Ṣa (Indic)
Comparison of Ṣa in different scripts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notes
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Ṣa or Ssa is a consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Ssa is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter .
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 ष are:[1]
- ष [ʂə] = 80 (८०)
- षि [ʂɪ] = 8,000 (८ ०००)
- षु [ʂʊ] = 800,000 (८ ०० ०००)
- षृ [ʂri] = 80,000,000 (८ ०० ०० ०००)
- षॢ [ʂlə] = 8×109 (८×१०९)
- षे [ʂe] = 8×1011 (८×१०११)
- षै [ʂɛː] = 8×1013 (८×१०१३)
- षो [ʂoː] = 8×1015 (८×१०१५)
- षौ [ʂɔː] = 8×1017 (८×१०१७)
Historic Ṣa
There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Ssa as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta . The Tocharian Ssa had an alterante Fremdzeichen form, . The third form of ssa, in Kharoshthi () was probably derived from Aramaic separately from the Brahmi letter.
Brahmi Ṣa
The Brahmi letter , Ssa, is probably derived from the Aramaic Samekh , and is thus related to the modern Greek Xi.[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Ssa 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.
Ashoka (3rd-1st c. BCE) |
Girnar (~150 BCE) |
Kushana (~150-250 CE) |
Gujarat (~250 CE) |
Gupta (~350 CE) |
---|---|---|---|---|
No sample |
Tocharian Ṣa
The Tocharian letter is derived from the Brahmi , and has an alternate Fremdzeichen form used in conjuncts and as an alternate representation of Ssä.
Ssa | Ssā | Ssi | Ssī | Ssu | Ssū | Ssr | Ssr̄ | Sse | Ssai | Sso | Ssau | Ssä | Fremdzeichen |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kharoṣṭhī Ṣa
The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the Aramaic Heth , and is thus related to H and Eta.[2]
Devanagari Ṣa
Devanāgarī |
---|
Ṣa (ष) 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 ષ, and the Modi letter 𑘬.
Devanagari-using Languages
In all languages, ष is pronounced as [ʂə] or [ʂ] when appropriate. Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:
Ṣa | Ṣā | Ṣi | Ṣī | Ṣu | Ṣū | Ṣr | Ṣr̄ | Ṣl | Ṣl̄ | Ṣe | Ṣai | Ṣo | Ṣau | Ṣ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ष | षा | षि | षी | षु | षू | षृ | षॄ | षॢ | षॣ | षे | षै | षो | षौ | ष् |
Conjuncts with ष
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 ष
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) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature rṣa:
- ष্ (ṣ) + र (ra) gives us the ligature ṣra:
- ष্ (ṣ) + क্ (k) + र (ra) gives us the ligature ṣkra:
- ष্ (ṣ) + ढ (ḍʱa) gives us the ligature ṣḍʱa:
- ष্ (ṣ) + न (na) gives us the ligature ṣna:
- ष্ (ṣ) + त (ta) gives us the ligature ṣta:
- ष্ (ṣ) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature ṣṭa:
- र্ (r) + ष্ (ṣ) + ट্ (ṭ) + र (ra) gives us the ligature rṣṭra:
- ष্ (ṣ) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature ṣṭʰa:
- ष্ (ṣ) + ठ্ (ṭʰ) + य (ya) gives us the ligature ṣṭʰya:
- ष্ (ṣ) + ट্ (ṭ) + व (va) gives us the ligature ṣṭva:
Devanagari Kṣa
One of the most common true ligatures in Devanagari is the conjunct kṣa क्ष. This ligature is a required form for most Devanagari languages, and the conjunct even has its own half form that freely joins other letters in horizontal conjuncts.
- क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature kṣa:
- र্ (r) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature rkṣa:
- छ্ (cʰ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature cʰkṣa:
- ढ্ (ḍʱ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ḍʱkṣa:
- ड্ (ḍ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ḍkṣa:
- द্ (d) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature dkṣa:
- ङ্ (ŋ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ŋkṣa:
- ङ্ (ŋ) + क্ (k) + ष্ (ṣ) + य (ya) gives us the ligature ŋkṣya:
- ट্ (ṭ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ṭkṣa:
- ठ্ (ṭʰ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ṭʰkṣa:
Stacked conjuncts of ष
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) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature cʰṣa:
- ढ্ (ḍʱ) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ḍʱṣa:
- ड্ (ḍ) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ḍṣa:
- द্ (d) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature dṣa:
- ङ্ (ŋ) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ŋṣa:
- ष্ (ṣ) + च (ca) gives us the ligature ṣca:
- ष্ (ṣ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature ṣḍa:
- ष্ (ṣ) + ज (ja) gives us the ligature ṣja:
- ष্ (ṣ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature ṣjña:
- ष্ (ṣ) + ल (la) gives us the ligature ṣla:
- ष্ (ṣ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature ṣŋa:
- ष্ (ṣ) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature ṣña:
- ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ṭʰṣa:
- ट্ (ṭ) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ṭṣa:
Bengali Ṣa
The Bengali script ষ is derived from the Siddhaṃ , and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, ष. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter ষ will sometimes be transliterated as "ṣo" instead of "ṣa". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /ʂo/.
Like all Indic consonants, ষ can be modified by marks to indicate another (or no) vowel than its inherent "a".
ṣa | ṣā | ṣi | ṣī | ṣu | ṣū | ṣr | ṣr̄ | ṣe | ṣai | ṣo | ṣau | ṣ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ষ | ষা | ষি | ষী | ষু | ষূ | ষৃ | ষৄ | ষে | ষৈ | ষো | ষৌ | ষ্ |
ষ in Bengali-using languages
ষ is used as a basic consonant character in all of the major Bengali script orthographies, including Bengali and Assamese.
Conjuncts with ষ
Bengali ষ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with both stacked and linear (horizontal) ligatures being common.[5]
- র্ (r) + ষ (ṣa) gives us the ligature rṣa, with the repha prefix:
- র্ (r) + ষ্ (ṣ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature rṣya, with repha and the ya phala suffix:
- ষ্ (ṣ) + ক (ka) gives us the ligature ṣka:
- ষ্ (ṣ) + ক্ (k) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ṣkra, with the ra phala suffix:
- ষ্ (ṣ) + ম (ma) gives us the ligature ṣma:
- ষ্ (ṣ) + ঞ (ña) gives us the ligature ṣña:
- ষ্ (ṣ) + প (pa) gives us the ligature ṣpa:
- ষ্ (ṣ) + ফ (pʰa) gives us the ligature ṣpʰa:
- ষ্ (ṣ) + প্ (p) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ṣpra, with the ra phala suffix:
- ষ্ (ṣ) + ট (ṭa) gives us the ligature ṣṭa:
- ষ্ (ṣ) + ঠ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature ṣṭʰa:
- ষ্ (ṣ) + ঠ্ (ṭʰ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ṣṭʰya, with the ya phala suffix:
- ষ্ (ṣ) + ট্ (ṭ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ṣṭra, with the ra phala suffix:
- ষ্ (ṣ) + ট্ (ṭ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ṣṭya, with the ya phala suffix:
- ষ্ (ṣ) + ব (va) gives us the ligature ṣva, with the va phala suffix:
- ষ্ (ṣ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ṣya, with the ya phala suffix:
Javanese Ṣa
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Bühler, Georg. "On the Origin of the Indian Brahmi Alphabet". archive.org. Karl J. Trübner. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
- ^ Evolutionary chart, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, 1838 [1]
- ^ Pall, Peeter. "Microsoft Word - kblhi2" (PDF). Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- ^ "The Bengali Alphabet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-28.