Ḍa (Indic)

The Brahmi letter , Dda, is probably derived from the altered Aramaic Dalet , and is thus related to the modern Latin D and Greek Delta.[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Dda 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 Dda 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 Dda with vowel marks

Dda	Ddā	Ddi	Ddī	Ddu	Ddū	Ddr	Ddr̄	Dde	Ddai	Ddo	Ddau	Ddä

The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the altered Aramaic Dalet , and is thus related to D and Delta, in addition to the Brahmi Dda.[2]

In all languages, ड is pronounced as [ɖə] or [ɖ] 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, Ḍa 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) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature rḍa: ^note

• Eyelash र্ (r) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature rḍa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + rakar र (ra) gives us the ligature ḍra:

• ड্ (ḍ) + य (ya) gives us the ligature ḍya:

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) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature bḍa:

• भ্ (bʰ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature bʰḍa:

• च্ (c) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature cḍa:

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

• ड্ (ḍ) + ब (ba) gives us the ligature ḍba:

• ड্ (ḍ) + भ (bʰa) gives us the ligature ḍbʰa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + च (ca) gives us the ligature ḍca:

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

• ड্ (ḍ) + द (da) gives us the ligature ḍda:

• द্ (d) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature dḍa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature ḍḍa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ढ (ḍʱa) gives us the ligature ḍḍʱa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ध (dʱa) gives us the ligature ḍdʱa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ग (ga) gives us the ligature ḍga:

• ड্ (ḍ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature ḍɡʱa:

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

• ढ্ (ḍʱ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature ḍʱḍa:

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

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

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

• ड্ (ḍ) + क (ka) gives us the ligature ḍka:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ख (kʰa) gives us the ligature ḍkʰa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ḍkṣa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ल (la) gives us the ligature ḍla:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ळ (ḷa) gives us the ligature ḍḷa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + म (ma) gives us the ligature ḍma:

• ड্ (ḍ) + न (na) gives us the ligature ḍna:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature ḍŋa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature ḍṇa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature ḍña:

• ड্ (ḍ) + प (pa) gives us the ligature ḍpa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + फ (pʰa) gives us the ligature ḍpʰa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + स (sa) gives us the ligature ḍsa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + श (ʃa) gives us the ligature ḍʃa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ḍṣa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + त (ta) gives us the ligature ḍta:

• ड্ (ḍ) + थ (tʰa) gives us the ligature ḍtʰa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature ḍṭa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature ḍṭʰa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + व (va) gives us the ligature ḍva:

• ध্ (dʱ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature dʱḍa:

• घ্ (ɡʱ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature ɡʱḍa:

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

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

• क্ (k) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature kḍa:

• ख্ (kʰ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature kʰḍa:

• ळ্ (ḷ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature ḷḍa:

• म্ (m) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature mḍa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature ŋḍa:

• प্ (p) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature pḍa:

• फ্ (pʰ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature pʰḍa:

• ष্ (ṣ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature ṣḍa:

• थ্ (tʰ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature tʰḍa:

• ट্ (ṭ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature ṭḍa:

• ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature ṭʰḍa:

• व্ (v) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature vḍa:

• य্ (y) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature yḍa:

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

Bengali ড exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with a tendency towards stacked ligatures.[5]

• ড্ (ḍ) + ড (ḍa) gives us the ligature ḍḍa:

• ড্ (ḍ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ḍra, with the ra phala suffix:

• ড্ (ḍ) + ব (va) gives us the ligature ḍva, with the va phala suffix:

• ড্ (ḍ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ḍya, with the ya phala suffix:

• ল্ (l) + ড (ḍa) gives us the ligature lḍa:

• ন্ (n) + ড (ḍa) gives us the ligature nḍa:

• ন্ (n) + ড্ (ḍ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature nḍra, with the ra phala suffix:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + ড (ḍa) gives us the ligature ṇḍa:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + ড্ (ḍ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ṇḍra, with the ra phala suffix:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + ড্ (ḍ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ṇḍya, with the ya phala suffix:

• র্ (r) + ড (ḍa) gives us the ligature rḍa, with the repha prefix:

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

Ḍa	Ḍā	Ḍi	Ḍī	Ḍu	Ḍū	Ḍr	Ḍl	Ḍr̄	Ḍl̄	Ḍĕ	Ḍe	Ḍai	Ḍŏ	Ḍo	Ḍau	Ḍ
Gujarati Ḍa syllables, with vowel marks in red.

Gujarati ડ 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, Ḍa 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, Ḍa 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) + ડ (ɖa) gives us the ligature RḌa:

• ડ્ (ɖ) + ર (ra) gives us the ligature ḌRa:

• ડ્ (ɖ) + ડ (ɖa) gives us the ligature ḌḌa:

• ડ્ (ɖ) + ન (na) gives us the ligature ḌNa:

• ડ્ (ɖ) + વ (va) gives us the ligature ḌVa:

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.

• ഡ് (ḍ) + ഡ (ḍa) gives us the ligature ḍḍa:

• ണ് (ṇ) + ഡ (ḍa) gives us the ligature ṇḍa:

• ഡ് (ḍ) + ഢ (ḍʱa) gives us the ligature ḍḍʱa:

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.

• ଣ୍ (ṇ) + ଡ (ḍa) gives us the ligature ṇḍa: