Pha (Indic)

The Brahmi letter , Pha, is probably derived from the altered Aramaic Pe , and is thus related to the modern Latin P and Greek Pi.[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Pha 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 Pha historic forms

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

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

Tocharian Pha with vowel marks

Pha	Phā	Phi	Phī	Phu	Phū	Phr	Phr̄	Phe	Phai	Pho	Phau	Phä

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

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

Half form of Pha.

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, sometimes referred to as a "half form". Most Devanagari letters drop a character's vertical stem to create a half form, but due to its large tail to the right of the stem, the common half form of फ has its tail reduced to attach to the following letter. 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) + फ (pʰa) gives us the ligature rpʰa: ^note

• Eyelash र্ (r) + फ (pʰa) gives us the ligature rpʰa:

• फ্ (pʰ) + न (na) gives us the ligature pʰna:

• फ্ (pʰ) + rakar र (ra) gives us the ligature pʰra:

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

• ढ্ (ḍʱ) + फ (pʰa) gives us the ligature ḍʱpʰa:

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

• द্ (d) + फ (pʰa) gives us the ligature dpʰa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + फ (pʰa) gives us the ligature ŋpʰa:

• फ্ (pʰ) + ब (ba) gives us the ligature pʰba:

• फ্ (pʰ) + च (ca) gives us the ligature pʰca:

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

• फ্ (pʰ) + ज (ja) gives us the ligature pʰja:

• फ্ (pʰ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature pʰjña:

• फ্ (pʰ) + क (ka) gives us the ligature pʰka:

• फ্ (pʰ) + ल (la) gives us the ligature pʰla:

• फ্ (pʰ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature pʰŋa:

• फ্ (pʰ) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature pʰña:

• फ্ (pʰ) + व (va) gives us the ligature pʰva:

• ठ্ (ṭʰ) + फ (pʰa) gives us the ligature ṭʰpʰa:

• ट্ (ṭ) + फ (pʰa) gives us the ligature ṭpʰa:

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

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

• ল্ (l) + ফ (pʰa) gives us the ligature lpʰa:

• ম্ (m) + ফ (pʰa) gives us the ligature mpʰa:

• ফ্ (pʰ) + ল (la) gives us the ligature pʰla:

• ফ্ (pʰ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature pʰra, with the ra phala suffix:

• র্ (r) + ফ (pʰa) gives us the ligature rpʰa, with the repha prefix:

• স্ (s) + ফ (pʰa) gives us the ligature spʰa:

• ষ্ (ṣ) + ফ (pʰa) gives us the ligature ṣpʰa:

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

Pha	Phā	Phi	Phī	Phu	Phū	Phr	Phl	Phr̄	Phl̄	Phĕ	Phe	Phai	Phŏ	Pho	Phau	Ph
Gujarati Pha syllables, with vowel marks in red.

Gujarati ફ 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, Pha 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, Pha 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) + ફ (pʰa) gives us the ligature RPha:

• ફ્ (pʰ) + ર (ra) gives us the ligature PhRa:

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) + ഫ (pʰa) gives us the ligature ppʰa:

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) + ଫ (pʰa) gives us the ligature mpʰa: