Ha (Indic)
Comparison of Ha in different scripts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notes
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Ha is a consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Ha 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 ह are:[1]
- ह [hə] = 100 (१००)
- हि [hɪ] = 10,000 (१० ०००)
- हु [hʊ] = 1,000,000 (१० ०० ०००)
- हृ [hri] = 100,000,000 (१० ०० ०० ०००)
- हॢ [hlə] = ×1010 (१०१०)
- हे [he] = ×1012 (×१०१२)
- है [hɛː] = ×1014 (×१०१४)
- हो [hoː] = ×1016 (×१०१६)
- हौ [hɔː] = ×1018 (×१०१८)
Historic Ha
There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Ha as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta
. The Tocharian Ha
did not have an alterante Fremdzeichen form. The third form of ha, in Kharoshthi (
) was probably derived from Aramaic separately from the Brahmi letter.
Brahmi Ha
The Brahmi letter , Ha, is probably derived from the Aramaic He
, and is thus related to the modern Latin H and Greek Eta.[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Ha 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) |
---|---|---|---|---|
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Tocharian Ha
The Tocharian letter is derived from the Brahmi
, but does not have an alternate Fremdzeichen form.
Ha | Hā | Hi | Hī | Hu | Hū | Hr | Hr̄ | He | Hai | Ho | Hau | Hä |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Kharoṣṭhī Ha
The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the Aramaic He
, and is thus related to H and Eta, in addition to the Brahmi Ha.[2]
Devanagari Ha
Devanāgarī |
---|
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Ha (ह) 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 હ, and the Modi letter 𑘮.
Devanagari-using Languages
In all languages, ह is pronounced as [hə] or [h] when appropriate. Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:
Ha | Hā | Hi | Hī | Hu | Hū | Hr | Hr̄ | Hl | Hl̄ | He | Hai | Ho | Hau | H |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ह | हा | हि | ही | हु | हू | हृ | हॄ | हॢ | हॣ | हे | है | हो | हौ | ह् |
Conjuncts with ह
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. Ha however, does not have a vertical stem to drop in making a half form, and 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 preferring the use of half forms where texts in other languages would show ligatures and vertical stacks.[4]
Ligature conjuncts of ह
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.
- ह্ (h) + र (ra) gives us the ligature hra:
- र্ (r) + ह (ha) gives us the ligature rha:
Stacked conjuncts of ह
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) + ह (ha) gives us the ligature cʰha:
- ड্ (ḍ) + ह (ha) gives us the ligature ḍha:
- ढ্ (ḍʱ) + ह (ha) gives us the ligature ḍʱha:
- द্ (d) + ह (ha) gives us the ligature dha:
- ह্ (h) + ब (ba) gives us the ligature hba:
- ह্ (h) + च (ca) gives us the ligature hca:
- ह্ (h) + ज (ja) gives us the ligature hja:
- ह্ (h) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature hjña:
- ह্ (h) + क (ka) gives us the ligature hka:
- ह্ (h) + ल (la) gives us the ligature hla:
- ह্ (h) + ळ (ḷa) gives us the ligature hḷa:
- ह্ (h) + म (ma) gives us the ligature hma:
- ह্ (h) + न (na) gives us the ligature hna:
- ह্ (h) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature hṇa:
- ह্ (h) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature hña:
- ह্ (h) + व (va) gives us the ligature hva:
- ह্ (h) + य (ya) gives us the ligature hya:
- ङ্ (ŋ) + ह (ha) gives us the ligature ŋha:
- ट্ (ṭ) + ह (ha) gives us the ligature ṭha:
- ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ह (ha) gives us the ligature ṭʰha:
Bengali Ha
The Bengali script হ is derived from the Siddhaṃ , and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, ह. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter হ will sometimes be transliterated as "ho" instead of "ha". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /ho/.
Like all Indic consonants, হ can be modified by marks to indicate another (or no) vowel than its inherent "a".
ha | hā | hi | hī | hu | hū | hr | hr̄ | he | hai | ho | hau | h |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
হ | হা | হি | হী | হু | হূ | হৃ | হৄ | হে | হৈ | হো | হৌ | হ্ |
হ in Bengali-using languages
হ is used as a basic consonant character in all of the major Bengali script orthographies, including Bengali and Assamese.
Conjuncts with হ
Bengali হ does not form conjuncts like most other letters, and can only be found in conjunction with Repha and Ya-phala.[5]
- র্ (r) + হ (ha) gives us the ligature rha, showing the repha prefix:
- র্ (r) + হ্ (h) + য (ya) gives us the ligature rhya, with repha and the ya phala suffix:
Javanese Ha
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.