Ṇa (Indic)

Ṇa (also romanized as Nna) is a consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Nnaa is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter . As with the other cerebral consonants, ṇa is not found in most scripts for Tai, Sino-Tibetan, and other non-Indic languages, except for a few scripts, which retain these letters for transcribing Sanskrit religious terms.

← Ḍha		Ṇa			Ta →
Devanagari	Ashoka Brahmi		Tibetan	Bengali		Tamil
0923	11021		ཎ 0F4E	09A3		0BA3
Gurmukhi	Thai		Baybayin	Malayalam		Sinhala
ਣ 0A23	- --		- --	ണ 0D23		ණ 0DAB
Ancient scripts Ashoka Brahmi Kushana Brahmi Gupta Brahmi Tocharian 11021 𑀡 11021 11021 -- Kharoṣṭhī Siddhaṃ Sharada Grantha 𐨞 10A1E 1159C 𑆟 1119F 𑌣 11323
Bangla and Tibetan scripts Ashoka Brahmi Gupta Brahmi Tibetan Bengali 11021 11021 ཎ 0F4E 09A3 'Phags-pa Oriya Limbu Lepcha Marchen ꡬ A86C ଣ 0B23 - -- - -- 𑱹 11C79 Siddhaṃ Pracalit Tirhuta Zanabazar Square 1159C 𑐘 11418 𑒝 1149D 𑨓 11A13 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 𑆟 1119F 11021 11021 𑚘 11698 𑠓 11813 Gurmukhi Khudawadi Mahajani Khojki Multani ਣ 0A23 𑋌 112CC 𑅢 11162 𑈘 11218 𑊏 1128F
Nagaris and other Gupta-based scripts Ashoka Brahmi Gupta Brahmi Devanagari 11021 11021 0923 Gujarati Kaithi Syloti Nagari Modi ણ 0AA3 𑂝 1109D - -- 𑘜 1161C Nandinagari Gunjala Gondi Soyombo Bhaiksuki 𑦷 119B7 𑩥 11A65 - -- 𑰗 11C17
Kawi scripts Grantha Baybayin Tagbanwa Hanunó'o Buhid 𑌣 11323 - -- - -- - -- - -- Balinese Javanese Batak Lontara Rejang ᬡ 1B21 ꦟ A99F ᯠ 1BE0 - -- - -- Ashoka Brahmi Sundanese Makasar Chakma 11021 - -- 𑻫 11EEB 𑻫 11EEB
Tai and Khmer scripts Ashoka Brahmi Grantha Khmer Lao 11021 𑌣 11323 ណ 178E - -- Thai Tai Tham Tai Viet Tai Le New Tai Lü - -- - -- - -- - -- - --
Other Grantha-based scripts Ashoka Brahmi Grantha Ahom Dives Akuru 11021 𑌣 11323 𑜐 11710 𑤕 11915 Malayalam Saurashtra Cham Burmese Kayah Li ണ 0D23 ꢠ A8A0 - -- ဏ 100F - --
Other Brahmic scripts Ashoka Brahmi Masaram Gondi Meetei Mayek 11021 𑴕 11D15 - -- Tamil Kannada Sinhala Telugu 0BA3 ණ 0DAB ణ 0C23 ಣ 0CA3
Phonemic representation:				/ɳ/ /n̳/
IAST transliteration:				ṇ Ṇ
ISCII code point:				C1 (193)

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 ण are:[1]

• ण [ɳə] = 15 (१५)
• णि [ɳɪ] = 1,500 (१ ५००)
• णु [ɳʊ] = 150,000 (१ ५० ०००)
• णृ [ɳri] = 15,000,000 (१ ५० ०० ०००)
• णॢ [ɳlə] = 1,500,000,000 (१ ५० ०० ०० ०००)
• णे [ɳe] = 15×10¹⁰ (१५×१०^१०)
• णै [ɳɛː] = 15×10¹² (१५×१०^१२)
• णो [ɳoː] = 15×10¹⁴ (१५×१०^१४)
• णौ [ɳɔː] = 15×10¹⁶ (१५×१०^१६)

Historic Nna

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

Brahmi Nna

The Brahmi letter , Nna, is probably derived from the altered Aramaic Nun , and is thus related to the modern Latin N and Greek Nu.[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Nna 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 Nna historic forms

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

Tocharian Nna

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

Tocharian Nna with vowel marks

Nna	Nnā	Nni	Nnī	Nnu	Nnū	Nnr	Nnr̄	Nne	Nnai	Nno	Nnau	Nnä

Kharoṣṭhī Nna

The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the altered Aramaic Nun , and is thus related to N and Nu, in addition to the Brahmi Nna.[2]

Devanagari Nna

Ṇa (ण) 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 ણ, and the Modi letter 𑘜.

Devanagari-using Languages

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

Devanagari ण with vowel marks

Ṇa	Ṇā	Ṇi	Ṇī	Ṇu	Ṇū	Ṇr	Ṇr̄	Ṇl	Ṇl̄	Ṇe	Ṇai	Ṇo	Ṇau	Ṇ
ण	णा	णि	णी	णु	णू	णृ	णॄ	णॢ	णॣ	णे	णै	णो	णौ	ण्

Conjuncts with ण

Half form of Nna.

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 ण

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) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature rṇa:

• ण্ (ṇ) + र (ra) gives us the ligature ṇra:

• ण্ (ṇ) + न (na) gives us the ligature ṇna:

Stacked conjuncts of ण

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) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature cʰṇa:

• ढ্ (ḍʱ) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature ḍʱṇa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature ḍṇa:

• द্ (d) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature dṇa:

• ह্ (h) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature hṇa:

• ख্ (kʰ) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature kʰṇa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature ŋṇa:

• ण্ (ṇ) + ल (la) gives us the ligature ṇla:

• प্ (p) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature pṇa:

• ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature ṭʰṇa:

• ट্ (ṭ) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature ṭṇa:

Bengali Nna

The Bengali script ণ is derived from the Siddhaṃ , and is marked by a reduced head line, and less geometric shape than its Devanagari counterpart, ण. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter ণ will sometimes be transliterated as "nno" instead of "nna". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /n̳o/.

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

Bengali ণ with vowel marks

nna	nnā	nni	nnī	nnu	nnū	nnr	nnr̄	nne	nnai	nno	nnau	nn
ণ	ণা	ণি	ণী	ণু	ণূ	ণৃ	ণৄ	ণে	ণৈ	ণো	ণৌ	ণ্

ণ in Bengali-using languages

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

Conjuncts with ণ

Bengali ণ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, in the form of both stacked and linear (horizontal) ligatures.[5]

• গ্ (g) + ণ (ṇa) gives us the ligature gṇa:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + ড (ḍa) gives us the ligature ṇḍa:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + ঢ (ḍʱa) gives us the ligature ṇḍʱa:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + ড্ (ḍ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ṇḍra, with the ra phala suffix:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + ড্ (ḍ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ṇḍya, with the ya phala suffix:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + ম (ma) gives us the ligature ṇma:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + ণ (ṇa) gives us the ligature ṇṇa:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + ট (ṭa) gives us the ligature ṇṭa:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + ঠ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature ṇṭʰa:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + ঠ্ (ṭʰ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ṇṭʰya, with the ya phala suffix:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ṇya, with the ya phala suffix:

• র্ (r) + ণ (ṇa) gives us the ligature rṇa, with the repha prefix:

• র্ (r) + ণ্ (ṇ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature rṇya, with the repha prefix and ya phala suffix:

Javanese Nna

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. Bühler, Georg. "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
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.