Gha (
घ) is the fourth 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 ઘ and the
Modi letter 𑘑.
Devanagari-using Languages In all languages, घ 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 घ 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 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. • Repha र্ (r) + घ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature rɡʱa: • Eyelash र্ (r) + घ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature rɡʱa: • घ্ (ɡʱ) + rakar र (ra) gives the ligature ɡʱra: • घ্ (ɡʱ) + न (na) gives the ligature ɡʱna: • द্ (d) + घ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature dɡʱa:
Stacked conjuncts of घ 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) + घ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature cʰɡʱa: • ढ্ (ḍʱ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature ḍʱɡʱa: • ड্ (ḍ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature ḍɡʱa: • घ্ (ɡʱ) + च (ca) gives the ligature ɡʱca: • घ্ (ɡʱ) + ड (ḍa) gives the ligature ɡʱḍa: • घ্ (ɡʱ) + ज (ja) gives the ligature ɡʱja: • घ্ (ɡʱ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ɡʱjña: • घ্ (ɡʱ) + ल (la) gives the ligature ɡʱla: • घ্ (ɡʱ) + ङ (ŋa) gives the ligature ɡʱŋa: • घ্ (ɡʱ) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ɡʱña: • ङ্ (ŋ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature ŋɡʱa: • ट্ (ṭ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature ṭɡʱa: • ठ্ (ṭʰ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives the ligature ṭʰɡʱa: ==Bengali script==