Śa (Indic)

Śa or Sha is a consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Śa is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter 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 श are:
 * श = 70 (७०)
 * शि = 7,000 (७ ०००)
 * शु = 700,000 (७ ०० ०००)
 * शृ = 70,000,000 (७ ०० ०० ०००)
 * शॢ = 7 (७×१०९)
 * शे = 7 (७×१०११)
 * शै = 7 (७×१०१३)
 * शो = 7 (७×१०१५)
 * शौ = 7 (७×१०१७)

Historic Sha
There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Sha as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta. The Tocharian Sha had an alternate Fremdzeichen form,. The third form of sha, in Kharoshthi was probably derived from Aramaic separately from the Brahmi letter.

Brahmi Sha
The Brahmi letter, Sha, is probably derived from the Aramaic Shin , and is thus related to the modern Latin S and Greek Sigma. Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Sha can be found, most associated with a specific set of inscriptions from an artifact or diverse records from an historic period. 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.

Tocharian Sha
The Tocharian letter is derived from the Brahmi, and has an alternate Fremdzeichen form  used in conjuncts and as an alternate representation of Shä.

Kharoṣṭhī Sha
The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the Aramaic Shin, and is thus related to S and Sigma, in addition to the Brahmi Sha.

Devanagari Śa
Śa (श / श) is a 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 શ, and the Modi letter 𑘫.

The letter has several alternate forms. The most common form found in modern typography has a full horizontal headline, with a "2"-shape loop directly touching or even overlapping the headline at its top. Its tail may or may not touch the following vertical stem. A second form has a headline only over the vertical stem. A third form is found more commonly in traditional Marathi-language typography and has a full horizontal headline, and a "2"-shape without loop that is lowered slightly and connected to the headline with a small ascender at its top.

Devanagari-using Languages
In all languages, श is pronounced as or  when appropriate. Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:

Conjuncts with श
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. Śa is unique in having an alternate form found only in conjuncts, sometimes called "Ribbon Śa", that appears as both a half form in horizontal conjuncts and as an element in vertical conjuncts. 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.

Ligature conjuncts of श
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) + श (ʃa) gives the ligature rʃa:
 * Eyelash र্ (r) + श (ʃa) gives the ligature rʃa:
 * श্ (ʃ) + न (na) gives the ligature ʃna:
 * श্ (ʃ) + rakar र (ra) gives the ligature ʃra:

Stacked conjuncts of श
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) + श (ʃa) gives the ligature cʰʃa:
 * ढ্ (ḍʱ) + श (ʃa) gives the ligature ḍʱʃa:
 * ड্ (ḍ) + श (ʃa) gives the ligature ḍʃa:
 * द্ (d) + श (ʃa) gives the ligature dʃa:
 * ज্ (j) + श (ʃa) gives the ligature jʃa:
 * ङ্ (ŋ) + श (ʃa) gives the ligature ŋʃa:
 * श্ (ʃ) + ब (ba) gives the ligature ʃba:
 * श্ (ʃ) + च (ca) gives the ligature ʃca:
 * श্ (ʃ) + ज (ja) gives the ligature ʃja:
 * श্ (ʃ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ʃjña:
 * श্ (ʃ) + ल (la) gives the ligature ʃla:
 * श্ (ʃ) + ळ (ḷa) gives the ligature ʃḷa:
 * श্ (ʃ) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ʃña:
 * श্ (ʃ) + श (ʃa) gives the ligature ʃʃa:
 * श্ (ʃ) + व (va) gives the ligature ʃva:
 * ठ্ (ṭʰ) + श (ʃa) gives the ligature ṭʰʃa:
 * ट্ (ṭ) + श (ʃa) gives the ligature ṭʃa:

Bengali Sha
The Bengali script শ is derived from the Siddhaṃ, and is marked by the lack of a horizontal head line, unlike the reduced head line of its Devanagari counterpart, श. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter শ will sometimes be transliterated as "sho" instead of "sha". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /ʃo/. Like all Indic consonants, শ can be modified by marks to indicate another (or no) vowel than its inherent "a".

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

Conjuncts with শ
Bengali শ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with a tendency towards stacked ligatures.

Other conjuncts of শ

 * র্ (r) + শ (ʃa) gives the ligature rʃa, with the repha prefix:
 * র্ (r) + শ্ (ʃ) + ব (va) gives the ligature rʃva, with the repha prefix and va phala suffix:
 * র্ (r) + শ্ (ʃ) + য (ya) gives the ligature rʃya, with the ya phala suffix:
 * শ্ (ʃ) + চ (ca) gives the ligature ʃca:
 * শ্ (ʃ) + ছ (cʰa) gives the ligature ʃcʰa:
 * শ্ (ʃ) + ল (la) gives the ligature ʃla:
 * শ্ (ʃ) + ম (ma) gives the ligature ʃma:
 * শ্ (ʃ) + ন (na) gives the ligature ʃna:
 * শ্ (ʃ) + র (ra) gives the ligature ʃra, with the ra phala suffix:
 * শ্ (ʃ) + ব (va) gives the ligature ʃva, with the va phala suffix:
 * শ্ (ʃ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ʃya, with the ya phala suffix:

Gujarati Śa
Śa (શ) is the thirtieth consonant of the Gujarati abugida. It is derived from the Devanagari Śa with the top bar (shiro rekha) removed, and ultimately the Brahmi letter.

Gujarati-using Languages
The Gujarati script is used to write the Gujarati and Kutchi languages. In both languages, શ is pronounced as or  when appropriate. Like all Indic scripts, Gujarati uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:

Conjuncts with શ
Gujarati શ 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) + શ (ʃa) gives the ligature RŚa:
 * શ્ (ʃ) + ર (ra) gives the ligature ŚRa:
 * શ્ (ʃ) + ચ (ca) gives the ligature ŚCa:
 * શ્ (ʃ) + ન (na) gives the ligature ŚNa:
 * શ્ (ʃ) + લ (la) gives the ligature ŚLa:
 * શ્ (ʃ) + વ (va) gives the ligature ŚVa:

Telugu Śa
Śa (శ) is a consonant of the Telugu abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter. It is closely related to the Kannada letter ಶ. 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 Śa
Śa (ശ) is a consonant of the Malayalam abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter, via the Grantha letter Sha. 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.

Conjuncts of ശ
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.
 * ശ് (ʃ) + ന (na) gives the ligature ʃna:
 * ശ് (ʃ) + മ (ma) gives the ligature ʃma:
 * ശ് (ʃ) + ശ (ʃa) gives the ligature ʃʃa:

Odia Śa
Śa (ଶ) is a consonant of the Odia abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter, via the Siddhaṃ letter Sha. 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. 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. ଶ generates conjuncts only by subjoining and does not form ligatures, although the subjoined form of Cha used with Sha is irregular:
 * ଶ୍ (ś) + ଛ (cha) gives the ligature ścha:

Kaithi Śa
Śa (𑂬) is a consonant of the Kaithi abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter, via the Siddhaṃ letter Sha. Like in other Indic scripts, Kaithi 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.

Conjuncts of 𑂬
As is common in Indic scripts, Kaithi joins letters together to form conjunct consonant clusters. The most common conjunct formation is achieved by using a half form of preceding consonants, although several consonants use an explicit virama. Most half forms are derived from the full form by removing the vertical stem. As is common in most Indic scripts, conjucts of ra are indicated with a repha or rakar mark attached to the rest of the consonant cluster. In addition, there are a few vertical conjuncts that can be found in Kaithi writing, but true ligatures are not used in the modern Kaithi script.


 * 𑂩୍ (r) + 𑂬 (ʃa) gives the ligature rʃa:

Comparison of Śa
The various Indic scripts are generally related to each other through adaptation and borrowing, and as such the glyphs for cognate letters, including Śa, are related as well.

Character encodings of Śa
Most Indic scripts are encoded in the Unicode Standard, and as such the letter Śa in those scripts can be represented in plain text with unique codepoint. Śa from several modern-use scripts can also be found in legacy encodings, such as ISCII.