Jha (Indic)

The Brahmi letter , Jha, is probably derived from the altered Aramaic Zayin , and is thus related to the modern Latin and Greek Z. A couple of identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Jha 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 Jha historic forms

Ashoka (3rd-1st c. BCE)	Girnar (~150 BCE)	Kushana (~150-250 CE)	Gujarat (~250 CE)	Gupta (~350 CE)
	No samples		No samples	No samples

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

Tocharian Jha with vowel marks

Jha	Jhā	Jhi	Jhī	Jhu	Jhū	Jhr	Jhr̄	Jhe	Jhai	Jho	Jhau	Jhä

Ža (झ़) is the character jha (झ) combined with a nuqta. It is used to transcribe the voiced patalal fricative [ʒ] from Urdu (ژ) and English. Ža (झ़) should not be confused with za (ज़), which is used to denote the voiced alveolar sibilant [z] from Urdu, English, and other languages. Ža (झ़) 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]. An equivalent sound, in some Slavic languages, is ž, ż or ж ("zh").

In many languages, झ is pronounced as [d͡ʒʱə] or [d͡ʒʱ] when appropriate. In Marathi, झ is sometimes pronounced as [d͡zʱə] or [d͡zʱ] in addition to [d͡ʒʱə] or [d͡ʒʱ]. Therefore, loanwords having /z/ use this letter for the sound in Marathi. Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:

Half form of Jha.

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.[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 र् (r) + झ (jʰa) gives the ligature rjʰa र्झ: ^note

• Eyelash र् (r) + झ (jʰa) gives the ligature rjʰa र्‍झ:

• झ् (jʰ) + rakar र (ra) gives the ligature jʰra झ्र:

• झ् (jʰ) + न (na) gives the ligature jʰna झ्न:

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) + झ (jʰa) gives the ligature cʰjʰa:

• ढ্ (ḍʱ) + झ (jʰa) gives the ligature ḍʱjʰa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + झ (jʰa) gives the ligature ḍjʰa:

• द্ (d) + झ (jʰa) gives the ligature djʰa:

• झ্ (jʰ) + ब (ba) gives the ligature jʰba:

• झ্ (jʰ) + च (ca) gives the ligature jʰca:

• झ্ (jʰ) + ड (ḍa) gives the ligature jʰḍa:

• झ্ (jʰ) + ज (ja) gives the ligature jʰja:

• झ্ (jʰ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature jʰjña:

• झ্ (jʰ) + ल (la) gives the ligature jʰla:

• झ্ (jʰ) + ङ (ŋa) gives the ligature jʰŋa:

• झ্ (jʰ) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature jʰña:

• झ্ (jʰ) + व (va) gives the ligature jʰva:

• ख্ (kʰ) + झ (jʰa) gives the ligature kʰjʰa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + झ (jʰa) gives the ligature ŋjʰa:

• ठ্ (ṭʰ) + झ (jʰa) gives the ligature ṭʰjʰa:

• ट্ (ṭ) + झ (jʰa) gives the ligature ṭjʰa:

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

Bengali ঝ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, but has significantly fewer conjunct ligatures than most other Bengali letters.[5]

• জ্ (j) + ঝ (jʰa) gives the ligature jjʰa:

• ঞ্ (ñ) + ঝ (jʰa) gives the ligature ñjʰa:

• র্ (r) + ঝ (jʰa) gives the ligature rjʰa, with the repha prefix:

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

Jha	Jhā	Jhi	Jhī	Jhu	Jhū	Jhr	Jhl	Jhr̄	Jhl̄	Jhĕ	Jhe	Jhai	Jhŏ	Jho	Jhau	Jh
Gujarati Jha syllables, with vowel marks in red.

Gujarati ઝ 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, Jha 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, Jha 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) + ઝ (jʰa) gives the ligature RJha:

• ઝ્ (jʰa) + ર (r) gives the ligature JhRa:

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. Jha does not form ligatures or other combining forms, and jha conjuncts can only be formed with post-base forms of other letters and explicit candrakkala. 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.

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) + ଝ (jʰa) gives the ligature ñjʰa:

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) + 𑂕 (jʰa) gives the ligature rjʰa: