Cha (Indic)

Ancient scripts
Bangla and Tibetan scripts
	Note: Korean Hangul is an alphabet, not an Indic abugida, but; appears to ultimately have some derivation from 'Phags-pa.
Sharada-based scripts
Nagaris and other Gupta-based scripts
Kawi scripts
Tai and Khmer scripts
Other Grantha-based scripts
Other Brahmic scripts
	Canadian Aboriginal syllabics do not have a letter derived from Cha.
Phonemic representation:	/t͡ʃʰ/
IAST transliteration:	cha Cha
ISCII code point:	B9 (185)

Cha is the seventh consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, cha is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter , which is probably derived from the Aramaic letter ("Q") after having gone through the Gupta letter .

Āryabhaṭa numeration

Aryabhata used Devanagari letters for numbers, very similar to the Greek numerals, even after the invention of Indian numerals. The values of the different forms of छ are:[1]

छ [t͡ʃʰə] = 7 (७)
छि [t͡ʃʰɪ] = 700 (७००)
छु [t͡ʃʰʊ] = 70,000 (७० ०००)
छृ [t͡ʃʰri] = 7,000,000 (७० ०० ०००)
छॢ [t͡ʃʰlə] = 7×10⁸ (७०^८)
छे [t͡ʃʰe] = 7×10¹⁰ (७०^१०)
छै [t͡ʃʰɛː] = 7×10¹² (७०^१२)
छो [t͡ʃʰoː] = 7×10¹⁴ (७०^१४)
छौ [t͡ʃʰɔː] = 7×10¹⁶ (७०^१६)

Historic Cha

There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Cha as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta . The Tocharian Cha did not have an alterante Fremdzeichen form. The third form of cha, in Kharoshthi () was probably derived from Aramaic separately from the Brahmi letter.

Brahmi Cha

The Brahmi letter , Cha, is probably derived from the altered Aramaic Tsade , and is thus related to the Greek San (letter). Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Cha 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 Cha historic forms
Ashoka (3rd-1st c. BCE)	Girnar (~150 BCE)	Kushana (~150-250 CE)	Gujarat (~250 CE)	Gupta (~350 CE)

Tocharian Cha

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

Tocharian Cha with vowel marks
Cha	Chā	Chi	Chī	Chu	Chū	Chr	Chr̄	Che	Chai	Cho	Chau	Chä

Kharoṣṭhī Cha

The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the altered Aramaic Tsade , and is thus related to the Greek San (letter), in addition to the Brahmi Cha.

Devanagari script

Cha (छ) is the seventh 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 છ and the Modi letter 𑘔.

Devanagari-using Languages

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

Devanagari छ with vowel marks
Cha	Chā	Chi	Chī	Chu	Chū	Chr	Chr̄	Chl	Chl̄	Che	Chai	Cho	Chau	Ch
छ	छा	छि	छी	छु	छू	छृ	छॄ	छॢ	छॣ	छे	छै	छो	छौ	छ्

Conjuncts with छ

Half form of Cha.

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.[3]

Ligature conjuncts of छ

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) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature rcʰa: ^note

Eyelash र্ (r) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature rcʰa:

छ্ (cʰ) + rakar र (ra) gives us the ligature cʰra:

Stacked conjuncts of छ

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.

ब্ (b) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature bcʰa:

छ্ (cʰ) + ब (ba) gives us the ligature cʰba:

छ্ (cʰ) + भ (bʰa) gives us the ligature cʰbʰa:

छ্ (cʰ) + च (ca) gives us the ligature cʰca:

छ্ (cʰ) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature cʰcʰa:

छ্ (cʰ) + द (da) gives us the ligature cʰda:

छ্ (cʰ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature cʰḍa:

छ্ (cʰ) + ढ (ḍʱa) gives us the ligature cʰḍʱa:

छ্ (cʰ) + ध (dʱa) gives us the ligature cʰdʱa:

छ্ (cʰ) + ग (ga) gives us the ligature cʰga:

छ্ (cʰ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature cʰɡʱa:

छ্ (cʰ) + ह (ha) gives us the ligature cʰha:

छ্ (cʰ) + ज (ja) gives us the ligature cʰja:

छ্ (cʰ) + झ (jʰa) gives us the ligature cʰjʰa:

छ্ (cʰ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature cʰjña:

छ্ (cʰ) + क (ka) gives us the ligature cʰka:

छ্ (cʰ) + ख (kʰa) gives us the ligature cʰkʰa:

छ্ (cʰ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature cʰkṣa:

छ্ (cʰ) + ल (la) gives us the ligature cʰla:

छ্ (cʰ) + ळ (ḷa) gives us the ligature cʰḷa:

छ্ (cʰ) + म (ma) gives us the ligature cʰma:

छ্ (cʰ) + न (na) gives us the ligature cʰna:

छ্ (cʰ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature cʰŋa:

छ্ (cʰ) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature cʰṇa:

छ্ (cʰ) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature cʰña:

छ্ (cʰ) + प (pa) gives us the ligature cʰpa:

छ্ (cʰ) + फ (pʰa) gives us the ligature cʰpʰa:

छ্ (cʰ) + स (sa) gives us the ligature cʰsa:

छ্ (cʰ) + श (ʃa) gives us the ligature cʰʃa:

छ্ (cʰ) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature cʰṣa:

छ্ (cʰ) + त (ta) gives us the ligature cʰta:

छ্ (cʰ) + थ (tʰa) gives us the ligature cʰtʰa:

छ্ (cʰ) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature cʰṭa:

छ্ (cʰ) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature cʰṭʰa:

छ্ (cʰ) + व (va) gives us the ligature cʰva:

छ্ (cʰ) + य (ya) gives us the ligature cʰya:

द্ (d) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature dcʰa:

ड্ (ḍ) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature ḍcʰa:

ढ্ (ḍʱ) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature ḍʱcʰa:

ख্ (kʰ) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature kʰcʰa:

ङ্ (ŋ) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature ŋcʰa:

ट্ (ṭ) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature ṭcʰa:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature ṭʰcʰa:

व্ (v) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature vcʰa:

Bengali script

The Bengali script ছ is derived from the Siddhaṃ , and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, छ. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter ছ will sometimes be transliterated as "cho" instead of "cha". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /cʰo/.

Like all Indic consonants, ছ can be modified by marks to indicate another (or no) vowel than its inherent "a".

Bengali ছ with vowel marks
cha	chā	chi	chī	chu	chū	chr	chr̄	che	chai	cho	chau	ch
ছ	ছা	ছি	ছী	ছু	ছূ	ছৃ	ছৄ	ছে	ছৈ	ছো	ছৌ	ছ্

ছ in Bengali-using languages

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

Conjuncts with ছ

Bengali ছ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts. Unlike most Bengali letters, conjuncts with ছ do not tend towards stacked ligatures.[4]

চ্ (c) + ছ (cʰa) gives us the ligature ccʰa:

চ্ (c) + ছ্ (cʰ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ccʰra, with the ra phala suffix:

চ্ (c) + ছ্ (cʰ) + ব (va) gives us the ligature ccʰva, with the va phala suffix:

ঞ (ñ) + ছ (cʰa) gives us the ligature ñcʰa:

র্ (r) + ছ (cʰa) gives us the ligature rcʰa, with the repha prefix:

শ্ (ʃ) + ছ (cʰa) gives us the ligature ʃcʰa:

Gujarati Cha

Gujarati Cha.

Cha (છ) is the seventh consonant of the Gujarati abugida. It is derived from the 16th century Devanagari Cha with the top bar (shiro rekha) removed, and ultimately from the Brahmi letter .

Gujarati-using Languages

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

Cha	Chā	Chi	Chī	Chu	Chū	Chr	Chl	Chr̄	Chl̄	Chĕ	Che	Chai	Chŏ	Cho	Chau	Ch

Gujarati Cha syllables, with vowel marks in red.

Conjuncts with છ

Gujarati છ 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, Cha 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, Cha 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) + છ (cʰa) gives us the ligature RCha:

છ્ (cʰ) + ર (ra) gives us the ligature ChRa:

Gurmukhi script

Chhachhaa [t͡ʃʰət͡ʃʰːɑ] (ਛ) is the twelfth letter of the Gurmukhi alphabet. Its name is [t͡ʃʰət͡ʃʰːɑ] and is pronounced as /t͡ʃʰ/ when used in words. It is derived from the Laṇḍā letter cha, and ultimately from the Brahmi cha. Gurmukhi chachaa does not have a special pairin or addha (reduced) form for making conjuncts, and in modern Punjabi texts do not take a half form or halant to indicate the bare consonant /t͡ʃʰ/, although Gurmukhi Sanskrit texts may use an explicit halant.

Telugu Cha

Telugu independent and subjoined Cha.

Cha (ఛ) is a consonant of the Telugu abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter . It is closely related to the Kannada letter ಛ. Most Telugu consonants contain a v-shaped headstroke that is related to the horizontal headline found in other Indic scripts, although headstrokes do not connect adjacent letters in Telugu. The headstroke is normally lost when adding vowel matras.

Telugu conjuncts are created by reducing trailing letters to a subjoined form that appears below the initial consonant of the conjunct. Many subjoined forms are created by dropping their headline, with many extending the end of the stroke of the main letter body to form an extended tail reaching up to the right of the preceding consonant. This subjoining of trailing letters to create conjuncts is in contrast to the leading half forms of Devanagari and Bengali letters. Ligature conjuncts are not a feature in Telugu, with the only non-standard construction being an alternate subjoined form of Ṣa (borrowed from Kannada) in the KṢa conjunct.

Malayalam Cha

Malayalam letter Cha

Cha (ഛ) is a consonant of the Malayalam abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Grantha letter Cha. Like in other Indic scripts, Malayalam consonants have the inherent vowel "a", and take one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel or no vowel at all.

Malayalam Cha matras: Cha, Chā, Chi, Chī, Chu, Chū, Chr̥, Chr̥̄, Chl̥, Chl̥̄, Che, Chē, Chai, Cho, Chō, Chau, and Ch.

Conjuncts of ഛ

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. Cha does not form ligatures or other combining forms, and Cha conjuncts can only be formed with post-base forms of other letter or an 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.

Thai script

Cho ching (ฉ) is the ninth letter of the Thai script. It falls under the middle class of Thai consonants. In IPA, cho ching is pronounced as [tɕʰ] at the beginning of a syllable and may not be used to close a syllable. The eighth letter of the alphabet, cho chan (จ), is also named cho and falls under the middle class of Thai consonants. The tenth and twelfth letters of the alphabet, cho chang (ช) and cho choe (ฌ), are also named cho, however, they all fall under the low class of Thai consonants. Unlike many Indic scripts, Thai consonants do not form conjunct ligatures, and use the pinthu—an explicit virama with a dot shape—to indicate bare consonants. In the acrophony of the Thai script, ching (ฉิ่ง) means ‘cymbals (ching)’. Cho ching corresponds to the Sanskrit character ‘छ’.

Odia Cha

Odia independent and subjoined letter Cha.

Cha (ଛ) is a consonant of the Odia abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Siddhaṃ letter Cha. Like in other Indic scripts, Odia consonants have the inherent vowel "a", and take one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel or no vowel at all.

Odia Cha with vowel matras
Cha	Chā	Chi	Chī	Chu	Chū	Chr̥	Chr̥̄	Chl̥	Chl̥̄	Che	Chai	Cho	Chau	Ch
ଛ	ଛା	ଛି	ଛୀ	ଛୁ	ଛୂ	ଛୃ	ଛୄ	ଛୢ	ଛୣ	ଛେ	ଛୈ	ଛୋ	ଛୌ	ଛ୍

Conjuncts of ଛ

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. The "infinity" shaped subjoined form of Cha used in a few conjuncts is identical to the normal subjoined form of Tha and should not be confused with Tha.

ଚ୍ (c) + ଛ (cʰa) gives us the ligature ccʰa:

ଞ୍ (ñ) + ଛ (cʰa) gives us the ligature ñcʰa:

ଶ୍ (ʃ) + ଛ (cʰa) gives us the ligature ʃcʰa:

References

Ifrah, Georges (2000). The Universal History of Numbers. From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 447–450. ISBN 0-471-39340-1.
Evolutionary chart, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, 1838
Pall, Peeter. "Microsoft Word - kblhi2" (PDF). Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
"The Bengali Alphabet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-28.

Kurt Elfering: Die Mathematik des Aryabhata I. Text, Übersetzung aus dem Sanskrit und Kommentar. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, München, 1975, ISBN 3-7705-1326-6
Georges Ifrah: The Universal History of Numbers. From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2000, ISBN 0-471-39340-1.
B. L. van der Waerden: Erwachende Wissenschaft. Ägyptische, babylonische und griechische Mathematik. Birkhäuser-Verlag, Basel Stuttgart, 1966, ISBN 3-7643-0399-9
Fleet, J. F. (January 1911). "Aryabhata's System of Expressing Numbers". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: 109–126. ISSN 0035-869X. JSTOR 25189823.
Fleet, J. F. (1911). "Aryabhata's System of Expressing Numbers". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 43: 109–126. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00040995. JSTOR 25189823.

^note Conjuncts are identified by IAST transliteration, except aspirated consonants are indicated with a superscript "h" to distinguish from an unaspirated cononant + Ha, and the use of the IPA "ŋ" and "ʃ" instead of the less dinstinctive "ṅ" and "ś".

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[Ifrah-1] Ifrah, Georges (2000). The Universal History of Numbers. From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 447–450. ISBN 0-471-39340-1.

[2] Evolutionary chart, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, 1838

[KNAB-3] Pall, Peeter. "Microsoft Word - kblhi2" (PDF). Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Retrieved 19 June 2020.

[4] "The Bengali Alphabet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-28.

note