Tha (Indic)

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

← Ta		Tha			Da →
Devanagari	Ashoka Brahmi		Tibetan	Bengali		Tamil
0925	11023		0F50	09A5		- --
Gurmukhi	Thai		Baybayin	Malayalam		Sinhala
ਥ 0A25	- --		- --	ഥ 0D25		ථ 0DAE
Ancient scripts Ashoka Brahmi Kushana Brahmi Gupta Brahmi Tocharian 11023 𑀣 11023 11023 -- Kharoṣṭhī Siddhaṃ Sharada Grantha 𐨠 10A20 1159E 𑆡 111A1 𑌥 11325
Bangla and Tibetan scripts Ashoka Brahmi Gupta Brahmi Tibetan Bengali 11023 11023 0F50 09A5 'Phags-pa Oriya Limbu Lepcha Marchen ꡉ A849 ଥ 0B25 ᤌ 190C ᰋ 1C0B 𑱻 11C7B Siddhaṃ Pracalit Tirhuta Zanabazar Square 1159E 𑐠 11420 𑒟 1149F 𑨚 11A1A 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 𑆡 111A1 11023 11023 𑚚 1169A 𑠚 1181A Gurmukhi Khudawadi Mahajani Khojki Multani ਥ 0A25 𑋎 112CE 𑅤 11164 𑈚 1121A 𑊗 11297
Nagaris and other Gupta-based scripts Ashoka Brahmi Gupta Brahmi Devanagari 11023 11023 0925 Gujarati Kaithi Syloti Nagari Modi થ 0AA5 𑂟 1109F ꠕ A815 𑘞 1161E Nandinagari Gunjala Gondi Soyombo Bhaiksuki 𑦾 119BE 𑩬 11A6C 𑵴 11D74 𑰞 11C1E
Kawi scripts Grantha Baybayin Tagbanwa Hanunó'o Buhid 𑌥 11325 - -- - -- - -- - -- Balinese Javanese Batak Lontara Rejang ᬣ 1B23 ꦡ A9A1 - -- - -- - -- Ashoka Brahmi Sundanese Makasar Chakma 11023 - -- - -- - --
Tai and Khmer scripts Ashoka Brahmi Grantha Khmer Lao 11023 𑌥 11325 ថ/ ធ 1790 / 1792 ຖ/ ທ 0E96 / 0E97 Thai Tai Tham Tai Viet Tai Le New Tai Lü - -- ᨳ/ ᨵ 1A33 / 1A35 ꪖ/ ꪗ AA96 / AA97 ᥗ 1957 ᦏ/ ᦒ 198F / 1992
Other Grantha-based scripts Ashoka Brahmi Grantha Ahom Dives Akuru 11023 𑌥 11325 𑜌 1170C 𑤜 1191C Malayalam Saurashtra Cham Burmese Kayah Li ഥ 0D25 ꢢ A8A2 ꨔ AA14 ထ 1011 ꤓ A913
Other Brahmic scripts Ashoka Brahmi Masaram Gondi Meetei Mayek 11023 𑴜 11D1C ꯊ ABCA Tamil Kannada Sinhala Telugu - -- ථ 0DAE థ 0C25 ಥ 0CA5
Phonemic representation:				/tʰ/
IAST transliteration:				th Th
ISCII code point:				C3 (195)

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 थ are:[1]

• थ [tʰə] = 17 (१७)
• थि [tʰɪ] = 1,700 (१ ७००)
• थु [tʰʊ] = 170,000 ( ० ०००)
• थृ [tʰri] = 17,000,000 (१ ७० ०० ०००)
• थॢ [tʰlə] = 17×10⁸ (१७×१०^८)
• थे [tʰe] = 17×10¹⁰ (१७×१०^१०)
• थै [tʰɛː] = 17×10¹² (१७×१०^१२)
• थो [tʰoː] = 17×10¹⁴ (१७×१०^१४)
• थौ [tʰɔː] = 17×10¹⁶ (१७×१०^१६)

Historic Tha

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

Brahmi Tha

The Brahmi letter , Tha, is probably derived from the Aramaic Teth , and is thus related to the modern Greek Theta.[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Tha 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 Tha historic forms

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

Tocharian Tha

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

Tocharian Tha with vowel marks

Tha	Thā	Thi	Thī	Thu	Thū	Thr	Thr̄	The	Thai	Tho	Thau	Thä

Kharoṣṭhī Tha

The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the Aramaic Teth , and is thus related to Theta, in addition to the Brahmi Tha.[2]

Devanagari Tha

Tha (थ) 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 થ, and the Modi letter 𑘞.

Devanagari-using Languages

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

Devanagari थ with vowel marks

Tha	Thā	Thi	Thī	Thu	Thū	Thr	Thr̄	Thl	Thl̄	The	Thai	Tho	Thau	Th
थ	था	थि	थी	थु	थू	थृ	थॄ	थॢ	थॣ	थे	थै	थो	थौ	थ्

Conjuncts with थ

Half form of Tha.

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 थ

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) + थ (tʰa) gives us the ligature rtʰa:

• थ্ (tʰ) + न (na) gives us the ligature tʰna:

• थ্ (tʰ) + र (ra) gives us the ligature tʰra:

Stacked conjuncts of थ

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) + थ (tʰa) gives us the ligature cʰtʰa:

• ढ্ (ḍʱ) + थ (tʰa) gives us the ligature ḍʱtʰa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + थ (tʰa) gives us the ligature ḍtʰa:

• द্ (d) + थ (tʰa) gives us the ligature dtʰa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + थ (tʰa) gives us the ligature ŋtʰa:

• थ্ (tʰ) + च (ca) gives us the ligature tʰca:

• थ্ (tʰ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature tʰḍa:

• थ্ (tʰ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature tʰjña:

• थ্ (tʰ) + ल (la) gives us the ligature tʰla:

• थ্ (tʰ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature tʰŋa:

• थ্ (tʰ) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature tʰña:

• ठ্ (ṭʰ) + थ (tʰa) gives us the ligature ṭʰtʰa:

• ट্ (ṭ) + थ (tʰa) gives us the ligature ṭtʰa:

Bengali Tha

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

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

Bengali থ with vowel marks

tha	thā	thi	thī	thu	thū	thr	thr̄	the	thai	tho	thau	th
থ	থা	থি	থী	থু	থূ	থৃ	থৄ	থে	থৈ	থো	থৌ	থ্

থ in Bengali-using languages

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

Conjuncts with থ

Bengali থ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with a tendency towards stacked ligatures.[5]

• ন্ (n) + থ (tʰa) gives us the ligature ntʰa:

• ন্ (n) + থ্ (tʰ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ntʰra, with the ra phala suffix:

• র্ (r) + থ (tʰa) gives us the ligature rtʰa, with the repha prefix:

• র্ (r) + থ্ (tʰ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature rtʰya, with the repha prefix and ya phala suffix:

• স্ (s) + থ (tʰa) gives us the ligature stʰa:

• স্ (s) + থ্ (tʰ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature stʰya, with the ya phala suffix:

• থ্ (tʰ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature tʰra, with the ra phala suffix:

• থ্ (tʰ) + ব (va) gives us the ligature tʰva, with the va phala suffix:

• থ্ (tʰ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature tʰya, with the ya phala suffix:

• ত্ (t) + থ (tʰa) gives us the ligature ttʰa:

Javanese Tha

Main article: Tha (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.