Pa (Indic)

Pa is a consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Pa is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter .

← Na		Pa			Pha →
Devanagari	Ashoka Brahmi		Tibetan	Bengali		Tamil
092A	11027		0F54	09AA		0BAA
Gurmukhi	Thai		Baybayin	Malayalam		Sinhala
ਪ 0A2A	บ/ ป 0E1A / 0E1B		ᜉ 1709	പ 0D2A		ප 0DB4
Ancient scripts Ashoka Brahmi Kushana Brahmi Gupta Brahmi Tocharian 11027 𑀧 11027 11027 / -- Kharoṣṭhī Siddhaṃ Sharada Grantha 𐨤 10A24 115A2 𑆥 111A5 𑌪 1132A
Bangla and Tibetan scripts Ashoka Brahmi Gupta Brahmi Tibetan Bengali 11027 11027 0F54 09AA 'Phags-pa Oriya Limbu Lepcha Marchen ꡌ A84C ପ 0B2A ᤐ 1910 ᰎ 1C0E 𑱾 11C7E Siddhaṃ Pracalit Tirhuta Zanabazar Square 115A2 𑐥 11425 𑒣 114A3 𑨞 11A1E 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 𑆥 111A5 11027 11027 𑚞 1169E 𑠞 1181E Gurmukhi Khudawadi Mahajani Khojki Multani ਪ 0A2A 𑋒 112D2 𑅨 11168 𑈟 1121F 𑊛 1129B
Nagaris and other Gupta-based scripts Ashoka Brahmi Gupta Brahmi Devanagari 11027 11027 092A Gujarati Kaithi Syloti Nagari Modi પ 0AAA 𑂣 110A3 ꠙ A819 𑘢 11622 Nandinagari Gunjala Gondi Soyombo Bhaiksuki 𑧂 119C2 𑩰 11A70 𑶅 11D85 𑰢 11C22
Kawi scripts Grantha Baybayin Tagbanwa Hanunó'o Buhid 𑌪 1132A ᜉ 1709 ᝩ 1769 ᜩ 1729 ᝉ 1749 Balinese Javanese Batak Lontara Rejang ᬧ 1B27 ꦥ A9A5 ᯇ 1BC7 ᨄ 1A04 ꤶ A936 Ashoka Brahmi Sundanese Makasar Chakma 11027 ᮕ 1B95 𑻣 11EE3 𑻣 11EE3
Tai and Khmer scripts Ashoka Brahmi Grantha Khmer Lao 11027 𑌪 1132A ព 1796 ປ 0E9B Thai Tai Tham Tai Viet Tai Le New Tai Lü บ/ ป 0E1A / 0E1B ᨸ/ ᨻ 1A38 / 1A3B ꪜ/ ꪝ AA9C / AA9D ᥙ 1959 ᦔ/ ᦗ 1994 / 1997
Other Grantha-based scripts Ashoka Brahmi Grantha Ahom Dives Akuru 11027 𑌪 1132A 𑜆 11706 𑤠 11920 Malayalam Saurashtra Cham Burmese Kayah Li പ 0D2A ꢦ A8A6 ꨚ AA1A ပ 1015 ꤕ A915
Other Brahmic scripts Ashoka Brahmi Masaram Gondi Meetei Mayek 11027 𑴠 11D20 ꯄ ABC4 Tamil Kannada Sinhala Telugu 0BAA ප 0DB4 ప 0C2A ಪ 0CAA
Phonemic representation:				/p/
IAST transliteration:				p P
ISCII code point:				C8 (200)

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 प are:[1]

• प [pə] = 21 (२१)
• पि [pɪ] = 2,100 (२ १००)
• पु [pʊ] = 210,000 (२ १० ०००)
• पृ [pri] = 21,000,000 (२ १० ०० ०००)
• पॢ [plə] = 21×10⁸ (२१×१०^८)
• पे [pe] = 21×10¹⁰ (२१×१०^१०)
• पै [pɛː] = 21×10¹² (२१×१०^१२)
• पो [poː] = 21×10¹⁴ (२१×१०^१४)
• पौ [pɔː] = 21×10¹⁶ (२१×१०^१६)

Historic Pa

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

Brahmi Pa

The Brahmi letter , Pa, is probably derived from the Aramaic Pe , and is thus related to the modern Latin P and Greek Pi.[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Pa 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 Pa historic forms

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

Tocharian Pa

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

Tocharian Pa with vowel marks

Pa	Pā	Pi	Pī	Pu	Pū	Pr	Pr̄	Pe	Pai	Po	Pau	Pä	Fremdzeichen

Kharoṣṭhī Pa

The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the Aramaic Pe , and is thus related to P and Pi, in addition to the Brahmi Pa.[2]

Devanagari Pa

Pa (प) 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 પ, and the Modi letter 𑘢.

Devanagari-using Languages

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

Devanagari प with vowel marks

Pa	Pā	Pi	Pī	Pu	Pū	Pr	Pr̄	Pl	Pl̄	Pe	Pai	Po	Pau	P
प	पा	पि	पी	पु	पू	पृ	पॄ	पॢ	पॣ	पे	पै	पो	पौ	प्

Conjuncts with प

Half form of Pa.

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 प

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) + प (pa) gives us the ligature rpa:

• प্ (p) + न (na) gives us the ligature pna:

• प্ (p) + र (ra) gives us the ligature pra:

• प্ (p) + ढ (ḍʱa) gives us the ligature pḍʱa:

• प্ (p) + त (ta) gives us the ligature pta:

• प্ (p) + त্ (t) + र (ra) gives us the ligature ptra:

Stacked conjuncts of प

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) + प (pa) gives us the ligature cʰpa:

• ढ্ (ḍʱ) + प (pa) gives us the ligature ḍʱpa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + प (pa) gives us the ligature ḍpa:

• द্ (d) + प (pa) gives us the ligature dpa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + प (pa) gives us the ligature ŋpa:

• प্ (p) + च (ca) gives us the ligature pca:

• प্ (p) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature pḍa:

• प্ (p) + ज (ja) gives us the ligature pja:

• प্ (p) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature pjña:

• प্ (p) + ल (la) gives us the ligature pla:

• प্ (p) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature pŋa:

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

• प্ (p) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature pña:

• प্ (p) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature pṭa:

• प্ (p) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature pṭʰa:

• ठ্ (ṭʰ) + प (pa) gives us the ligature ṭʰpa:

• ट্ (ṭ) + प (pa) gives us the ligature ṭpa:

Bengali Pa

The Bengali script প is derived from the Siddhaṃ , but lacks the horizontal head line, and has a less geometric shape than its Devanagari counterpart, प. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter প will sometimes be transliterated as "po" instead of "pa". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /po/.

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

Bengali প with vowel marks

pa	pā	pi	pī	pu	pū	pr	pr̄	pe	pai	po	pau	p
প	পা	পি	পী	পু	পূ	পৃ	পৄ	পে	পৈ	পো	পৌ	প্

প in Bengali-using languages

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

Conjuncts with প

Bengali প exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with a tendency towards stacked ligatures as an initial head consonant, and linear (horizontal) ligatures as a trailing consonant.[5]

• ল্ (l) + প (pa) gives us the ligature lpa:

• ম্ (m) + প (pa) gives us the ligature mpa:

• ম্ (m) + প্ (p) + র (ra) gives us the ligature mpra, with the ra phala suffix:

• প্ (p) + ল (la) gives us the ligature pla:

• প্ (p) + ন (na) gives us the ligature pna:

• প্ (p) + প (pa) gives us the ligature ppa:

• প্ (p) + র (ra) gives us the ligature pra, with the ra phala suffix:

• প্ (p) + র্ (r) + য (ya) gives us the ligature prya, with the ra phala and ya phala suffixes

• প্ (p) + স (sa) gives us the ligature psa:

• প্ (p) + ত (ta) gives us the ligature pta:

• প্ (p) + ট (ṭa) gives us the ligature pṭa:

• প্ (p) + য (ya) gives us the ligature pya, with the ya phala suffix:

• র্ (r) + প (pa) gives us the ligature rpa, with the repha prefix:

• স্ (s) + প (pa) gives us the ligature spa:

• স্ (s) + প্ (p) + ল (la) gives us the ligature spla:

• ষ্ (ṣ) + প (pa) gives us the ligature ṣpa:

• ষ্ (ṣ) + প্ (p) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ṣpra, with the ra phala suffix:

Javanese Pa

Main article: Pa (Javanese)

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.