Ṣa (Indic)

Ṣa is a consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Ssa 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 ष are:
 * ष = 80 (८०)
 * षि = 8,000 (८ ०००)
 * षु = 800,000 (८ ०० ०००)
 * षृ = 80,000,000 (८ ०० ०० ०००)
 * षॢ = 8 (८×१०९)
 * षे = 8 (८×१०११)
 * षै = 8 (८×१०१३)
 * षो = 8 (८×१०१५)
 * षौ = 8 (८×१०१७)

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

Brahmi Ṣa
The Brahmi letter, Ssa, is probably derived from the Aramaic Samekh , and is thus related to the modern Greek Xi. Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Ssa 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 Ṣa
The Tocharian letter is derived from the Brahmi, and has an alternate Fremdzeichen form  used in conjuncts and as an alternate representation of Ssä.

Kharoṣṭhī Ṣa
The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the Aramaic Heth, and is thus related to H and Eta.

Devanagari Ṣa
Ṣa (ष) 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 ષ, and the Modi letter 𑘬.

Devanagari-using Languages
In modern languages, ष is pronounced as or  when appropriate. In ancient and medieval Nepali however, ष was sometimes a homophone of ख, pronounced [ kʰ]. Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:

Conjuncts with ष
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.

Ligature conjuncts of ष
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) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature rṣa:
 * Eyelash र্ (r) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature rṣa:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + rakar र (ra) gives the ligature ṣra:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + क্ (k) + rakar र (ra) gives the ligature ṣkra:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + ढ (ḍʱa) gives the ligature ṣḍʱa:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + न (na) gives the ligature ṣna:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + त (ta) gives the ligature ṣta:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + ट (ṭa) gives the ligature ṣṭa:
 * Repha र্ (r) + ष্ (ṣ) + ट্ (ṭ) + rakar र (ra) gives the ligature rṣṭra:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives the ligature ṣṭʰa:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + ठ্ (ṭʰ) + य (ya) gives the ligature ṣṭʰya:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + ट্ (ṭ) + व (va) gives the ligature ṣṭva:

Devanagari Kṣa
One of the most common true ligatures in Devanagari is the conjunct kṣa क्ष. This ligature is a required form for most Devanagari languages, and the conjunct even has its own half form that freely joins other letters in horizontal conjuncts.
 * क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature kṣa:
 * Repha र্ (r) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature rkṣa:
 * Eyelash र্ (r) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature rkṣa:
 * छ্ (cʰ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature cʰkṣa:
 * ढ্ (ḍʱ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ḍʱkṣa:
 * ड্ (ḍ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ḍkṣa:
 * द্ (d) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature dkṣa:
 * ङ্ (ŋ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ŋkṣa:
 * ङ্ (ŋ) + क্ (k) + ष্ (ṣ) + य (ya) gives the ligature ŋkṣya:
 * ट্ (ṭ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ṭkṣa:
 * ठ্ (ṭʰ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ṭʰkṣa:

Stacked conjuncts of ष
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) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature cʰṣa:
 * ढ্ (ḍʱ) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ḍʱṣa:
 * ड্ (ḍ) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ḍṣa:
 * द্ (d) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature dṣa:
 * ङ্ (ŋ) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ŋṣa:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + च (ca) gives the ligature ṣca:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + ड (ḍa) gives the ligature ṣḍa:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + ज (ja) gives the ligature ṣja:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ṣjña:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + ल (la) gives the ligature ṣla:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + ङ (ŋa) gives the ligature ṣŋa:
 * ष্ (ṣ) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ṣña:
 * ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ṭʰṣa:
 * ट্ (ṭ) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ṭṣa:

Bengali Ṣa
The Bengali script ষ is derived from the Siddhaṃ, and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, ष. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter ষ will sometimes be transliterated as "ṣo" instead of "ṣa". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /ʂo/. Like all Indic consonants, ষ can be modified by marks to indicate another (or no) vowel than its inherent "a".

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

Conjuncts in Kssa ক্ষ
The most important conjunct of ষ is the irregular kṣa ligature ক্ + ষ [ṣ] = ক্ষ. This conjunct not only has a special form in all Bengali alphabets, it even functions as an independent letter in the Assamese orthography. This ক্ষ conjunct forms regular conjuncts with other letters, keeping its distinct form:
 * ক্ষ (kṣ) + ম (ma) gives the ligature kṣma:
 * ক্ষ (kṣ) + ম্ (m) + য (ya) gives the ligature kṣmya, with the ya phala suffix:
 * ক্ষ (kṣ) + ন (na) gives the ligature kṣna:
 * ক্ষ (kṣ) + ব (va) gives the ligature kṣva, with the va phala suffix:
 * ক্ষ (kṣ) + য (ya) gives the ligature kṣya, with the ya phala suffix:

Other conjuncts with ষ
Bengali ষ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with both stacked and linear (horizontal) ligatures being common.
 * র্ (r) + ষ (ṣa) gives the ligature rṣa, with the repha prefix:
 * র্ (r) + ষ্ (ṣ) + য (ya) gives the ligature rṣya, with repha and the ya phala suffix:
 * ষ্ (ṣ) + ক (ka) gives the ligature ṣka:
 * ষ্ (ṣ) + ক্ (k) + র (ra) gives the ligature ṣkra, with the ra phala suffix:
 * ষ্ (ṣ) + ম (ma) gives the ligature ṣma:
 * ষ্ (ṣ) + ঞ (ña) gives the ligature ṣña:
 * ষ্ (ṣ) + প (pa) gives the ligature ṣpa:
 * ষ্ (ṣ) + ফ (pʰa) gives the ligature ṣpʰa:
 * ষ্ (ṣ) + প্ (p) + র (ra) gives the ligature ṣpra, with the ra phala suffix:
 * ষ্ (ṣ) + ট (ṭa) gives the ligature ṣṭa:
 * ষ্ (ṣ) + ঠ (ṭʰa) gives the ligature ṣṭʰa:
 * ষ্ (ṣ) + ঠ্ (ṭʰ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ṣṭʰya, with the ya phala suffix:
 * ষ্ (ṣ) + ট্ (ṭ) + র (ra) gives the ligature ṣṭra, with the ra phala suffix:
 * ষ্ (ṣ) + ট্ (ṭ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ṣṭya, with the ya phala suffix:
 * ষ্ (ṣ) + ব (va) gives the ligature ṣva, with the va phala suffix:
 * ষ্ (ṣ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ṣya, with the ya phala suffix:

Gujarati Ṣa
Ṣa (ષ) is the thirty-first consonant of the Gujarati abugida. It is derived from the Devanagari Ṣa 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, ષ 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 ષ
Gujarati ષ 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) + ષ (ʂa) gives the ligature RṢa:
 * ષ્ (ʂ) + ર (ra) gives the ligature ṢRa:
 * ક્ (k) + ષ (ʂa) gives the ligature KṢa:
 * ર્ (r) + ક (ka) ષ (ʂa) gives the ligature RKṢa:
 * ક્ (k) + ષ (ʂa) ર (ra) gives the ligature KṢRa:
 * ઙ્ (ŋ) + ક (ka) ષ (ʂa) gives the ligature ṄKṢa:
 * ષ્ (ʂ) + ત (ta) gives the ligature ṢTa:
 * ષ્ (ʂ) + ઠ (ʈʰa) gives the ligature ṢṬha:

Telugu Ṣa
Ṣa (ష) is a consonant of the Telugu abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter. It is closely related to the Kannada letter ಷ. 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 Ṣa
Ṣa (ഷ) is a consonant of the Malayalam abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter, via the Grantha letter Ssa. 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 ഷ
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.
 * ഷ് (ṣ) + ട (ṭa) gives the ligature ṣṭa:
 * ഷ് (ṣ) + ഠ (ṭʰa) gives the ligature ṣṭʰa:
 * ഷ് (ṣ) + ണ (ṇa) gives the ligature ṣṇa:
 * ഷ് (ṣ) + പ (pa) gives the ligature ṣpa:
 * ഷ് (ṣ) + മ (ma) gives the ligature ṣma:
 * ക് (k) + ഷ (ṣa) gives the ligature kṣa:
 * ക് (k) + ഷ് (ṣ) + ണ (ṇa) gives the ligature kṣṇa:
 * ക് (k) + ഷ് (ṣ) + മ (ma) gives the ligature kṣma:
 * ക് (k) + ഷ് (ṣ) + ല (la) gives the ligature kṣla:

Odia Ṣa
Ṣa (ଷ) is a consonant of the Odia abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter, via the Siddhaṃ letter Ssa. 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.

Conjuncts of ଷ
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. Except for କ୍ଷ (Kṣa), ଷ generates conjuncts only by subjoining and does not form ligatures.

Odia Kṣa କ୍ଷ
Although ostensibly a conjunct of Ka and Ssa, Odia କ୍ଷ (Kṣa) is largely treated as an independent letter pronounced /kʰjɔ/. Unlike other Odia conjuncts, କ୍ଷ can be found as an independent letter subjoined to another letter or conjunct.
 * ତ୍ (t) + କ୍ (k) + ଷ (ṣa) gives the ligature tkṣa:

Kaithi Ṣa
Ṣa (𑂭) is a consonant of the Kaithi abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter, via the Siddhaṃ letter Ssa. 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 𑂭
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.


 * 𑂭୍ (ṣ) + 𑂩 (ra) gives the ligature ṣra:


 * 𑂩୍ (r) + 𑂭 (ṣa) gives the ligature rṣa:

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

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