) or even the letter a (Lanna Letter a.svg) itself. Anusvara (Lanna final w.svg) and visarga (Lanna visarga dc.svg) 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 (Lanna final k.svg) 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. ᩉᩥ᩠ᩅ '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 Lanna muat 31.svg <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. Lanna luang 31.svg - two stacks of (1) ha, la, wa all stacked vertically and (2) ṅa;
  2. Lanna luang 31k.svg - 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 - Lanna luang 31k im.svg;
  3. Lanna luang 22.svg - 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

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
Va
Kharoṣṭhī
𐨬
Ashoka Brahmi
Va
Kushana Brahmi[a]
Va
Tocharian[b]
Va / Va
Gupta Brahmi
Va
Pallava
Va
Kadamba
-
Bhaiksuki
𑰪
Siddhaṃ
Va
Grantha
𑌵
Cham
Sinhala
Pyu /
Old Mon[c]
-
Tibetan
Newa
𑐰
Ahom
-
Malayalam
Telugu
Burmese
Lepcha
Ranjana
Va
Saurashtra
Dives Akuru
𑤩
Kannada
Kayah Li
Limbu
Soyombo[d]
𑩾
Khmer
Tamil
Va
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
Va
'Phags-pa
Odia
Sharada
𑆮
Rejang
Batak
Buginese
Zanabazar Square
𑨭
Bengali-Assamese
Va
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
Va
Nandinagari
𑧊
Kaithi
𑂫
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

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 Devanagari व.svg Bengali Letter Ba.svg Tamil-alphabet-வவ.svg
Unicode name DEVANAGARI LETTER VA BENGALI LETTER BA TAMIL LETTER VA TELUGU LETTER VA ORIYA LETTER VA KANNADA LETTER VA MALAYALAM LETTER VA GUJARATI LETTER VA GURMUKHI LETTER VA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 2357 U+0935 2476 U+09AC 2997 U+0BB5 3125 U+0C35 2869 U+0B35 3253 U+0CB5 3381 U+0D35 2741 U+0AB5 2613 U+0A35
UTF-8 224 164 181 E0 A4 B5 224 166 172 E0 A6 AC 224 174 181 E0 AE B5 224 176 181 E0 B0 B5 224 172 181 E0 AC B5 224 178 181 E0 B2 B5 224 180 181 E0 B4 B5 224 170 181 E0 AA B5 224 168 181 E0 A8 B5
Numeric character reference &#2357; &#x935; &#2476; &#x9AC; &#2997; &#xBB5; &#3125; &#xC35; &#2869; &#xB35; &#3253; &#xCB5; &#3381; &#xD35; &#2741; &#xAB5; &#2613; &#xA35;
ISCII 212 D4 212 D4 212 D4 212 D4 212 D4 212 D4 212 D4 212 D4 212 D4


Character information
Preview
AshokaBrahmi v.svg
KushanaGupta ashoka v.svg
GuptaGupta allahabad v.svg
𐨬 Siddham v.svg 𑌵
Unicode name BRAHMI LETTER VA KHAROSHTHI LETTER VA SIDDHAM LETTER VA GRANTHA LETTER VA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 69679 U+1102F 68140 U+10A2C 71082 U+115AA 70453 U+11335
UTF-8 240 145 128 175 F0 91 80 AF 240 144 168 172 F0 90 A8 AC 240 145 150 170 F0 91 96 AA 240 145 140 181 F0 91 8C B5
UTF-16 55300 56367 D804 DC2F 55298 56876 D802 DE2C 55301 56746 D805 DDAA 55300 57141 D804 DF35
Numeric character reference &#69679; &#x1102F; &#68140; &#x10A2C; &#71082; &#x115AA; &#70453; &#x11335;


Character information
Preview 𑨭 𑐰 𑰪 𑆮
Unicode name TIBETAN LETTER WA TIBETAN SUBJOINED LETTER WA PHAGS-PA LETTER WA ZANABAZAR SQUARE LETTER VA NEWA LETTER WA BHAIKSUKI LETTER VA SHARADA LETTER VA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 3933 U+0F5D 4013 U+0FAD 43091 U+A853 72237 U+11A2D 70704 U+11430 72746 U+11C2A 70062 U+111AE
UTF-8 224 189 157 E0 BD 9D 224 190 173 E0 BE AD 234 161 147 EA A1 93 240 145 168 173 F0 91 A8 AD 240 145 144 176 F0 91 90 B0 240 145 176 170 F0 91 B0 AA 240 145 134 174 F0 91 86 AE
UTF-16 3933 0F5D 4013 0FAD 43091 A853 55302 56877 D806 DE2D 55301 56368 D805 DC30 55303 56362 D807 DC2A 55300 56750 D804 DDAE
Numeric character reference &#3933; &#xF5D; &#4013; &#xFAD; &#43091; &#xA853; &#72237; &#x11A2D; &#70704; &#x11430; &#72746; &#x11C2A; &#70062; &#x111AE;


Character information
Preview
Unicode name MYANMAR LETTER WA TAI THAM LETTER WA TAI THAM SIGN MAI KANG NEW TAI LUE LETTER LOW VA NEW TAI LUE LETTER HIGH VA NEW TAI LUE LETTER FINAL V
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 4125 U+101D 6725 U+1A45 6772 U+1A74 6558 U+199E 6555 U+199B 6593 U+19C1
UTF-8 225 128 157 E1 80 9D 225 169 133 E1 A9 85 225 169 180 E1 A9 B4 225 166 158 E1 A6 9E 225 166 155 E1 A6 9B 225 167 129 E1 A7 81
Numeric character reference &#4125; &#x101D; &#6725; &#x1A45; &#6772; &#x1A74; &#6558; &#x199E; &#6555; &#x199B; &#6593; &#x19C1;


Character information
Preview
Unicode name KHMER LETTER VO KHMER VOWEL SIGN UA LAO LETTER WO THAI CHARACTER WO WAEN TAI VIET LETTER HIGH VO TAI VIET LETTER LOW VO
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 6044 U+179C 6077 U+17BD 3751 U+0EA7 3623 U+0E27 43691 U+AAAB 43690 U+AAAA
UTF-8 225 158 156 E1 9E 9C 225 158 189 E1 9E BD 224 186 167 E0 BA A7 224 184 167 E0 B8 A7 234 170 171 EA AA AB 234 170 170 EA AA AA
Numeric character reference &#6044; &#x179C; &#6077; &#x17BD; &#3751; &#xEA7; &#3623; &#xE27; &#43691; &#xAAAB; &#43690; &#xAAAA;


Character information
Preview 𑄤 𑤩
Unicode name SINHALA LETTER VAYANNA KAYAH LI LETTER VA CHAKMA LETTER WAA TAI LE LETTER VA DIVES AKURU LETTER VA SAURASHTRA LETTER VA CHAM LETTER VA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 3520 U+0DC0 43296 U+A920 69924 U+11124 6493 U+195D 71977 U+11929 43182 U+A8AE 43557 U+AA25
UTF-8 224 183 128 E0 B7 80 234 164 160 EA A4 A0 240 145 132 164 F0 91 84 A4 225 165 157 E1 A5 9D 240 145 164 169 F0 91 A4 A9 234 162 174 EA A2 AE 234 168 165 EA A8 A5
UTF-16 3520 0DC0 43296 A920 55300 56612 D804 DD24 6493 195D 55302 56617 D806 DD29 43182 A8AE 43557 AA25
Numeric character reference &#3520; &#xDC0; &#43296; &#xA920; &#69924; &#x11124; &#6493; &#x195D; &#71977; &#x11929; &#43182; &#xA8AE; &#43557; &#xAA25;


Character information
Preview 𑘪 𑧊 𑩾 𑵭 𑂫
Unicode name MODI LETTER VA NANDINAGARI LETTER VA SOYOMBO LETTER VA SYLOTI NAGRI LETTER BO GUNJALA GONDI LETTER VA KAITHI LETTER VA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 71210 U+1162A 72138 U+119CA 72318 U+11A7E 43035 U+A81B 73069 U+11D6D 69803 U+110AB
UTF-8 240 145 152 170 F0 91 98 AA 240 145 167 138 F0 91 A7 8A 240 145 169 190 F0 91 A9 BE 234 160 155 EA A0 9B 240 145 181 173 F0 91 B5 AD 240 145 130 171 F0 91 82 AB
UTF-16 55301 56874 D805 DE2A 55302 56778 D806 DDCA 55302 56958 D806 DE7E 43035 A81B 55303 56685 D807 DD6D 55300 56491 D804 DCAB
Numeric character reference &#71210; &#x1162A; &#72138; &#x119CA; &#72318; &#x11A7E; &#43035; &#xA81B; &#73069; &#x11D6D; &#69803; &#x110AB;


Character information
Preview 𑒫 𑲅
Unicode name TIRHUTA LETTER VA LEPCHA LETTER VA LIMBU LETTER WA MEETEI MAYEK LETTER WAI MARCHEN LETTER WA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 70827 U+114AB 7199 U+1C1F 6424 U+1918 43979 U+ABCB 72837 U+11C85
UTF-8 240 145 146 171 F0 91 92 AB 225 176 159 E1 B0 9F 225 164 152 E1 A4 98 234 175 139 EA AF 8B 240 145 178 133 F0 91 B2 85
UTF-16 55301 56491 D805 DCAB 7199 1C1F 6424 1918 43979 ABCB 55303 56453 D807 DC85
Numeric character reference &#70827; &#x114AB; &#7199; &#x1C1F; &#6424; &#x1918; &#43979; &#xABCB; &#72837; &#x11C85;


Character information
Preview 𑚦 𑠦 𑈨 𑋛 𑅯 𑊤
Unicode name TAKRI LETTER VA DOGRA LETTER VA KHOJKI LETTER VA KHUDAWADI LETTER VA MAHAJANI LETTER VA MULTANI LETTER VA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 71334 U+116A6 71718 U+11826 70184 U+11228 70363 U+112DB 69999 U+1116F 70308 U+112A4
UTF-8 240 145 154 166 F0 91 9A A6 240 145 160 166 F0 91 A0 A6 240 145 136 168 F0 91 88 A8 240 145 139 155 F0 91 8B 9B 240 145 133 175 F0 91 85 AF 240 145 138 164 F0 91 8A A4
UTF-16 55301 56998 D805 DEA6 55302 56358 D806 DC26 55300 56872 D804 DE28 55300 57051 D804 DEDB 55300 56687 D804 DD6F 55300 56996 D804 DEA4
Numeric character reference &#71334; &#x116A6; &#71718; &#x11826; &#70184; &#x11228; &#70363; &#x112DB; &#69999; &#x1116F; &#70308; &#x112A4;


Character information
Preview 𑻯
Unicode name BALINESE LETTER WA BATAK LETTER WA BUGINESE LETTER VA JAVANESE LETTER WA MAKASAR LETTER VA REJANG LETTER WA SUNDANESE LETTER WA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 6959 U+1B2F 7115 U+1BCB 6675 U+1A13 43438 U+A9AE 73455 U+11EEF 43328 U+A940 7069 U+1B9D
UTF-8 225 172 175 E1 AC AF 225 175 139 E1 AF 8B 225 168 147 E1 A8 93 234 166 174 EA A6 AE 240 145 187 175 F0 91 BB AF 234 165 128 EA A5 80 225 174 157 E1 AE 9D
UTF-16 6959 1B2F 7115 1BCB 6675 1A13 43438 A9AE 55303 57071 D807 DEEF 43328 A940 7069 1B9D
Numeric character reference &#6959; &#x1B2F; &#7115; &#x1BCB; &#6675; &#x1A13; &#43438; &#xA9AE; &#73455; &#x11EEF; &#43328; &#xA940; &#7069; &#x1B9D;


Character information
Preview 𑴨
Unicode name TAGALOG LETTER WA TAGBANWA LETTER WA BUHID LETTER WA HANUNOO LETTER WA MASARAM GONDI LETTER VA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 5903 U+170F 5999 U+176F 5967 U+174F 5935 U+172F 73000 U+11D28
UTF-8 225 156 143 E1 9C 8F 225 157 175 E1 9D AF 225 157 143 E1 9D 8F 225 156 175 E1 9C AF 240 145 180 168 F0 91 B4 A8
UTF-16 5903 170F 5999 176F 5967 174F 5935 172F 55303 56616 D807 DD28
Numeric character reference &#5903; &#x170F; &#5999; &#x176F; &#5967; &#x174F; &#5935; &#x172F; &#73000; &#x11D28;



References

  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".