Conjunct consonant

Conjunct consonants are a type of letters, used for example in Brahmi or Brahmi derived modern scripts such as Balinese, Bengali, Devanagari, Gujarati, Tibetan, Dzongkha etc to write consonant clusters such as or. Although most of the time, letters are formed by using a simple consonant with the inherent value vowel "a" (as with "k", pronounced "ka" in Brahmi), or by combining a consonant with an vowel in the form of a diacritic (as with "ki" in Brahmi), the usage of conjunct consonant permits the creation of more sophisticated sounds (as with "kya" , formed with the consonants k  and y  assembled vertically). Conjuncts are often used with loan words. Native words typically use the basic consonant and native speakers know to suppress the vowel.

In modern Devanagari the components of a conjunct are written left to right when possible (when the first consonant has a vertical stem that can be removed at the right), whereas in Brahmi characters are joined vertically downwards.

Some simple examples of conjunct consonants in Devanagari are: त + व = त्व, ण + ढ = ण्ढ , स + थ = स्थ , where the vertical stroke of the first letter is simply lost in the combination. Sometimes, conjunct consonants are not clearly derived from the letters making up their components: the conjunct for is क्ष (क् + ष) and for  it is ज्ञ (ज् + ञ).

Some examples of conjunct consonants in Gujarati are: પ + ઝ = પ્ઝ (where a stroke of the first letter is lost in the combination), હ + ળ = હ્ળ, જ + ભ = જ્ભ. Sometimes, conjunct consonants are not clearly derived from the letters making up their components: the conjunct for is શ્ચ (શ્ + ચ) and for  it is ઞ્જ (ઞ્ + જ).

Conjunct consonants are used in many other scripts as well, usually derived from the Brahmi script. In Balinese, conjunct consonants are called Haksara Wrehastra.