Gha (Indic)

Gha is the fourth consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, gha is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter , which is probably derived from the Aramaic ("H/X") after having gone through the Gupta letter .

← Ga		Gha			Ṅa →
Devanagari	Ashoka Brahmi		Tibetan	Bengali		Tamil
0918	11016		གྷ 0F43	0998		- --
Gurmukhi	Thai		Baybayin	Malayalam		Sinhala
ਘ 0A18	ฆ 0E06		- --	ഘ 0D18		ඝ 0D9D
Ancient scripts Ashoka Brahmi Kushana Brahmi Gupta Brahmi Tocharian 11016 𑀖 11016 11016 -- Kharoṣṭhī Siddhaṃ Sharada Grantha 𐨓 10A13 11592 𑆔 11194 𑌘 11318
Bangla and Tibetan scripts Ashoka Brahmi Gupta Brahmi Tibetan Bengali 11016 11016 གྷ 0F43 0998 'Phags-pa Oriya Limbu Lepcha Marchen - -- ଘ 0B18 ᤄ 1904 - -- - -- Siddhaṃ Pracalit Tirhuta Zanabazar Square 11592 𑐑 11411 𑒒 11492 𑨎 11A0E Note: Korean Hangul is an alphabet, not an Indic abugida, but appears to ultimately have some derivation from 'Phags-pa.
Sharada-based scripts Sharada Ashoka Brahmi Gupta Brahmi Takri Dogra 𑆔 11194 11016 11016 𑚍 1168D 𑠍 1180D Gurmukhi Khudawadi Mahajani Khojki Multani ਘ 0A18 𑊾 112BE 𑅘 11158 𑈌 1120C 𑊈 11288
Nagaris and other Gupta-based scripts Ashoka Brahmi Gupta Brahmi Devanagari 11016 11016 0918 Gujarati Kaithi Syloti Nagari Modi ઘ 0A98 𑂐 11090 ꠊ A80A 𑘑 11611 Nandinagari Gunjala Gondi Soyombo Bhaiksuki 𑦱 119B1 𑩟 11A5F 𑵷 11D77 𑰑 11C11
Kawi scripts Grantha Baybayin Tagbanwa Hanunó'o Buhid 𑌘 11318 - -- - -- - -- - -- Balinese Javanese Batak Lontara Rejang ᬖ 1B16 ꦓ A993 - -- - -- - -- Ashoka Brahmi Sundanese Makasar Chakma 11016 - -- - -- - --
Tai and Khmer scripts Ashoka Brahmi Grantha Khmer Lao 11016 𑌘 11318 ឃ 1783 - -- Thai Tai Tham Tai Viet Tai Le New Tai Lü ฆ 0E06 ᨥ 1A25 - -- - -- - --
Other Grantha-based scripts Ashoka Brahmi Grantha Ahom Dives Akuru 11016 𑌘 11318 𑜗 11717 𑤏 1190F Malayalam Saurashtra Cham Burmese Kayah Li ഘ 0D18 ꢕ A895 ꨉ AA09 ဃ 1003 - --
Other Brahmic scripts Ashoka Brahmi Masaram Gondi Meetei Mayek 11016 𑴏 11D0F ꯘ ABD8 Tamil Kannada Sinhala Telugu - -- ඝ 0D9D ఘ 0C18 ಘ 0C98
Phonemic representation:				/gʱ/
IAST transliteration:				gha Gha
ISCII code point:				B6 (182)

Āryabhaṭa numeration

Further information: 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 घ are:[1]

• घ [gʱə] = 4 (४)
• घि [gʱɪ] = 400 (४००)
• घु [gʱʊ] = 40,000 (४० ०००)
• घृ [gʱri] = 4,000,000 (४० ०० ०००)
• घॢ [gʱlə] = 4×10⁸ (४०^८)
• घे [gʱe] = 4×10¹⁰ (४०^१०)
• घै [gʱɛː] = 4×10¹² (४०^१२)
• घो [gʱoː] = 4×10¹⁴ (४०^१४)
• घौ [gʱɔː] = 4×10¹⁶ (४०^१६)

Historic Gha

There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Gha as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta . The Tocharian Gha did not have an alterante Fremdzeichen form. The third form of gha, in Kharoshthi () was probably derived from Aramaic separately from the Brahmi letter.

Brahmi Gha

The Brahmi letter , Gha, is probably derived from the Aramaic Heth , and is thus related to the modern Latin H and Greek Eta. Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Gha can be found, most associated with a specific set of inscriptions from an artifact or diverse records from an historic period.[2] 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 Gha historic forms

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

Tocharian Gha

The Tocharian letter is derived from the Brahmi , but does not have an alternate Fremdzeichen form.

Tocharian Gha with vowel marks

Gha	Ghā	Ghi	Ghī	Ghu	Ghū	Ghr	Ghr̄	Ghe	Ghai	Gho	Ghau	Ghä

Kharoṣṭhī Gha

The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the Aramaic Heth , and is thus related to H and Eta, in addition to the Brahmi Gha.

Devanagari script

Gha (घ) is the fourth 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 ઘ and the Modi letter 𑘑.

Devanagari-using Languages

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

Devanagari घ with vowel marks

Gha	Ghā	Ghi	Ghī	Ghu	Ghū	Ghr	Ghr̄	Ghl	Ghl̄	Ghe	Ghai	Gho	Ghau	Gh
घ	घा	घि	घी	घु	घू	घृ	घॄ	घॢ	घॣ	घे	घै	घो	घौ	घ्

Conjuncts with घ

Half form of Gha.

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.[3]

Ligature conjuncts of घ

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.

• र্ (r) + घ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature rɡʱa:

• घ্ (ɡʱ) + र (ra) gives us the ligature ɡʱra:

• घ্ (ɡʱ) + न (na) gives us the ligature ɡʱna:

• द্ (d) + घ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature dɡʱa:

Stacked conjuncts of घ

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.

• छ্ (cʰ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature cʰɡʱa:

• ढ্ (ḍʱ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature ḍʱɡʱa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature ḍɡʱa:

• घ্ (ɡʱ) + च (ca) gives us the ligature ɡʱca:

• घ্ (ɡʱ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature ɡʱḍa:

• घ্ (ɡʱ) + ज (ja) gives us the ligature ɡʱja:

• घ্ (ɡʱ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature ɡʱjña:

• घ্ (ɡʱ) + ल (la) gives us the ligature ɡʱla:

• घ্ (ɡʱ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature ɡʱŋa:

• घ্ (ɡʱ) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature ɡʱña:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature ŋɡʱa:

• ट্ (ṭ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature ṭɡʱa:

• ठ্ (ṭʰ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature ṭʰɡʱa:

Bengali script

The Bengali script ঘ is derived from the Siddhaṃ , and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, घ. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter ঘ will sometimes be transliterated as "gho" instead of "gha". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /ɡʱo/.

Like all Indic consonants, ঘ can be modified by marks to indicate another (or no) vowel than its inherent "a".

Bengali ঘ with vowel marks

gha	ghā	ghi	ghī	ghu	ghū	ghr	ghr̄	ghe	ghai	gho	ghau	gh
ঘ	ঘা	ঘি	ঘী	ঘু	ঘূ	ঘৃ	ঘৄ	ঘে	ঘৈ	ঘো	ঘৌ	ঘ্

ঘ in Bengali-using languages

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

Conjuncts with ঘ

Bengali ঘ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with both stacked ligatures being common.[4]

• দ্ (d) + ঘ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature dɡʱa:

• ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + ন (na) gives us the ligature ɡʱna:

• ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ɡʱra, with the ra phala suffix:

• ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ɡʱya, with the ya phala suffix:

• ঙ্ (ŋ) + ঘ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature ŋɡʱa:

• ঙ্ (ŋ) + ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ŋɡʱra, with the ra phala suffix:

• ঙ্ (ŋ) + ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ŋɡʱya, with the ya phala suffix:

• র্ (r) + ঘ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature rɡʱa, with the repha prefix:

• র্ (r) + ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature rɡʱya, with the repha prefix and ya phala suffix:

Gurmukhi script

Kagaa [kə̀gːɑ] (ਘ) is the ninth letter of the Gurmukhi alphabet. Its name is [kʰəkʰːɑ] and pronounced as /kə̀/. To differentiate between consonants, the Punjabi tonal consonant kà is often transliterated in the way of the Hindi voiced aspirate consonants gha although Punjabi does not have this sound. It is derived from the Laṇḍā letter gha, and ultimately from the Brahmi ga. Gurmukhi kagaa does not have a special pairin or addha (reduced) form for making conjuncts, and in modern Punjabi texts do not take a half form or halant to indicate the bare consonant /k/, although Gurmukhi Sanskrit texts may use an explicit halant.

Gujarati script

Gha (ઘ) is the fourth consonant of the Gujarati script. It is derived from 16th century Devanagari letter gha (घ) with the top bar (shiro rekha) removed. Like most Gujarati letters, it forms conjunct clusters with a half-form, where the vertical stem on the right is dropped and the remaining letter body appended to the following letter. ઘ (gha) is similar in appearance to ધ (dha).

Thai script

Kho ra-khang (ฆ) is the sixth letter of the Thai alphabet. It falls under the low class of Thai consonants. In IPA, kho ra-khang is pronounced as [kʰ] at the beginning of a syllable and is pronounced as [k̚] at the end of a syllable. The second and third letters of the alphabet, kho khai (ข) and kho khuat (ฃ), are also named kho, however, they all fall under the high class of Thai consonants. The fourth and the fifth letters of the alphabet, kho khwai (ค), kho khon (ฅ), and kho ra-khang (ฆ), are also named kho and fall under the low class of Thai consonants. Unlike many Indic scripts, Thai consonants do not form conjunct ligatures, and use the pinthu—an explicit virama with a dot shape—to indicate bare consonants. In the acrophony of the Thai script, ra-khang (ระฆัง) means ‘bell’. Kho ra-khang corresponds to the Sanskrit character ‘घ’.

See also

• Heth

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. Evolutionary chart, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, 1838
3. Pall, Peeter. "Microsoft Word - kblhi2" (PDF). Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
4. "The Bengali Alphabet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-28.

• Kurt Elfering: Die Mathematik des Aryabhata I. Text, Übersetzung aus dem Sanskrit und Kommentar. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, München, 1975, ISBN 3-7705-1326-6
• Georges Ifrah: The Universal History of Numbers. From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2000, ISBN 0-471-39340-1.
• B. L. van der Waerden: Erwachende Wissenschaft. Ägyptische, babylonische und griechische Mathematik. Birkhäuser-Verlag, Basel Stuttgart, 1966, ISBN 3-7643-0399-9
• Fleet, J. F. (January 1911). "Aryabhata's System of Expressing Numbers". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: 109–126. ISSN 0035-869X. JSTOR 25189823.
• Fleet, J. F. (1911). "Aryabhata's System of Expressing Numbers". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 43: 109–126. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00040995. JSTOR 25189823.