Ṅa (Indic)

Comparison of Ṅa in different scripts

Aramaic - Kharoṣṭhī - Ashoka Brahmi Kushana Brahmi Tocharian Gupta Brahmi Pallava - Kadamba - Bhaiksuki 𑰒 Siddhaṃ Grantha 𑌙 Cham ꨋ Sinhala ಙ Pyu / Old Mon - Tibetan Newa 𑐒 Ahom 𑜂 Malayalam ങ Telugu ඞ Burmese င Lepcha ᰅ Ranjana - Saurashtra ꢖ Dives Akuru 𑤐 Kannada ఙ Kayah Li ꤍ Limbu ᤅ Soyombo 𑩠 Khmer ង Tamil Chakma 𑄋 Tai Tham ᨦ Meitei Mayek ꯡ Gaudi - Thai ง Lao ງ Tai Le ᥒ Marchen 𑱵 Tirhuta 𑒓 New Tai Lue ᦇ Tai Viet ꪈ / ꪉ Aksara Kawi - 'Phags-pa ꡃ Odia ଙ Sharada 𑆕 Rejang ꤲ Batak ᯝ Buginese ᨂ Zanabazar Square 𑨏 Bengali-Assamese Takri 𑚎 Javanese ꦔ Balinese ᬗ Makasar 𑻢 Hangul - Northern Nagari - Dogri 𑠎 Laṇḍā - Sundanese ᮍ Baybayin ᜅ Modi 𑘒 Gujarati ઙ Khojki 𑈍 Khudabadi 𑊿 Mahajani - Tagbanwa ᝥ Devanagari Nandinagari 𑦲 Kaithi 𑂑 Gurmukhi ਙ Multani - Buhid ᝅ Canadian Syllabics - Soyombo 𑩠 Sylheti Nagari - Gunjala Gondi 𑶄 Masaram Gondi 𑴐 Hanuno'o ᜥ Notes

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

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 ङ are:

• ङ [ŋə] = 5 (५)
• ङि [ŋɪ] = 500 (५००)
• ङु [ŋʊ] = 50,000 (५० ०००)
• ङृ [ŋri] = 5,000,000 (५० ०० ०००)
• ङॢ [ŋlə] = 5×10⁸ (५०^८)
• ङे [ŋe] = 5×10¹⁰ (५०^१०)
• ङै [ŋɛː] = 5×10¹² (५०^१२)
• ङो [ŋoː] = 5×10¹⁴ (५०^१४)
• ङौ [ŋɔː] = 5×10¹⁶ (५०^१६)

Historic Nga

There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Nga as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta . The Tocharian Nga did not have an alterante Fremdzeichen form. Unlike the other early Brahmic scripts, Kharoṣṭhī did not have a letter Nga.

Brahmi Nga

The Brahmi letter , Nga, is probably derived from the altered Aramaic Nun , and is thus related to the modern Latin N and Greek Nu (letter). Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Nga can be found, most associated with a specific set of inscriptions from an artifact or diverse records from an historic period. 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 Nga historic forms

Ashoka (3rd-1st c. BCE)	Girnar (~150 BCE)	Kushana (~150-250 CE)	Gujarat (~250 CE)	Gupta (~350 CE)
	No sample

Tocharian Nga

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

Tocharian Nga with vowel marks

Nga	Ngā	Ngi	Ngī	Ngu	Ngū	Ngr	Ngr̄	Nge	Ngai	Ngo	Ngau	Ngä

Devanagari script

Main article: Devanagari nga

Ṅa (ङ) is the fifth 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 ઙ and the Modi letter 𑘒.

Devanagari-using Languages

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

Devanagari ङ with vowel marks

Ṅa	Ṅā	Ṅi	Ṅī	Ṅu	Ṅū	Ṅr	Ṅr̄	Ṅl	Ṅl̄	Ṅe	Ṅai	Ṅo	Ṅau	Ṅ
ङ	ङा	ङि	ङी	ङु	ङू	ङृ	ङॄ	ङॢ	ङॣ	ङे	ङै	ङो	ङौ	ङ्

Conjuncts with ङ

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. Lacking a vertical stem to drop for making a half form, Ṅa either forms a stacked conjunct/ligature, or uses its full form with Virama. The use of ligatures and vertical conjuncts may vary across languages using the Devanagari script, with Marathi in particular avoiding their use where texts in other languages would use them.

Ligature conjuncts of ङ

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.

• Repha र্ (r) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature rŋa: ^note

• Eyelash र্ (r) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature rŋa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + rakar र (ra) gives us the ligature ŋra:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + य (ya) gives us the ligature ŋya:

Stacked conjuncts of ङ

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.

• भ্ (bʰ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature bʰŋa:

• ब্ (b) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature bŋa:

• छ্ (cʰ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature cʰŋa:

• च্ (c) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature cŋa:

• ढ্ (ḍʱ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature ḍʱŋa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature ḍŋa:

• ध্ (dʱ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature dʱŋa:

• द্ (d) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature dŋa:

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

• झ্ (jʰ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature jʰŋa:

• ज্ (j) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature jŋa:

• ख্ (kʰ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature kʰŋa:

• क্ (k) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature kŋa:

• ळ্ (ḷ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature ḷŋa:

• म্ (m) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature mŋa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ब (ba) gives us the ligature ŋba:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + भ (bʰa) gives us the ligature ŋbʰa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + च (ca) gives us the ligature ŋca:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature ŋcʰa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + द (da) gives us the ligature ŋda:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature ŋḍa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ढ (ḍʱa) gives us the ligature ŋḍʱa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ध (dʱa) gives us the ligature ŋdʱa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ग (ga) gives us the ligature ŋga:

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

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ह (ha) gives us the ligature ŋha:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ज (ja) gives us the ligature ŋja:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + झ (jʰa) gives us the ligature ŋjʰa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature ŋjña:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + क (ka) gives us the ligature ŋka:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ख (kʰa) gives us the ligature ŋkʰa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + क্ (k) + rakar र (ra) gives us the ligature ŋkra:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ŋkṣa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + क্ (k) + ष্ (ṣ) + य (ya) gives us the ligature ŋkṣya:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + क্ (k) + त (ta) gives us the ligature ŋkta:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ल (la) gives us the ligature ŋla:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ळ (ḷa) gives us the ligature ŋḷa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + म (ma) gives us the ligature ŋma:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + न (na) gives us the ligature ŋna:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature ŋŋa:

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

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature ŋña:

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

• ङ্ (ŋ) + फ (pʰa) gives us the ligature ŋpʰa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + स (sa) gives us the ligature ŋsa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + श (ʃa) gives us the ligature ŋʃa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ŋṣa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + त (ta) gives us the ligature ŋta:

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

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature ŋṭa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature ŋṭʰa:

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

• फ্ (pʰ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature pʰŋa:

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

• Repha र্ (r) + ङ্ (ŋ) + ग (ga) gives us the ligature rŋga:

• ष্ (ṣ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature ṣŋa:

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

• ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature ṭʰŋa:

• ट্ (ṭ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature ṭŋa:

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

• य্ (y) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature yŋa:

Bengali script

The Bengali script ঙ is derived from the Siddhaṃ , and has no horizontal head line, and a less geometric shape than its Devanagari counterpart, ङ. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter ঙ will sometimes be transliterated as "ngo" instead of "nga". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /ŋo/.

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

Bengali ঙ with vowel marks

nga	ngā	ngi	ngī	ngu	ngū	ngr	ngr̄	nge	ngai	ngo	ngau	ng
ঙ	ঙা	ঙি	ঙী	ঙু	ঙূ	ঙৃ	ঙৄ	ঙে	ঙৈ	ঙো	ঙৌ	ঙ্

ঙ in Bengali-using languages

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

Conjuncts with ঙ

Bengali ঙ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with both stacked and unstacked ligatures being common.

• ঙ্ (ŋ) + গ (ga) gives us the ligature ŋga:

• 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:

• ঙ্ (ŋ) + গ্ (g) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ŋgya, with the ya phala suffix:

• ঙ্ (ŋ) + ক (ka) gives us the ligature ŋka:

• ঙ্ (ŋ) + খ (kʰa) gives us the ligature ŋkʰa:

• ঙ্ (ŋ) + ক্ (k) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ŋkra, with the ra phala suffix:

• ঙ্ (ŋ) + ক্ (k) + শ (ʃa) gives us the ligature ŋkʃa:

• ঙ্ (ŋ) + ক্ (k) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ŋkya, with the ya phala suffix:

• ঙ্ (ŋ) + ম (ma) gives us the ligature ŋma:

Gujarati Ṅa

Gujarati Ṅa.

Ṅa (ઙ) is the fifth consonant of the Gujarati abugida. It is derived from the 16th century Devanagari Ṅa with the top bar (shirorekha) removed, and ultimately from the Brahmi letter .

Gujarati-using Languages

The Gujarati script is used to write the Gujarati and Kutchi languages. In both languages, ઙ is pronounced as [ŋə] or [ŋ] when appropriate. Like all Indic scripts, Gujarati uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:

Ṅa	Ṅā	Ṅi	Ṅī	Ṅu	Ṅū	Ṅr	Ṅl	Ṅr̄	Ṅl̄	Ṅĕ	Ṅe	Ṅai	Ṅŏ	Ṅo	Ṅau	Ṅ
Gujarati Ṅa syllables, with vowel marks in red.

Conjuncts with ઙ

Gujarati ઙ exhibits conjunct ligatures, much like its parent Devanagari Script. While most Gujarati conjuncts can only be formed by reducing the letter shape to create a "half form" that fits tightly to following letter, Ṅa does not have 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. Lacking a half form, Ṅa will normally use an explicit virama when forming conjuncts without a true ligature.

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) + ઙ (ŋa) gives us the ligature RṄa:

• ઙ્ (ŋ) + ર (ra) gives us the ligature ṄRa:

• ઙ્ (ŋ) + ક (ka) gives us the ligature ṄKa:

• ઙ્ (ŋ) + ક (ka) ષ (ʂa) gives us the ligature ṄKṢa:

Gurmukhi script

Ṅaṅā [ŋɑŋːɑ̃] (ਙ) is the tenth letter of the Gurmukhi alphabet. Its name is [ŋɑŋːɑ̃] and is pronounced as /ŋ/ when used in words. It is derived from the Laṇḍā letter ṅa, and ultimately from the Brahmi ṅa. Gurmukhi ṅaṅā 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 /ŋ/, although Gurmukhi Sanskrit texts may use an explicit halant. Ṅaṅā is rarely used. It cannot begin a syllable or be placed between two consonants, and occurs most often as an allophone of /n/ before specific consonant phonemes.

Burmese script

Nga(င) is the fifth letter of the Burmese script.

Thai script

Ngo ngu (ง) is the seventh letter of the Thai script. It falls under the low class of Thai consonants. In IPA, ngo ngu is pronounced as [ŋ] at the beginning of a syllable and at the end of a syllable. 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, ngu (งู) means ‘snake’. Ngo ngu corresponds to the Sanskrit character ‘ङ’.

Javanese script

Main article: Nga (Javanese)

Telugu Ṅa

Telugu independent and subjoined Ṅa.

Ṅa (ఙ) is a consonant of the Telugu abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter . It is closely related to the Kannada letter ಙ. Since it lacks the v-shaped headstroke common to most Telugu letters, ఙ remains unaltered by most vowel matras, and its subjoined form is simply a smaller version of the normal letter shape.

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 Ṅa

Malayalam letter Ṅa

Ṅa (ങ) is a consonant of the Malayalam abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Grantha letter Nga. 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 Nga matras: Nga, Ngā, Ngi, Ngī, Ngu, Ngū, Ngr̥, Ngr̥̄, Ngl̥, Ngl̥̄, Nge, Ngē, Ngai, Ngo, Ngō, Ngau, and Ng.

Conjuncts of ങ

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 together, 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.

• ങ് (ŋ) + ക (ka) gives us the ligature ŋka:

• ങ് (ŋ) + ങ (ŋa) gives us the ligature ŋŋa:

Odia Ṅa

Odia independent and subjoined letter Ṅa.

Ṅa (ଙ) is a consonant of the Odia abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Siddhaṃ letter Nga. 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 Nga with vowel matras

Nga	Ngā	Ngi	Ngī	Ngu	Ngū	Ngr̥	Ngr̥̄	Ngl̥	Ngl̥̄	Nge	Ngai	Ngo	Ngau	Ng
ଙ	ଙା	ଙି	ଙୀ	ଙୁ	ଙୂ	ଙୃ	ଙୄ	ଙୢ	ଙୣ	ଙେ	ଙୈ	ଙୋ	ଙୌ	ଙ୍

Conjuncts of ଙ

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. The second type of conjunct formation is through pure ligatures, where the constituent consonants are written together in a single graphic form. This ligature may be recognizable as being a combination of two characters or it can have a conjunct ligature unrelated to its constituent characters.

• ଙ୍ (ŋ) + କ (ka) gives us the ligature ŋka:

• ଙ୍ (ŋ) + ଖ (kʰa) gives us the ligature ŋkʰa:

• ଙ୍ (ŋ) + ଗ (ga) gives us the ligature ŋga:

• ଙ୍ (ŋ) + ଘ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature ŋɡʱa:

• ର୍ (r) + ଙ (ŋa) gives us the ligature rŋa:

• ଙ୍ (ŋ) + ର (ra) gives us the ligature ŋra:

References

• 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. 43. Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: 109–126. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00040995. JSTOR 25189823.

^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".