Ba (
ब) 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
બ, and the
Modi letter 𑘤.
Devanagari-using Languages In all languages, ब is pronounced as or when appropriate. Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel: ''. • wikt:#Hindi| = '''' ""-->
Conjuncts with ब 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.
Ligature conjuncts of ब 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) + ब (ba) gives the ligature rba: • Eyelash र্ (r) + ब (ba) gives the ligature rba: • ब্ (b) + rakar र (ra) gives the ligature bra: • ब্ (b) + न (na) gives the ligature bna: • द্ (d) + ब (ba) gives the ligature dba: • द্ (d) + ब্ (b) + rakar र (ra) gives the ligature :
Stacked conjuncts of ब 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. • ब্ (b) + ब (ba) gives the ligature bba: • ब্ (b) + च (ca) gives the ligature bca: • ब্ (b) + छ (cʰa) gives the ligature bcʰa: • ब্ (b) + ड (ḍa) gives the ligature bḍa: • ब্ (b) + ग (ga) gives the ligature bga: • ब্ (b) + ज (ja) gives the ligature bja: • ब্ (b) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature bjña: • ब্ (b) + क (ka) gives the ligature bka: • ब্ (b) + ल (la) gives the ligature bla: • ब্ (b) + ङ (ŋa) gives the ligature bŋa: • ब্ (b) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature bña: • ब্ (b) + व (va) gives the ligature bva: • च্ (c) + ब (ba) gives the ligature cba: • छ্ (cʰ) + ब (ba) gives the ligature cʰba: • ड্ (ḍ) + ब (ba) gives the ligature ḍba: • ढ্ (ḍʱ) + ब (ba) gives the ligature ḍʱba: • ह্ (h) + ब (ba) gives the ligature hba: • झ্ (jʰ) + ब (ba) gives the ligature jʰba: • क্ (k) + ब (ba) gives the ligature kba: • ख্ (kʰ) + ब (ba) gives the ligature kʰba: • ल্ (l) + ब (ba) gives the ligature lba: • ळ্ (ḷ) + ब (ba) gives the ligature ḷba: • ङ্ (ŋ) + ब (ba) gives the ligature ŋba: • ञ্ (ñ) + ब (ba) gives the ligature ñba: • फ্ (pʰ) + ब (ba) gives the ligature pʰba: • स্ (s) + ब (ba) gives the ligature sba: • श্ (ʃ) + ब (ba) gives the ligature ʃba: • त্ (t) + ब (ba) gives the ligature tba: • ट্ (ṭ) + ब (ba) gives the ligature ṭba: • ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ब (ba) gives the ligature ṭʰba: • व্ (v) + ब (ba) gives the ligature vba: ==Bengali Ba==