Ja (Indic)

The Brahmi letter , Ja, is probably derived from the Aramaic Zayin , and is thus related to the modern Latin Z and Greek Zeta. Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Ja 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.

Brahmi Ja historic forms

Ashoka (3rd-1st c. BCE)	Girnar (~150 BCE)	Kushana (~150-250 CE)	Gujarat (~250 CE)	Gupta (~350 CE)

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

Tocharian Ja with vowel marks

Ja	Jā	Ji	Jī	Ju	Jū	Jr	Jr̄	Je	Jai	Jo	Jau	Jä

The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the Aramaic Zayin , and is thus related to Z and Zeta, in addition to the Brahmi Ja.

Jja (ॼ) is the character ज with an underbar to represent the voiced palatal implosive [ʄ] that occurs in Sindhi. This underbar is distinct from the Devanagari stress sign anudātta. The underbar is fused to the stem of the letter while the anudātta is a stress accent applied to the entire syllable. This underbar used for Sindhi implosives does not exist as a separate character in Unicode. When the ु or ू vowel sign is applied to jja (ॼ), the ु and ू vowel signs are drawn beneath jja. When the उ ( ु) vowel sign or ऊ ( ू) vowel sign is applied to ja with an anudātta (ज॒), the उ ( ु) vowel sign or ऊ ( ू) vowel sign is first placed under ja (ज) and then the anudātta is placed underneath the उ ( ु) vowel sign or ऊ ( ू) vowel sign.[3]

An example of a Sindhi word that uses jja (ॼ) is ॼाण (ڄاڻَ), which is of the feminine grammatical gender and means information or knowledge.[4]

Za (ज़) is the character ज with a single dot underneath. It is used in Devanagari transcriptions of Urdu, English, and other languages to denote the voiced alveolar sibilant [z]. Za (ज़) should not be confused with ža (झ़), which is the character jha (झ) combined with a nuqta, and is used to transcribe the voiced post-alveolar fricative [ʒ] from Urdu (ژ) and English. Za (ज़) should also not be confused zha (ॹ), which is used in Devanagari transcriptions of the Avestan letter zhe (𐬲) to denote the voiced post-alveolar fricative [ʒ].

Zha (ॹ) is the character ज with three dots underneath. It is used in Devanagari transcriptions of the Avestan letter zhe (𐬲) to denote the voiced palatal fricative [ʝ]. An example of its usage is in Kavasji Edulji Kanga's Avesta, yazna 41.3 to write ईॹीम्.[5] Zha (ॹ) should not be confused with za (ज़), which is used to denote the voiced alveolar sibilant [z] from Urdu, English, and other languages. Zha (ॹ) should also not be confused with ža (झ़), which is the character jha (झ) combined with a nuqta, and is used to transcribe the voiced post-alveolar fricative [ʒ] from Urdu (ژ) and English.

In many languages, ज is pronounced as [d͡ʒə] or [d͡ʒ] when appropriate. In Marathi, ज is sometimes pronounced as [d͡zə] or [d͡z] in addition to [d͡ʒə] or [d͡ʒ]. Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:

Half form of Ja.

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.[6]

Jja half form

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. The conjunct jja also has a unique half form that differs from the regular conjunct.

• Repha र् (r) + ज (ja) gives the ligature र्ज (rja): ^note

• Eyelash र् (r) + ज (ja) gives the ligature rja:

• ज् (j) + rakar र (ra) gives the ligature ज्र (jra):

• ज् (j) + न (na) gives the ligature ज्न (jna):

• ज् (j) + ज (ja) gives the ligature ज्ज (jja):

• ज् (j) + ज् (j) + व (va) gives the ligature ज्ज्व (jjva):

• ज् (j) + ज् (j) + य (ya) gives the ligature ज्ज्य (jjya):

Jña half form

One of the most common true ligatures in Devanagari is the conjunct jña ज्ञ. This ligature is a required form for most Devanagari languages, and the conjunct even has its own half form that freely joins other letters in horizontal conjuncts.

• ज् (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ज्ञ (jña):

• Repha र् (r) + ज् (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature र्ज्ञ (rjña):

• Eyelash र् (r) + ज् (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature rjña:

• भ् (b^h) + ज् (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature भ्ज्ञ (b^hjña):

• ब् (b) + ज् (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ब्ज्ञ (bjña):

• छ् (c^h) + ज् (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature छ्ज्ञ (c^hjña):

• च্ (c) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature cjña:

• ढ্ (ḍʱ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ḍʱjña:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ḍjña:

• द্ (d) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature djña:

• घ্ (ɡʱ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ɡʱjña:

• ग্ (g) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature gjña:

• ह্ (h) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature hjña:

• ज্ (j) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature jjña:

• झ্ (j^h) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature j^hjña:

• ख্ (k^h) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature k^hjña:

• क্ (k) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature kjña:

• ल্ (l) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ljña:

• म্ (m) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature mjña:

• न্ (n) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature njña:

• ञ্ (ñ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ñjña:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ŋjña:

• फ্ (p^h) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature p^hjña:

• प্ (p) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature pjña:

• श্ (ʃ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ʃjña:

• स্ (s) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature sjña:

• ष্ (ṣ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ṣjña:

• थ্ (t^h) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature t^hjña:

• त্ (t) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature tjña:

• ठ্ (ṭ^h) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ṭ^hjña:

• ट্ (ṭ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ṭjña:

• व্ (v) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature vjña:

• य্ (y) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature yjña:

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.

• भ্ (b^h) + ज (ja) gives the ligature b^hja:

• ब্ (b) + ज (ja) gives the ligature bja:

• छ্ (c^h) + ज (ja) gives the ligature c^hja:

• च্ (c) + ज (ja) gives the ligature cja:

• ढ্ (ḍʱ) + ज (ja) gives the ligature ḍʱja:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ज (ja) gives the ligature ḍja:

• ध্ (dʱ) + ज (ja) gives the ligature dʱja:

• द্ (d) + ज (ja) gives the ligature dja:

• घ্ (ɡʱ) + ज (ja) gives the ligature ɡʱja:

• ग্ (g) + ज (ja) gives the ligature gja:

• ह্ (h) + ज (ja) gives the ligature hja:

• ज্ (j) + च (ca) gives the ligature jca:

• ज্ (j) + ड (ḍa) gives the ligature jḍa:

• झ্ (j^h) + ज (ja) gives the ligature j^hja:

• ज্ (j) + ल (la) gives the ligature jla:

• ज্ (j) + ङ (ŋa) gives the ligature jŋa:

• ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature jña:

• ज্ (j) + श (ʃa) gives the ligature jʃa:

• ख্ (k^h) + ज (ja) gives the ligature k^hja:

• क্ (k) + ज (ja) gives the ligature kja:

• ल্ (l) + ज (ja) gives the ligature lja:

• ळ্ (ḷ) + ज (ja) gives the ligature ḷja:

• म্ (m) + ज (ja) gives the ligature mja:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ज (ja) gives the ligature ŋja:

• न্ (n) + ज (ja) gives the ligature nja:

• ञ্ (ñ) + ज (ja) gives the ligature ñja:

• फ্ (p^h) + ज (ja) gives the ligature p^hja:

• प্ (p) + ज (ja) gives the ligature pja:

• श্ (ʃ) + ज (ja) gives the ligature ʃja:

• स্ (s) + ज (ja) gives the ligature sja:

• ष্ (ṣ) + ज (ja) gives the ligature ṣja:

• त্ (t) + ज (ja) gives the ligature tja:

• ठ্ (ṭ^h) + ज (ja) gives the ligature ṭ^hja:

• ट্ (ṭ) + ज (ja) gives the ligature ṭja:

• व্ (v) + ज (ja) gives the ligature vja:

• य্ (y) + ज (ja) gives the ligature yja:

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

Bengali জ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with a tendency towards stacked ligatures.[7]

• ব্ (b) + জ (ja) gives the ligature bja:

• জ্ (j) + জ (ja) gives the ligature jja:

• জ্ (j) + ঝ (j^ha) gives the ligature jj^ha:

• জ্ (j) + জ্ (j) + ব (va) gives the ligature jjva, with the va phala suffix:

• জ্ (j) + ঞ (ña) gives the ligature jña:

• জ্ (j) + র (ra) gives the ligature jra, with the ra phala suffix:

• জ্ (j) + ব (va) gives the ligature jva, with the va phala suffix:

• জ্ (j) + য (ya) gives the ligature jya, with the ya phala suffix:

• ঞ (ñ) + জ (ja) gives the ligature ñja:

• র্ (r) + জ (ja) gives the ligature rja, with the repha prefix:

• র্ (r) + জ্ (j) + য (ya) gives the ligature rjya, with the repha prefix and ya phala suffix:

The Gujarati script is used to write the Gujarati and Kutchi languages. In both languages, જ is pronounced as [jə] or [j] when appropriate. Like all Indic scripts, Gujarati uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:

Ja	Jā	Ji	Jī	Ju	Jū	Jr	Jl	Jr̄	Jl̄	Jĕ	Je	Jai	Jŏ	Jo	Jau	J
Gujarati Ja syllables, with vowel marks in red.

Za (જ઼) is the character Ja (જ) with a single dot underneath. It corresponds to the Devanagari character Za (ज़). It is also used in Gujarati transcriptions of Avestan (𐬰),[8][9][10] Urdu (ژ), English, and other languages to denote the voiced alveolar sibilant [z]. Zha (ૹ) is the character Ja (જ) with three dots underneath. It is used in Gujarati transcriptions of the Avestan letter zhe (𐬲) to denote the voiced palatal fricative [ʒ] and is analogous to the Devanagari character zha (ॹ).[8][9] Zha (ૹ) was added to the Unicode Standard as a single character ljust like the Devanagari character zha (ॹ) with Unicode 8.0 on 17 June 2015.[10][11] An example of a word in the Gujarati script the uses zha (ૹ) is ચીૹ્દી.[12]

Gujarati જ exhibits conjunct ligatures, much like its parent Devanagari Script. While most Gujarati conjuncts can only be formed by reducing the letter shape to create a "half form" that fits tightly to following letter, Ja does not have 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. Lacking a half form, X will normally use an explicit virama when forming conjuncts without a true ligature. 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) + જ (ja) gives the ligature RJa:

• જ્ (j) + ર (ra) gives the ligature JRa:

• જ્ (j) + ઞ (ɲa) gives the ligature JÑa:

• ર્ (r) + જ (ja) ઞ (ɲa) gives the ligature RJÑa:

• જ (ja) + ઞ્ (ɲ) + ર (ra) gives the ligature JÑRa:

A dot added below Jajja (ਜ਼) denotes that it has to be pronounced as the voiced alveolar fricative /z/.

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.

• ജ് (j) + ജ (ja) gives the ligature jja:

• ഞ് (ñ) + ജ (ja) gives the ligature ñja:

• ജ് (j) + ഞ (ña) gives the ligature jña:

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.

• 𑂔୍ (j) + 𑂩 (ra) gives the ligature jra:

• 𑂩୍ (r) + 𑂔 (ja) gives the ligature rja:

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.

• ଞ୍ (ñ) + ଜ (ja) gives the ligature ñja:

• ଜ୍ (j) + ଞ (ña) gives the ligature jña:

In IPA, cho chang is pronounced as [tɕ^h] at the beginning of a syllable and are pronounced as [t̚] at the end of a syllable. The previous letter of the alphabet, cho ching (ฉ), is also named cho, however, it falls under the high class of Thai consonants. In the acrophony of the Thai script, chang (ช้าง) means 'elephant'. Cho chang corresponds to the Sanskrit character 'ज'.

In IPA, so so is pronounced as [s] at the beginning of a syllable and are pronounced as [t̚] at the end of a syllable. In the acrophony of the Thai script, so (โซ่) means 'chain'. Old Thai had the voiced fricative sound /z/. When the Thai script was developed, cho chang was slightly modified to create distinct letter for /z/. In modern Thai, the voicing of /z/ became lost and thus is now pronounced as [s] at the beginning of a syllable.

In IPA, so tam was originally pronounced as [dʑ] at the beginning of a syllable. The next consonant in the Pali alphabet, jha, was oriɡinally nominally pronounced as [dʑ^ɦ].

When the precursor of the Lao script was beinɡ developed, so tam was modified to create a consonant to represent the sound /z/ in the vernacular, and this was ordered after so tam in the alphabet. This also happened in the Tai Tham script, the script used for Pali texts. As a result of sound chanɡes, all three of so tam, its successor for the vernacular, and its successor in Pali came to be pronounced /s/, thouɡh so tam remained distinct in the reɡional centre, Chianɡ Mai. The two successors came to be confused, and so when the Pali-writinɡ capability of the Lao script was restored in the 1930s, the glyph chosen for Pali Jha was actually that proper to the vernacular successor. Meanwhile, the modified character had become redundant in the vernacular.

Like in other Indic scripts, Tai Tham consonants have the inherent vowel "a", and take one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel.

Notes:

1. The transliteration scheme is an amalgamation of the ALA-LC schemes of Khmer[15], Pali[16] and Lao[17].
2. Many of the matras include subscript wa (), subscript ya (), subscript a () or even the letter a () itself. Anusvara () and visarga () are also used.
3. In the relevant Tai languages, a short vowel in an open syllable includes an underlyinɡ ɡlottal stop.

Additional short vowels not shown above may be synthesised from the corresponding long vowel by appending visarga for open syllables (as shown for jo) or applying mai sat () for closed syllables (as shown for jo̹). Unlike the other languages, Lao instead replaces an ī or ư̄ glyph by the corresponding short vowel.

The lack of a vowel between consonants notated as consonants is indicated by vertically stacking the consonants, generally without their touching. The Brahmi style of writing final consonants small and low developed, as vestigially seen in Khmer and Lao, into using subscripting to indicate that a consonant had no vowel of its own. In theory this leaves it ambiguous as to whether a consonant precedes or follows the vowel, but ambiguous cases are rare. Finally, if there is no room for the consonant below, it may be left as an 'independent' consonant or. in some cases, written superscript. Occasionally the visible virama (ra haam) is used, but this may signify that the consonant so marked is silent. The vowel /a/ will be made explicit if the final consonant is notated by a letter and is included in the same stack as the initial consonant or is written in a stack just consisting of that consonant.

In writing systems that make use of tall aa, as the initial letter of an akshara the letter is followed by round aa, as shown in the table of matras above, rather than tall aa.

Low Ca can serve as the initial consonant of a stack, and several examples can be seen above. It can also occur as the final element of a consonant stack in words of Indic origin, both in the clusters jja and ñja of Pali words and as the final consonant after apocope of the final vowel. The ligature ñja is not a simple vertical stack - see Ña (Indic)#Tai Tham Ña (forthcoming) for details.

Like in other Indic scripts, Tai Tham consonants have the inherent vowel "a", and take one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel.

Notes:

1. The transliteration scheme is an amalgamation of the ALA-LC schemes of Khmer[15], Pali[18] and Lao[19].
2. Many of the matras include subscript wa (), subscript ya (), subscript a () or even the letter a () itself. Anusvara () and visarga () are also used.
3. In the relevant Tai languages, a short vowel in an open syllable includes an underlyinɡ ɡlottal stop.

This form occurs only as the initial consonant of a syllable. This letter combined in aksharas with the dependent vowel Ā uses round aa, as shown in the table of matras above, rather than tall aa.