Gha is the fourth consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, gha is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter , which is probably derived from the Aramaic ("H/X") after having gone through the Gupta letter .
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 घ are:[1]
There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Gha as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta . The Tocharian Gha did not have an alternate Fremdzeichen form. The third form of gha, in Kharoshthi () was probably derived from Aramaic separately from the Brahmi letter.
Brahmi Gha
The Brahmi letter , Gha, is probably derived from the Aramaic Heth, and is thus related to the modern Latin H and Greek Eta. Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Gha can be found, most associated with a specific set of inscriptions from an artifact or diverse records from an historic period.[2] 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.
Gha (घ) is the fourth consonant of the Devanagariabugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , after having gone through the Gupta letter . Letters that derive from it are the Gujarati letter ઘ and the Modi letter 𑘑.
Devanagari-using Languages
In all languages, घ is pronounced as [gʱə] or [gʱ] when appropriate. Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:
Devanagari घ with vowel marks
Gha
Ghā
Ghi
Ghī
Ghu
Ghū
Ghr
Ghr̄
Ghl
Ghl̄
Ghe
Ghai
Gho
Ghau
Gh
घ
घा
घि
घी
घु
घू
घृ
घॄ
घॢ
घॣ
घे
घै
घो
घौ
घ्
Conjuncts with घ
Half form of Gha.
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.[3]
Ligature conjuncts of घ
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.
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.
The Bengali script ঘ is derived from the Siddhaṃ, and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, घ. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter ঘ will sometimes be transliterated as "gho" instead of "gha". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /ɡʱo/.
Like all Indic consonants, ঘ can be modified by marks to indicate another (or no) vowel than its inherent "a".
Bengali ঘ with vowel marks
gha
ghā
ghi
ghī
ghu
ghū
ghr
ghr̄
ghe
ghai
gho
ghau
gh
ঘ
ঘা
ঘি
ঘী
ঘু
ঘূ
ঘৃ
ঘৄ
ঘে
ঘৈ
ঘো
ঘৌ
ঘ্
ঘ in Bengali-using languages
ঘ is used as a basic consonant character in all of the major Bengali script orthographies, including Bengali and Assamese.
Conjuncts with ঘ
Bengali ঘ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with both stacked ligatures being common.[4]
দ্ (d) + ঘ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature dɡʱa:
ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + ন (na) gives the ligature ɡʱna:
ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + র (ra) gives the ligature ɡʱra, with the ra phala suffix:
ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ɡʱya, with the ya phala suffix:
ঙ্ (ŋ) + ঘ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature ŋɡʱa:
ঙ্ (ŋ) + ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + র (ra) gives the ligature ŋɡʱra, with the ra phala suffix:
ঙ্ (ŋ) + ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ŋɡʱya, with the ya phala suffix:
র্ (r) + ঘ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature rɡʱa, with the repha prefix:
র্ (r) + ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + য (ya) gives the ligature rɡʱya, with the repha prefix and ya phala suffix:
Gurmukhi script
Kagaa[kə̀gːɑ] (ਘ) is the ninth letter of the Gurmukhi alphabet. Its name is [kʰəkʰːɑ] and pronounced as /kə̀/. To differentiate between consonants, the Punjabi tonal consonant kà is often transliterated in the way of the Hindi voiced aspirate consonants gha although Punjabi does not have this sound. It is derived from the Laṇḍā letter gha, and ultimately from the Brahmi ga. Gurmukhi kagaa 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 /k/, although Gurmukhi Sanskrit texts may use an explicit halant.
Gujarati Gha
Gujarati Gha.
Gha (ઘ) is the fourth consonant of the Gujaratiabugida. It is derived from the 16th century Devanagari Gha with the top bar (shiro rekha) removed, and ultimately from the Brahmi letter . ઘ (Gha) is similar in appearance to ધ (Dha), and care should be taken to avoid confusing the two when reading Gujarati script texts.
Gujarati-using Languages
The Gujarati script is used to write the Gujarati and Kutchi languages. In both languages, ઘ is pronounced as [ɡʱə] or [ɡʱ] when appropriate. Like all Indic scripts, Gujarati uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:
Gha
Ghā
Ghi
Ghī
Ghu
Ghū
Ghr
Ghl
Ghr̄
Ghl̄
Ghĕ
Ghe
Ghai
Ghŏ
Gho
Ghau
Gh
Gujarati Gha syllables, with vowel marks in red.
Conjuncts with ઘ
Half form of Gha.
Gujarati ઘ exhibits conjunct ligatures, much like its parent Devanagari Script. Most Gujarati conjuncts can only be 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". 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.
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) + ઘ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature RGha:
ઘ્ (ɡʱ) + ર (ra) gives the ligature GhRa:
ઘ્ (ɡʱ) + ન (na) gives the ligature GhNa:
દ્ (d) + ઘ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature DGha:
Telugu Gha
Telugu independent and subjoined Gha.
Gha (ఘ) is a consonant of the Teluguabugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter . It is closely related to the Kannada letter ಘ. Most Telugu consonants contain a v-shaped headstroke that is related to the horizontal headline found in other Indic scripts, although headstrokes do not connect adjacent letters in Telugu. The headstroke is normally lost when adding vowel matras.
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 Gha
Malayalam letter Gha
Gha (ഘ) is a consonant of the Malayalamabugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Grantha letter Gha. 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.
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.
ഗ് (g) + ഘ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature gɡʱa:
ഘ് (ɡʱ) + ന (na) gives the ligature ɡʱna:
ഘ് (ɡʱ) + ര (ra) gives the ligature ɡʱra:
Thai script
Kho ra-khang (ฆ) is the sixth letter of the Thai alphabet. It falls under the low class of Thai consonants. In IPA, kho ra-khang is pronounced as [kʰ] at the beginning of a syllable and is pronounced as [k̚] at the end of a syllable. The second and third letters of the alphabet, kho khai (ข) and kho khuat(ฃ), are also named kho, however, they all fall under the high class of Thai consonants. The fourth and the fifth letters of the alphabet, kho khwai (ค), kho khon (ฅ), and kho ra-khang (ฆ), are also named kho and fall under the low class of Thai consonants. 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, ra-khang (ระฆัง) means ‘bell’. Kho ra-khang corresponds to the Sanskrit character ‘घ’.
Odia Gha
Odia independent and subjoined letter Gha.
Gha (ଘ) is a consonant of the Odiaabugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Siddhaṃ letter Gha. 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 Gha with vowel matras
Gha
Ghā
Ghi
Ghī
Ghu
Ghū
Ghr̥
Ghr̥̄
Ghl̥
Ghl̥̄
Ghe
Ghai
Gho
Ghau
Gh
ଘ
ଘା
ଘି
ଘୀ
ଘୁ
ଘୂ
ଘୃ
ଘୄ
ଘୢ
ଘୣ
ଘେ
ଘୈ
ଘୋ
ଘୌ
ଘ୍
Conjuncts of ଘ
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) + ଘ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature ŋɡʱa:
ର୍ (r) + ଘ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature rɡʱa:
ଘ୍ (ɡʱ) + ର (ra) gives the ligature ɡʱra:
Kaithi Gha
Kaithi consonant and half-form Gha.
Gha (𑂐) is a consonant of the Kaithiabugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Siddhaṃ letter Gha. Like in other Indic scripts, Kaithi 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.
Kaithi Gha with vowel matras
Gha
Ghā
Ghi
Ghī
Ghu
Ghū
Ghe
Ghai
Gho
Ghau
Gh
𑂐
𑂐𑂰
𑂐𑂱
𑂐𑂲
𑂐𑂳
𑂐𑂴
𑂐𑂵
𑂐𑂶
𑂐𑂷
𑂐𑂸
𑂐𑂹
Conjuncts of 𑂐
As is common in Indic scripts, Kaithi joins letters together to form conjunct consonant clusters. The most common conjunct formation is achieved by using a half form of preceding consonants, although several consonants use an explicit virama. Most half forms are derived from the full form by removing the vertical stem. As is common in most Indic scripts, conjucts of ra are indicated with a repha or rakar mark attached to the rest of the consonant cluster. In addition, there are a few vertical conjuncts that can be found in Kaithi writing, but true ligatures are not used in the modern Kaithi script.
𑂐୍ (ɡʱ) + 𑂩 (ra) gives the ligature ɡʱra:
𑂩୍ (r) + 𑂐 (ɡʱa) gives the ligature rɡʱa:
Comparison of Gha
The various Indic scripts are generally related to each other through adaptation and borrowing, and as such the glyphs for cognate letters, including Gha, are related as well.
^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.
^Masaram Gondi acts as an Indic abugida, but its letterforms were not derived from any single precursor script.
Character encodings of Gha
Most Indic scripts are encoded in the Unicode Standard, and as such the letter Gha in those scripts can be represented in plain text with unique codepoint. Gha from several modern-use scripts can also be found in legacy encodings, such as ISCII.
^Ifrah, Georges (2000). The Universal History of Numbers. From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 447–450. ISBN0-471-39340-1.
Kurt Elfering: Die Mathematik des Aryabhata I. Text, Übersetzung aus dem Sanskrit und Kommentar. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, München, 1975, ISBN3-7705-1326-6
Georges Ifrah: The Universal History of Numbers. From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2000, ISBN0-471-39340-1.
B. L. van der Waerden: Erwachende Wissenschaft. Ägyptische, babylonische und griechische Mathematik. Birkhäuser-Verlag, Basel Stuttgart, 1966, ISBN3-7643-0399-9
Fleet, J. F. (1911). "Aryabhata's System of Expressing Numbers". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 43: 109–126. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00040995. JSTOR25189823.
^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".
("H/X") after having gone through the Gupta letter 
.
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