![Brahmi Kya (Ka-Ya) conjunct consonant](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Brahmi_Kya_%28Ka-Ya%29_conjunct_consonant.jpg)
Conjunct consonants are a type of letters, used for example in
Brahmi
Brahmi (; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such ...
or Brahmi derived modern scripts such as
Balinese,
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
,
Devanagari
Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental syste ...
,
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...
, etc to write
consonant cluster
In linguistics, a consonant cluster, consonant sequence or consonant compound, is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word ''splits''. In the education fie ...
s such as or . Although most of the time, letters are formed by using a simple consonant with the inherent value vowel "a" (as with "k"
![Brahmi k](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Brahmi_k.svg)
, pronounced "ka" in Brahmi), or by combining a consonant with an vowel in the form of a
diacritic
A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacriti ...
(as with "ki"
![Brahmi letter Ki](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Brahmi_letter_Ki.svg)
in Brahmi), the usage of conjunct consonant permits the creation of more sophisticated sounds (as with "kya"
![Brahmi Kya](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Brahmi_Kya.jpg)
, formed with the consonants k
![Brahmi k](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Brahmi_k.svg)
and y
![Brahmi y](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Brahmi_y.svg)
assembled vertically).
[ Conjuncts are often used with loan words. Native words typically use the basic consonant and native speakers know to suppress the vowel.
In modern Devanagari the components of a conjunct are written left to right when possible (when the first consonant has a vertical stem that can be removed at the right), whereas in Brahmi characters are joined vertically downwards.]
Some simple examples of conjunct consonants in Devanagari are: त + व = त्व tva, ण + ढ = ण्ढ ṇḍha, स + थ = स्थ stha, where the vertical stroke of the first letter is simply lost in the combination. Sometimes, conjunct consonants are not clearly derived from the letters making up their components: the conjunct for kṣ is क्ष (क् + ष) and for jñ it is ज्ञ (ज् + ञ).
Some examples of conjunct consonants in Gujarati are: પ + ઝ = પ્ઝ pjha (where a stroke of the first letter is lost in the combination), હ + ળ = હ્ળ hḷa, જ + ભ = જ્ભ jbha. Sometimes, conjunct consonants are not clearly derived from the letters making up their components: the conjunct for śc is શ્ચ (શ્ + ચ) and for ñj it is ઞ્જ (ઞ્ + જ).
Conjunct consonants are used in many other scripts as well, usually derived from the Brahmi script. In Balinese, conjunct consonants are called ''Haksara Wrehastra''.
See also
* Devanagari conjuncts
* Consonant stacking
An abugida (, from Ge'ez: ), sometimes known as alphasyllabary, neosyllabary or pseudo-alphabet, is a segmental writing system in which consonant-vowel sequences are written as units; each unit is based on a consonant letter, and vowel nota ...
References
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Writing systems