Ṭha (Indic)

^ The middle "Kushana" form of Brahmi is a later style that emerged as Brahmi scripts were beginning to proliferate. Gupta Brahmi was definitely a stylistic descendant from Kushana, but other Brahmi-derived scripts may have descended from earlier forms.
^ Tocharian is probably derived from the middle period "Kushana" form of Brahmi, although artifacts from that time are not plentiful enough to establish a definite succession.
^ Pyu and Old Mon are probably the precursors of the Burmese script, and may be derived from either the Pallava or Kadamba script
^ May also be derived from Devangari (see bottom left of table)
^ The Origin of Hangul from 'Phags-pa is one of limited influence, inspiring at most a few basic letter shapes. Hangul does not function as an Indic abugida.
^ Although the basic letter forms of the Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics were derived from handwritten Devanagari letters, this abugida indicates vowel sounds by rotations of the letter form, rather than the use of vowel diacritics as is standard in Indic abugidas.
^ May also be derived from Ranjana (see above)
^ Masaram Gondi acts as an Indic abugida, but its letterforms were not derived from any single precursor script.

Ṭha (also romanized as Ttha) is a consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Ṭha is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter . As with the other cerebral consonants, ṭha is not found in most scripts for Tai, Sino-Tibetan, and other non-Indic languages, except for a few scripts, which retain these letters for transcribing Sanskrit religious terms.

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 ठ are:^[1]

ठ [ʈʰə] = 12 (१२)
ठि [ʈʰɪ] = 1,200 (१२००)
ठु [ʈʰʊ] = 120,000 (१ २० ०००)
ठृ [ʈʰri] = 12,000,000 (१ २० ०० ०००)
ठॢ [ʈʰlə] = 1,200,000,000 (१ २० ०० ०० ०००)
ठे [ʈʰe] = 12×10¹⁰ (१२×१०^१०)
ठै [ʈʰɛː] = 12×10¹² (१२×१०^१२)
ठो [ʈʰoː] = 12×10¹⁴ (१२×१०^१४)
ठौ [ʈʰɔː] = 12×10¹⁶ (१२×१०^१६)

Historic Ttha

There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Ttha as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, and did not vary much throughout the centuries. The Tocharian Ttha did not have an alterante Fremdzeichen form. The third form of ttha, in Kharoshthi () was probably derived from Aramaic separately from the Brahmi letter.

Brahmi Ttha

The Brahmi letter , Ttha, is probably derived from the altered Aramaic Teth , and is thus related to the modern Greek Theta.^[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Ttha 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 Ttha historic forms
Ashoka (3rd-1st c. BCE)	Girnar (~150 BCE)	Kushana (~150-250 CE)	Gujarat (~250 CE)	Gupta (~350 CE)

Tocharian Ttha

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

Tocharian Ttha with vowel marks
Ttha	Tthā	Tthi	Tthī	Tthu	Tthū	Tthr	Tthr̄	Tthe	Tthai	Ttho	Tthau	Tthä

Kharoṣṭhī Ttha

The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the altered Aramaic Taw , and is thus related to T and Tau.^[2]

Devanagari Ṭha

Ṭha (ठ) 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 ઠ, and the Modi letter 𑘙.

Devanagari-using Languages

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

Devanagari ठ with vowel marks
Ṭha	Ṭhā	Ṭhi	Ṭhī	Ṭhu	Ṭhū	Ṭhr	Ṭhr̄	Ṭhl	Ṭhl̄	Ṭhe	Ṭhai	Ṭho	Ṭhau	Ṭh
ठ	ठा	ठि	ठी	ठु	ठू	ठृ	ठॄ	ठॢ	ठॣ	ठे	ठै	ठो	ठौ	ठ्

Conjuncts with ठ

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. Ṭha however, does not have a vertical stem to drop for 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 ठ

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) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature rṭʰa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + र (ra) gives us the ligature ṭʰra:

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

ष্ (ṣ) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature ṣṭʰa:

ष্ (ṣ) + ठ্ (ṭʰ) + य (ya) gives us the ligature ṣṭʰya:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + य (ya) gives us the ligature ṭʰya:

Stacked conjuncts of ठ

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) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature cʰṭʰa:

ढ্ (ḍʱ) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature ḍʱṭʰa:

ड্ (ḍ) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature ḍṭʰa:

द্ (d) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature dṭʰa:

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

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ब (ba) gives us the ligature ṭʰba:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + भ (bʰa) gives us the ligature ṭʰbʰa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + च (ca) gives us the ligature ṭʰca:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature ṭʰcʰa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + द (da) gives us the ligature ṭʰda:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature ṭʰḍa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ढ (ḍʱa) gives us the ligature ṭʰḍʱa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ध (dʱa) gives us the ligature ṭʰdʱa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ग (ga) gives us the ligature ṭʰga:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature ṭʰɡʱa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ह (ha) gives us the ligature ṭʰha:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ज (ja) gives us the ligature ṭʰja:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + झ (jʰa) gives us the ligature ṭʰjʰa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature ṭʰjña:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + क (ka) gives us the ligature ṭʰka:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ख (kʰa) gives us the ligature ṭʰkʰa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ṭʰkṣa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ल (la) gives us the ligature ṭʰla:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ळ (ḷa) gives us the ligature ṭʰḷa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + म (ma) gives us the ligature ṭʰma:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + न (na) gives us the ligature ṭʰna:

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

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature ṭʰṇa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature ṭʰña:

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

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + फ (pʰa) gives us the ligature ṭʰpʰa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + स (sa) gives us the ligature ṭʰsa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + श (ʃa) gives us the ligature ṭʰʃa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ṭʰṣa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + त (ta) gives us the ligature ṭʰta:

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

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature ṭʰṭa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature ṭʰṭʰa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + व (va) gives us the ligature ṭʰva:

ट্ (ṭ) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature ṭṭʰa:

Bengali Ttha

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

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

Bengali ঠ with vowel marks
ttha	tthā	tthi	tthī	tthu	tthū	tthr	tthr̄	tthe	tthai	ttho	tthau	tth
ঠ	ঠা	ঠি	ঠী	ঠু	ঠূ	ঠৃ	ঠৄ	ঠে	ঠৈ	ঠো	ঠৌ	ঠ্

ঠ in Bengali-using languages

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

Conjuncts with ঠ

Bengali ঠ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts. Conjunct ligatures with ঠ are all based on the ঠ glyph, with little to no alteration aside from the addition of marks suggesting the conjoining letter.^[5]

ণ্ (ṇ) + ঠ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature ṇṭʰa:

ণ্ (ṇ) + ঠ্ (ṭʰ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ṇṭʰya, with the ya phala suffix:

ন্ (n) + ঠ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature nṭʰa:

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:

Javanese Ttha

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.

[1] The middle "Kushana" form of Brahmi is a later style that emerged as Brahmi scripts were beginning to proliferate. Gupta Brahmi was definitely a stylistic descendant from Kushana, but other Brahmi-derived scripts may have descended from earlier forms.

[2] Tocharian is probably derived from the middle period "Kushana" form of Brahmi, although artifacts from that time are not plentiful enough to establish a definite succession.

[3] Pyu and Old Mon are probably the precursors of the Burmese script, and may be derived from either the Pallava or Kadamba script

[4] May also be derived from Devangari (see bottom left of table)

[5] The Origin of Hangul from 'Phags-pa is one of limited influence, inspiring at most a few basic letter shapes. Hangul does not function as an Indic abugida.

[6] Although the basic letter forms of the Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics were derived from handwritten Devanagari letters, this abugida indicates vowel sounds by rotations of the letter form, rather than the use of vowel diacritics as is standard in Indic abugidas.

[7] May also be derived from Ranjana (see above)

[8] Masaram Gondi acts as an Indic abugida, but its letterforms were not derived from any single precursor script.

[Ifrah-9] 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.

[Buhler-10] Bühler, Georg. "On the Origin of the Indian Brahmi Alphabet". archive.org. Karl J. Trübner. Retrieved 10 June 2020.

[11] Evolutionary chart, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, 1838 [1]

[KNAB-12] Pall, Peeter. "Microsoft Word - kblhi2" (PDF). Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Retrieved 19 June 2020.

[13] "The Bengali Alphabet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-28.

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

[e]

[f]

[g]

[h]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]