Ha (Indic)

The Brahmi letter , Ha, is probably derived from the Aramaic He , and is thus related to the modern Latin E and Greek Epsilon.[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Ha 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 Ha 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 Ha with vowel marks

Ha	Hā	Hi	Hī	Hu	Hū	Hr	Hr̄	He	Hai	Ho	Hau	Hä

The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the Aramaic He , and is thus related to H and Eta, in addition to the Brahmi Ha.[2]

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

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. Lacking a vertical stem to drop for making a half form, Ha 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 avoiding their use where other languages would use them.[4]

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) + ह (ha) gives the ligature rha: ^note

• Eyelash र্ (r) + ह (ha) gives the ligature rha:

• ह্ (h) + rakar र (ra) gives the ligature hra:

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) + ह (ha) gives the ligature cʰha:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ह (ha) gives the ligature ḍha:

• ढ্ (ḍʱ) + ह (ha) gives the ligature ḍʱha:

• द্ (d) + ह (ha) gives the ligature dha:

• ह্ (h) + ब (ba) gives the ligature hba:

• ह্ (h) + च (ca) gives the ligature hca:

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

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

• ह্ (h) + क (ka) gives the ligature hka:

• ह্ (h) + ल (la) gives the ligature hla:

• ह্ (h) + ळ (ḷa) gives the ligature hḷa:

• ह্ (h) + म (ma) gives the ligature hma:

• ह্ (h) + न (na) gives the ligature hna:

• ह্ (h) + ण (ṇa) gives the ligature hṇa:

• ह্ (h) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature hña:

• ह্ (h) + व (va) gives the ligature hva:

• ह্ (h) + य (ya) gives the ligature hya:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ह (ha) gives the ligature ŋha:

• ट্ (ṭ) + ह (ha) gives the ligature ṭha:

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

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

Bengali হ does not form conjuncts like most other letters, and can only be found in conjunction with Repha and Ya-phala.[5]

• র্ (r) + হ (ha) gives the ligature rha, showing the repha prefix:

• র্ (r) + হ্ (h) + য (ya) gives the ligature rhya, with repha and the ya phala suffix:

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

Ha	Hā	Hi	Hī	Hu	Hū	Hr	Hl	Hr̄	Hl̄	Hĕ	He	Hai	Hŏ	Ho	Hau	H
Gujarati Ha syllables, with vowel marks in red.

Gujarati હ 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, Ha 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, Ha 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) + હ (ha) gives the ligature RHa:

• હ્ (h) + ર (ra) gives the ligature HRa:

• હ્ (h) + ણ (ɳa) gives the ligature HṆa:

• હ્ (h) + ન (na) gives the ligature HNa:

• હ્ (h) + લ (la) gives the ligature HLa:

• હ્ (h) + વ (va) gives the ligature HVa:

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.

• ഹ് (h) + ന (na) gives the ligature hna:

• ഹ് (h) + മ (ma) gives the ligature hma:

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.

• 𑂩୍ (r) + 𑂯 (ha) gives the ligature rha: