Pa (Indic)

The Brahmi letter , Pa, is probably derived from the Aramaic Pe , and is thus related to the modern Latin P and Greek Pi.[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Pa 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 Pa 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 , and has an alternate Fremdzeichen form used in conjuncts and as an alternate representation of Pä.

Tocharian Pa with vowel marks

Pa	Pā	Pi	Pī	Pu	Pū	Pr	Pr̄	Pe	Pai	Po	Pau	Pä	Fremdzeichen

The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the Aramaic Pe , and is thus related to P and Pi, in addition to the Brahmi Pa.[2]

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

Half form of Pa.

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 र্ (r) + प (pa) gives us the ligature rpa: ^note

• Eyelash र্ (r) + प (pa) gives us the ligature rpa:

• प্ (p) + न (na) gives us the ligature pna:

• प্ (p) + rakar र (ra) gives us the ligature pra:

• प্ (p) + ढ (ḍʱa) gives us the ligature pḍʱa:

• प্ (p) + त (ta) gives us the ligature pta:

• प্ (p) + त্ (t) + rakar र (ra) gives us the ligature ptra:

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

• ढ্ (ḍʱ) + प (pa) gives us the ligature ḍʱpa:

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

• द্ (d) + प (pa) gives us the ligature dpa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + प (pa) gives us the ligature ŋpa:

• प্ (p) + च (ca) gives us the ligature pca:

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

• प্ (p) + ज (ja) gives us the ligature pja:

• प্ (p) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature pjña:

• प্ (p) + ल (la) gives us the ligature pla:

• प্ (p) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature pŋa:

• प্ (p) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature pṇa:

• प্ (p) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature pña:

• प্ (p) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature pṭa:

• प্ (p) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature pṭʰa:

• ठ্ (ṭʰ) + प (pa) gives us the ligature ṭʰpa:

• ट্ (ṭ) + प (pa) gives us the ligature ṭpa:

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

Bengali প exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with a tendency towards stacked ligatures as an initial head consonant, and linear (horizontal) ligatures as a trailing consonant.[5]

• ল্ (l) + প (pa) gives us the ligature lpa:

• ম্ (m) + প (pa) gives us the ligature mpa:

• ম্ (m) + প্ (p) + র (ra) gives us the ligature mpra, with the ra phala suffix:

• প্ (p) + ল (la) gives us the ligature pla:

• প্ (p) + ন (na) gives us the ligature pna:

• প্ (p) + প (pa) gives us the ligature ppa:

• প্ (p) + র (ra) gives us the ligature pra, with the ra phala suffix:

• প্ (p) + র্ (r) + য (ya) gives us the ligature prya, with the ra phala and ya phala suffixes

• প্ (p) + স (sa) gives us the ligature psa:

• প্ (p) + ত (ta) gives us the ligature pta:

• প্ (p) + ট (ṭa) gives us the ligature pṭa:

• প্ (p) + য (ya) gives us the ligature pya, with the ya phala suffix:

• র্ (r) + প (pa) gives us the ligature rpa, with the repha prefix:

• স্ (s) + প (pa) gives us the ligature spa:

• স্ (s) + প্ (p) + ল (la) gives us the ligature spla:

• ষ্ (ṣ) + প (pa) gives us the ligature ṣpa:

• ষ্ (ṣ) + প্ (p) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ṣpra, with the ra phala suffix:

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

Pa	Pā	Pi	Pī	Pu	Pū	Pr	Pl	Pr̄	Pl̄	Pĕ	Pe	Pai	Pŏ	Po	Pau	P
Gujarati Pa syllables, with vowel marks in red.

Half form of Pa.

Gujarati પ exhibits conjunct ligatures, much like its parent Devanagari Script. Most Gujarati conjuncts can only be 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". 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.

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) + પ (pa) gives us the ligature RPa:

• પ્ (p) + ર (ra) gives us the ligature PRa:

• પ્ (p) + ત (ta) gives us the ligature PTa:

• પ્ (p) + ન (na) gives us the ligature PNa:

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.

• പ് (p) + ത (ta) gives us the ligature pta:

• പ് (p) + ന (na) gives us the ligature pna:

• പ് (p) + പ (pa) gives us the ligature ppa:

• മ് (m) + പ (pa) gives us the ligature mpa:

• ല് (l) + പ (pa) gives us the ligature lpa:

• ഷ് (ṣ) + പ (pa) gives us the ligature ṣpa:

• സ് (s) + പ (pa) gives us the ligature spa:

• പ് (p) + ഫ (pʰa) gives us the ligature ppʰa:

• പ് (p) + സ (sa) gives us the ligature psa:

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.

• ମ୍ (m) + ପ (pa) gives us the ligature mpa: