Ya (Indic)

Ya is a consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Ya is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter .

Ya
Example glyphs
Bengali–Assamese
Tibetan
Tamil
Thai	ย
Malayalam	യ
Sinhala	ය
Ashoka Brahmi
Devanagari
Cognates
Hebrew	י
Greek	Ι
Latin	I, J
Cyrillic	І, Ї, Ы, Ю
Properties
Phonemic representation	/j/
IAST transliteration	y Y
ISCII code point	CD (205)

Āryabhaṭa numeration

Further information: 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 य are:^[1]

• य [jə] = 30 (३०)
• यि [jɪ] = 3,000 (३ ०००)
• यु [jʊ] = 300,000 (३ ०० ०००)
• यृ [jri] = 30,000,000 (३ ०० ०० ०००)
• यॢ [jlə] = 3×10⁹ (३×१०^९)
• ये [je] = 3×10¹¹ (३×१०^११)
• यै [jɛː] = 3×10¹³ (३×१०^१३)
• यो [joː] = 3×10¹⁵ (३×१०^१५)
• यौ [jɔː] = 3×10¹⁷ (३×१०^१७)

Historic Ya

There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Ya as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta . The Tocharian Ya did not have an alternate Fremdzeichen form. The third form of ya, in Kharoshthi () was probably derived from Aramaic separately from the Brahmi letter.

Brahmi Ya

The Brahmi letter , Ya, is probably derived from the Aramaic Yodh , and is thus related to the modern Latin I and J and Greek Iota.^[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Ya 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 Ya historic forms

Ashoka (3rd-1st c. BCE)	Girnar (~150 BCE)	Kushana (~150-250 CE)	Gujarat (~250 CE)	Gupta (~350 CE)

Tocharian Ya

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

Tocharian Ya with vowel marks

Ya	Yā	Yi	Yī	Yu	Yū	Yr	Yr̄	Ye	Yai	Yo	Yau	Yä

Kharoṣṭhī Ya

The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the Aramaic Yodh , and is thus related to I, J and Iota, in addition to the Brahmi Ya.^[2]

Devanagari Ya

Ya (य) 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 ય, and the Modi letter 𑘧.

Old Nepali Ya

In old Nepali language texts, a specific nuqta like dot is added to this glyph in order to represent the [j], while the glyph by itself would be used to represent the [dz] sound that the modern Nepali letter ज makes.^[4] This style of the letter also continued once the letter ज was reintroducted into Nepali texts as well.

Devanagari-using Languages

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

Devanagari य with vowel marks

Ya	Yā	Yi	Yī	Yu	Yū	Yr	Yr̄	Yl	Yl̄	Ye	Yai	Yo	Yau	Y
य	या	यि	यी	यु	यू	यृ	यॄ	यॢ	यॣ	ये	यै	यो	यौ	य्

Conjuncts with य

Half form of Ya.

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.^[5]

Ligature conjuncts of य

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) + य (ya) gives the ligature rya: ^note

• Eyelash र্ (r) + य (ya) gives the ligature rya:

• य্ (y) + न (na) gives the ligature yna:

• य্ (y) + rakar र (ra) gives the ligature yra:

• छ্ (c^h) + य (ya) gives the ligature c^hya:

• ढ্ (ḍʱ) + य (ya) gives the ligature ḍʱya:

• ड্ (ḍ) + य (ya) gives the ligature ḍya:

• द্ (d) + द্ (d) + य (ya) gives the ligature ddya:

• द্ (d) + व্ (v) + य (ya) gives the ligature dvya:

• द্ (d) + य (ya) gives the ligature dya:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + य (ya) gives the ligature ŋya:

• ष্ (ṣ) + ठ্ (ṭ^h) + य (ya) gives the ligature ṣṭ^hya:

• ठ্ (ṭ^h) + य (ya) gives the ligature ṭ^hya:

Stacked conjuncts of य

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.

• ग্ (g) + न্ (n) + य (ya) gives the ligature gnya:

• ग্ (g) + र্ (r) + य (ya) gives the ligature grya:

• ह্ (h) + य (ya) gives the ligature hya:

• ज্ (j) + ज্ (j) + य (ya) gives the ligature jjya:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + क্ (k) + ष্ (ṣ) + य (ya) gives the ligature ŋkṣya:

• त্ (t) + र্ (r) + य (ya) gives the ligature trya:

• ट্ (ṭ) + य (ya) gives the ligature ṭya:

• य্ (y) + च (ca) gives the ligature yca:

• य্ (y) + ड (ḍa) gives the ligature yḍa:

• य্ (y) + ज (ja) gives the ligature yja:

• य্ (y) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature yjña:

• य্ (y) + ल (la) gives the ligature yla:

• य্ (y) + ङ (ŋa) gives the ligature yŋa:

• य্ (y) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature yña:

Bangla Ya

The Bangla script য is derived from the Siddhaṃ , and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, य. Unlike most other Indic scripts and like Odia, the Bangla য is pronounced as a voiced postalveolar affricate (similar to the English "j" sound). The "y" sound is represented by the related letter য়. In addition to this, the inherent vowel of Bangla consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter য will sometimes be transliterated as "jo" instead of "ya". Adding o-kar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /dʒo/. Like all Indic consonants, য can be modified by marks to indicate another (or no) vowel than its inherent "a".

Bangla য with vowel marks

ja	jā	ji	jī	ju	jū	jr	jr̄	je	jai	jo	jau	j
য	যা	যি	যী	যু	যূ	যৃ	যৄ	যে	যৈ	যো	যৌ	য্

য in Bangla-using languages

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

Conjuncts with য

Bangla য exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with a tendency towards stacked ligatures.^[6]

Bangla Ya-phala

Bangla Ya-phala

The letter য has a special form when used as the last letter of a conjunct called "Ya-phala" (or "Jô-fôla"). This reduced form of য is appended to the right of the preceding letter or conjunct, with vowel signs falling outside of the ya-phala as in most conjuncts.^[7] The use of a reduced Ya-phala is similar to the Ra-phala and Va-phala forms, which attach to the bottom of a letter or conjunct. Unlike these other reduced consonant forms, ya-phala can be appended to the independent A vowel character. In representing Bangla text on computer systems, the Zero-width joiner is used to suppress formation of ya-phala in certain contexts, as Hasant + Ya is realized as ya-phala by default.

• ভ্ (b^h) + য (ya) gives the ligature b^hya:

• ব্ (b) + য (ya) gives the ligature bya:

• চ্ (c) + য (ya) gives the ligature cya:

• ঢ্ (ḍʱ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ḍʱya:

• ড্ (ḍ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ḍya:

• ধ্ (dʱ) + য (ya) gives the ligature dʱya:

• দ্ (d) + র্ (r) + য (ya) gives the ligature drya, with ra phala in addition to ya phala:

• দ্ (d) + য (ya) gives the ligature dya:

• গ্ (g) + ধ্ (dʱ) + য (ya) gives the ligature gdʱya:

• ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ɡʱya:

• গ্ (g) + ন্ (n) + য (ya) gives the ligature gnya:

• গ্ (g) + র্ (r) + য (ya) gives the ligature grya, with ra phala in addition to ya phala:

• গ্ (g) + য (ya) gives the ligature gya:

• জ্ (j) + য (ya) gives the ligature jya:

• খ্ (k^h) + য (ya) gives the ligature k^hya:

• ক্ (k) + শ্ (ʃ) + ম্ (m) + য (ya) gives the ligature kʃmya:

• ক্ (k) + ষ্ (ṣ) + য (ya) gives the ligature kṣya:

• ক্ (k) + য (ya) gives the ligature kya:

• ল্ (l) + ক্ (k) + য (ya) gives the ligature lkya:

• ল্ (l) + য (ya) gives the ligature lya:

• ম্ (m) + য (ya) gives the ligature mya:

• ন্ (n) + ধ্ (dʱ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ndʱya:

• ন্ (n) + দ্ (d) + য (ya) gives the ligature ndya:

• ঙ্ (ŋ) + ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ŋɡʱya:

• ঙ্ (ŋ) + গ্ (g) + য (ya) gives the ligature ŋgya:

• ঙ্ (ŋ) + ক্ (k) + য (ya) gives the ligature ŋkya:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + ড্ (ḍ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ṇḍya:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + ঠ্ (ṭ^h) + য (ya) gives the ligature ṇṭ^hya:

• ণ্ (ṇ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ṇya:

• ন্ (n) + ত্ (t) + র্ (r) + য (ya) gives the ligature ntrya, with ra phala in addition to ya phala:

• ন্ (n) + ত্ (t) + য (ya) gives the ligature ntya:

• ন্ (n) + য (ya) gives the ligature nya:

• প্ (p) + র্ (r) + য (ya) gives the ligature prya, with ra phala in addition to ya phala

• প্ (p) + য (ya) gives the ligature pya:

• র্ (r) + ব্ (b) + য (ya) gives the ligature rbya, with the repha prefix in addition to ya phala:

• র্ (r) + চ্ (c) + য (ya) gives the ligature rcya, with repha and ya phala:

• র্ (r) + ঢ্ (ḍʱ) + য (ya) gives the ligature rḍʱya, with repha and ya phala:

• র্ (r) + ঘ্ (ɡʱ) + য (ya) gives the ligature rɡʱya, with repha and ya phala:

• র্ (r) + গ্ (g) + য (ya) gives the ligature rɡya, with repha and ya phala:

• র্ (r) + হ্ (h) + য (ya) gives the ligature rhya, with repha and ya phala:

• র্ (r) + জ্ (j) + য (ya) gives the ligature rjya, with repha and ya phala:

• র্ (r) + খ্ (k^h) + য (ya) gives the ligature rk^hya, with repha and ya phala:

• র্ (r) + ক্ (k) + য (ya) gives the ligature rkya, with repha and ya phala:

• র্ (r) + ম্ (m) + য (ya) gives the ligature rmya, with repha and ya phala:

• র্ (r) + ণ্ (ṇ) + য (ya) gives the ligature rṇya, with repha and ya phala:

• র্ (r) + শ্ (ʃ) + য (ya) gives the ligature rʃya, with repha and ya phala:

• র্ (r) + ষ্ (ṣ) + য (ya) gives the ligature rṣya, with repha and ya phala:

• র্ (r) + থ্ (t^h) + য (ya) gives the ligature rt^hya, with repha and ya phala:

• র্ (r) + ত্ (t) + য (ya) gives the ligature rtya, with repha and ya phala:

• শ্ (ʃ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ʃya:

• ষ্ (ṣ) + ঠ্ (ṭ^h) + য (ya) gives the ligature ṣṭ^hya:

• ষ্ (ṣ) + ট্ (ṭ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ṣṭya:

• ষ্ (ṣ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ṣya:

• স্ (s) + থ্ (t^h) + য (ya) gives the ligature st^hya:

• স্ (s) + ত্ (t) + য (ya) gives the ligature stya:

• স্ (s) + য (ya) gives the ligature sya:

• থ্ (t^h) + য (ya) gives the ligature t^hya:

• ত্ (t) + ম্ (m) + য (ya) gives the ligature tmya:

• ত্ (t) + র্ (r) + য (ya) gives the ligature trya, with the ra phala and ya phala suffixes

• ট্ (ṭ) + য (ya) gives the ligature ṭya:

• ত্ (t) + ত্ (t) + য (ya) gives the ligature ttya:

• ত্ (t) + য (ya) gives the ligature tya:

• য্ (y) + য (ya) gives the ligature yya:

Other conjuncts of য

Ya-phala is almost universal, and its suppression generally only happens in order to express a repha on য instead.

• র্ (r) + য (ya) gives the ligature rya, with the repha prefix:

Gujarati Ya

Gujarati Ya.

Ya (ય) is the twenty-sixth consonant of the Gujarati abugida. It is derived from the Devanagari Ya 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, ય is pronounced as [yə] or [y] when appropriate. Like all Indic scripts, Gujarati uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:

Ya	Yā	Yi	Yī	Yu	Yū	Yr	Yl	Yr̄	Yl̄	Yĕ	Ye	Yai	Yŏ	Yo	Yau	Y
Gujarati Ya syllables, with vowel marks in red.

Conjuncts with ય

Half form of Ya.

Gujarati ય 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) + ય (ya) gives the ligature RYa:

• ય્ (y) + ર (ra) gives the ligature YRa:

• ય્ (y) + ન (na) gives the ligature YNa:

Javanese Ya

Main article: Ya (Javanese)

Telugu Ya

Telugu independent and subjoined Ya.

Ya (య) is a consonant of the Telugu abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter . It is closely related to the Kannada letter ಯ. 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 Bangla 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 Ya

Malayalam letter Ya

Ya (യ) is a consonant of the Malayalam abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Grantha letter Ya. 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.

Malayalam Ya matras: Ya, Yā, Yi, Yī, Yu, Yū, Yr̥, Yr̥̄, Yl̥, Yl̥̄, Ye, Yē, Yai, Yo, Yō, Yau, and Y.

Conjuncts of യ

Malayalam letter Chillu Y

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.

• യ് (y) + ക (ka) gives the ligature yka:

• യ് (y) + ത (ta) gives the ligature yta:

• യ് (y) + യ (ya) gives the ligature yya:

Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics Ye

ᔦ, ᔨ, ᔪ and ᔭ are the base characters "Ye", "Yi", "Yo" and "Ya" in the Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics. The bare consonant ᔾ (Y) is a small version of the A-series letter ᔭ, although the Western Cree letter ᕀ, derived from Pitman shorthand was the original bare consonant symbol for Y. The character ᔦ is derived from a handwritten form of the Devanagari letter य, without the headline or vertical stem, and the forms for different vowels are derived by mirroring.^[8] Unlike most writing systems without legacy computer encodings, complex Canadian syllabic letters are represented in Unicode with pre-composed characters, rather than with base characters and diacritical marks.

Variant	E-series		I-series		O-series			A-series			Other
Y + vowel	ᔦ		ᔨ		ᔪ			ᔭ			-
	Ye		Yi		Yo			Ya			-
Related small	-		ᕁ		ᔿ			ᔾ			ᕀ
	-		Sayasi Yi		Bible-Cree Y			Y			West Cree Y
Y with long vowels	-		ᔩ		ᔫ		ᔬ	ᔮ		-	-
	-		Yī		Yō		Cree Yō	Yā		Cree Yā	-
Y + W-vowels	ᔯ	ᔰ	ᔱ	ᔲ	ᔵ		ᔶ	ᔹ		ᔺ	-
	Ywe	Cree Ywe	Ywi	Cree Ywi	Ywo		Cree Ywo	Ywa		Cree Ywa	-
Y + long W-vowels	-		ᔳ	ᔴ	ᔷ		ᔸ	ᔻ	ᔽ	ᔼ	-
	-		Ywī	Cree Ywī	Ywō		Cree Ywō	Ywā	Naskapi Ywā	Cree Ywā	-
Y with ring diacritic	-		ᔧ		ᣃ			ᣄ			-
	-		Yāi		Yoy			Yay			-

Odia Jya

Odia independent Jya.

Jya (ଯ) is a consonant of the Odia abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Siddhaṃ letter Ya. Unlike the cognate letter in many other Indic scripts and similar to the Bangla letter, Odia Jya is pronounced as a voiced postalveolar affricate, same as "J" in English. 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.

Odia Ya with vowel matras

Jya	Jyā	Jyi	Jyī	Jyu	Jyū	Jyr̥	Jyr̥̄	Jyl̥	Jyl̥̄	Jye	Jyai	Jyo	Jyau	Jy
ଯ	ଯା	ଯି	ଯୀ	ଯୁ	ଯୂ	ଯୃ	ଯୄ	ଯୢ	ଯୣ	ଯେ	ଯୈ	ଯୋ	ଯୌ	ଯ୍

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. ଯ generates conjuncts only by subjoining and does not form ligatures.

Odia Ya

Odia independent and subjoined letter Ya.

Ya (ୟ) is the second "Y" consonant of the Odia abugida. Unlike its relative, it retains the palatal approximant pronunciation "y". It is descended from the Brahmi and Siddhaṃ letter , the same as ଯ. Like other Odia consonants, ୟ has an inherent "a" vowel, and takes one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel or no vowel at all.

Odia Yva with vowel matras

Ya	Yā	Yi	Yī	Yu	Yū	Yr̥	Yr̥̄	Yl̥	Yl̥̄	Ye	Yai	Yo	Yau	Y
ୟ	ୟା	ୟି	ୟୀ	ୟୁ	ୟୂ	ୟୃ	ୟୄ	ୟୢ	ୟୣ	ୟେ	ୟୈ	ୟୋ	ୟୌ	ୟ୍

Conjuncts of ୟ

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 subjoined form of is unique in appearing to the right of the preceding letters, rather than below. This postfixed form of Ya is called "Ya Phala". 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.

• ଧ୍ (dʱ) + ୟ (ya) gives the ligature dʱya:

Kaithi Ya

Kaithi consonant and half-form Ya.

Ya (𑂨) is a consonant of the Kaithi abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Siddhaṃ letter Ya. 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.

Kaithi Ya with vowel matras

Ya	Yā	Yi	Yī	Yu	Yū	Ye	Yai	Yo	Yau	Y
𑂨	𑂨𑂰	𑂨𑂱	𑂨𑂲	𑂨𑂳	𑂨𑂴	𑂨𑂵	𑂨𑂶	𑂨𑂷	𑂨𑂸	𑂨𑂹

Conjuncts of 𑂨

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.

• 𑂨୍ (y) + 𑂩 (ra) gives the ligature yra:

• 𑂩୍ (r) + 𑂨 (ya) gives the ligature rya:

Comparison of Ya

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

Comparison of Ya in different scripts

Aramaic Kharoṣṭhī 𐨩 Ashoka Brahmi Kushana Brahmi[lower-alpha 1] Tocharian[lower-alpha 2] Gupta Brahmi Pallava Kadamba - Bhaiksuki 𑰧 Siddhaṃ Grantha 𑌯 Cham ꨢ Sinhala ය Pyu / Old Mon[lower-alpha 3] - Tibetan Newa 𑐫 Ahom - Malayalam യ Telugu య Burmese ယ Lepcha ᰚ Ranjana Saurashtra ꢫ Dives Akuru 𑤥 Kannada ಯ Kayah Li ꤛ Limbu ᤕ Soyombo[lower-alpha 4] 𑩻 Khmer យ Tamil Chakma 𑄠 Tai Tham ᨿ / ᩀ Meitei Mayek ꯌ Gaudi - Thai ย Lao ຍ / ຽ / ໟ / ຢ Tai Le ᥕ Marchen 𑲉 Tirhuta 𑒨 New Tai Lue ᦍ / ᦊ Tai Viet ꪤ / ꪥ Aksara Kawi 'Phags-pa ꡗ Odia ଯ Sharada 𑆪 Rejang ꤿ Batak ᯛ Buginese ᨐ Zanabazar Square 𑨪 Bengali-Assamese Takri 𑚣 Javanese ꦪ Balinese ᬬ Makasar 𑻬 Hangul[lower-alpha 5] - Northern Nagari - Dogri 𑠣 Laṇḍā - Sundanese ᮚ Baybayin ᜌ Modi 𑘧 Gujarati ય Khojki 𑈥 Khudabadi 𑋘 Mahajani - Tagbanwa ᝬ Devanagari Nandinagari 𑧇 Kaithi Gurmukhi ਯ Multani 𑊡 Buhid ᝌ Canadian Syllabics[lower-alpha 6] ᔦ Soyombo[lower-alpha 7] 𑩻 Sylheti Nagari - Gunjala Gondi 𑵬 Masaram Gondi[lower-alpha 8] 𑴥 Hanuno'o ᜬ Notes The middle "Kushana" form of Brahmi is a later style that emerged as Brahmi scripts were beginning to proliferate. Gupta Brahmi was definitely a stylistic descendant from Kushana, but other Brahmi-derived scripts may have descended from earlier forms. Tocharian is probably derived from the middle period "Kushana" form of Brahmi, although artifacts from that time are not plentiful enough to establish a definite succession. Pyu and Old Mon are probably the precursors of the Burmese script, and may be derived from either the Pallava or Kadamba script May also be derived from Devangari (see bottom left of table) The Origin of Hangul from 'Phags-pa is one of limited influence, inspiring at most a few basic letter shapes. Hangul does not function as an Indic abugida. Although the basic letter forms of the Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics were derived from handwritten Devanagari letters, this abugida indicates vowel sounds by rotations of the letter form, rather than the use of vowel diacritics as is standard in Indic abugidas. May also be derived from Ranjana (see above) Masaram Gondi acts as an Indic abugida, but its letterforms were not derived from any single precursor script.

Character encodings of Ya

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

Character information

Preview							య		ଯ		ಯ		യ		ય		ਯ
Unicode name	DEVANAGARI LETTER YA		BENGALI LETTER YA		TAMIL LETTER YA		TELUGU LETTER YA		ORIYA LETTER YA		KANNADA LETTER YA		MALAYALAM LETTER YA		GUJARATI LETTER YA		GURMUKHI LETTER YA
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	2351	U+092F	2479	U+09AF	2991	U+0BAF	3119	U+0C2F	2863	U+0B2F	3247	U+0CAF	3375	U+0D2F	2735	U+0AAF	2607	U+0A2F
UTF-8	224 164 175	E0 A4 AF	224 166 175	E0 A6 AF	224 174 175	E0 AE AF	224 176 175	E0 B0 AF	224 172 175	E0 AC AF	224 178 175	E0 B2 AF	224 180 175	E0 B4 AF	224 170 175	E0 AA AF	224 168 175	E0 A8 AF
Numeric character reference	य	य	য	য	ய	ய	య	య	ଯ	ଯ	ಯ	ಯ	യ	യ	ય	ય	ਯ	ਯ
ISCII	205	CD	205	CD	205	CD	205	CD	205	CD	205	CD	205	CD	205	CD	205	CD

Character information

Preview	Ashoka Kushana Gupta		𐨩				𑌯
Unicode name	BRAHMI LETTER YA		KHAROSHTHI LETTER YA		SIDDHAM LETTER YA		GRANTHA LETTER YA
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	69676	U+1102C	68137	U+10A29	71079	U+115A7	70447	U+1132F
UTF-8	240 145 128 172	F0 91 80 AC	240 144 168 169	F0 90 A8 A9	240 145 150 167	F0 91 96 A7	240 145 140 175	F0 91 8C AF
UTF-16	55300 56364	D804 DC2C	55298 56873	D802 DE29	55301 56743	D805 DDA7	55300 57135	D804 DF2F
Numeric character reference	𑀬	𑀬	𐨩	𐨩	𑖧	𑖧	𑌯	𑌯

Character information

Preview			ྱ		ꡗ		𑨪		𑐫		𑰧		𑆪
Unicode name	TIBETAN LETTER YA		TIBETAN SUBJOINED LETTER YA		PHAGS-PA LETTER YA		ZANABAZAR SQUARE LETTER YA		NEWA LETTER YA		BHAIKSUKI LETTER YA		SHARADA LETTER YA
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	3937	U+0F61	4017	U+0FB1	43095	U+A857	72234	U+11A2A	70699	U+1142B	72743	U+11C27	70058	U+111AA
UTF-8	224 189 161	E0 BD A1	224 190 177	E0 BE B1	234 161 151	EA A1 97	240 145 168 170	F0 91 A8 AA	240 145 144 171	F0 91 90 AB	240 145 176 167	F0 91 B0 A7	240 145 134 170	F0 91 86 AA
UTF-16	3937	0F61	4017	0FB1	43095	A857	55302 56874	D806 DE2A	55301 56363	D805 DC2B	55303 56359	D807 DC27	55300 56746	D804 DDAA
Numeric character reference	ཡ	ཡ	ྱ	ྱ	ꡗ	ꡗ	𑨪	𑨪	𑐫	𑐫	𑰧	𑰧	𑆪	𑆪

Character information

Preview	ယ		ᨿ		ᩀ		ᩭ		ᦍ		ᦊ
Unicode name	MYANMAR LETTER YA		TAI THAM LETTER LOW YA		TAI THAM LETTER HIGH YA		TAI THAM VOWEL SIGN OY		NEW TAI LUE LETTER LOW YA		NEW TAI LUE LETTER HIGH YA
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	4122	U+101A	6719	U+1A3F	6720	U+1A40	6765	U+1A6D	6541	U+198D	6538	U+198A
UTF-8	225 128 154	E1 80 9A	225 168 191	E1 A8 BF	225 169 128	E1 A9 80	225 169 173	E1 A9 AD	225 166 141	E1 A6 8D	225 166 138	E1 A6 8A
Numeric character reference	ယ	ယ	ᨿ	ᨿ	ᩀ	ᩀ	ᩭ	ᩭ	ᦍ	ᦍ	ᦊ	ᦊ

Character information

Preview	យ		ย		ꪤ		ꪥ
Unicode name	KHMER LETTER YO		THAI CHARACTER YO YAK		TAI VIET LETTER LOW YO		TAI VIET LETTER HIGH YO
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	6041	U+1799	3618	U+0E22	43684	U+AAA4	43685	U+AAA5
UTF-8	225 158 153	E1 9E 99	224 184 162	E0 B8 A2	234 170 164	EA AA A4	234 170 165	EA AA A5
Numeric character reference	យ	យ	ย	ย	ꪤ	ꪤ	ꪥ	ꪥ

• See further below for Lao codepoints.

Character information

Preview	ය		ꤛ		𑄠		𑄡		ᥕ		𑤥		ꢫ		ꨢ
Unicode name	SINHALA LETTER YAYANNA		KAYAH LI LETTER YA		CHAKMA LETTER YYAA		CHAKMA LETTER YAA		TAI LE LETTER YA		DIVES AKURU LETTER YA		SAURASHTRA LETTER YA		CHAM LETTER YA
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	3514	U+0DBA	43291	U+A91B	69920	U+11120	69921	U+11121	6485	U+1955	71973	U+11925	43179	U+A8AB	43554	U+AA22
UTF-8	224 182 186	E0 B6 BA	234 164 155	EA A4 9B	240 145 132 160	F0 91 84 A0	240 145 132 161	F0 91 84 A1	225 165 149	E1 A5 95	240 145 164 165	F0 91 A4 A5	234 162 171	EA A2 AB	234 168 162	EA A8 A2
UTF-16	3514	0DBA	43291	A91B	55300 56608	D804 DD20	55300 56609	D804 DD21	6485	1955	55302 56613	D806 DD25	43179	A8AB	43554	AA22
Numeric character reference	ය	ය	ꤛ	ꤛ	𑄠	𑄠	𑄡	𑄡	ᥕ	ᥕ	𑤥	𑤥	ꢫ	ꢫ	ꨢ	ꨢ

Character information

Preview	𑘧		𑧇		𑩻		𑵬
Unicode name	MODI LETTER YA		NANDINAGARI LETTER YA		SOYOMBO LETTER YA		GUNJALA GONDI LETTER YA		KAITHI LETTER YA
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	71207	U+11627	72135	U+119C7	72315	U+11A7B	73068	U+11D6C	69800	U+110A8
UTF-8	240 145 152 167	F0 91 98 A7	240 145 167 135	F0 91 A7 87	240 145 169 187	F0 91 A9 BB	240 145 181 172	F0 91 B5 AC	240 145 130 168	F0 91 82 A8
UTF-16	55301 56871	D805 DE27	55302 56775	D806 DDC7	55302 56955	D806 DE7B	55303 56684	D807 DD6C	55300 56488	D804 DCA8
Numeric character reference	𑘧	𑘧	𑧇	𑧇	𑩻	𑩻	𑵬	𑵬	𑂨	𑂨

Character information

Preview	𑒨		ᰚ		ᤕ		ꯌ		𑲉
Unicode name	TIRHUTA LETTER YA		LEPCHA LETTER YA		LIMBU LETTER YA		MEETEI MAYEK LETTER YANG		MARCHEN LETTER YA
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	70824	U+114A8	7194	U+1C1A	6421	U+1915	43980	U+ABCC	72841	U+11C89
UTF-8	240 145 146 168	F0 91 92 A8	225 176 154	E1 B0 9A	225 164 149	E1 A4 95	234 175 140	EA AF 8C	240 145 178 137	F0 91 B2 89
UTF-16	55301 56488	D805 DCA8	7194	1C1A	6421	1915	43980	ABCC	55303 56457	D807 DC89
Numeric character reference	𑒨	𑒨	ᰚ	ᰚ	ᤕ	ᤕ	ꯌ	ꯌ	𑲉	𑲉

Character information

Preview	𑚣		𑠣		𑈥		𑋘		𑊡
Unicode name	TAKRI LETTER YA		DOGRA LETTER YA		KHOJKI LETTER YA		KHUDAWADI LETTER YA		MULTANI LETTER YA
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	71331	U+116A3	71715	U+11823	70181	U+11225	70360	U+112D8	70305	U+112A1
UTF-8	240 145 154 163	F0 91 9A A3	240 145 160 163	F0 91 A0 A3	240 145 136 165	F0 91 88 A5	240 145 139 152	F0 91 8B 98	240 145 138 161	F0 91 8A A1
UTF-16	55301 56995	D805 DEA3	55302 56355	D806 DC23	55300 56869	D804 DE25	55300 57048	D804 DED8	55300 56993	D804 DEA1
Numeric character reference	𑚣	𑚣	𑠣	𑠣	𑈥	𑈥	𑋘	𑋘	𑊡	𑊡

Character information

Preview	ᬬ		ᯛ		ᨐ		ꦪ		𑻬		ꤿ		ᮚ
Unicode name	BALINESE LETTER YA		BATAK LETTER YA		BUGINESE LETTER YA		JAVANESE LETTER YA		MAKASAR LETTER YA		REJANG LETTER YA		SUNDANESE LETTER YA
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	6956	U+1B2C	7131	U+1BDB	6672	U+1A10	43434	U+A9AA	73452	U+11EEC	43327	U+A93F	7066	U+1B9A
UTF-8	225 172 172	E1 AC AC	225 175 155	E1 AF 9B	225 168 144	E1 A8 90	234 166 170	EA A6 AA	240 145 187 172	F0 91 BB AC	234 164 191	EA A4 BF	225 174 154	E1 AE 9A
UTF-16	6956	1B2C	7131	1BDB	6672	1A10	43434	A9AA	55303 57068	D807 DEEC	43327	A93F	7066	1B9A
Numeric character reference	ᬬ	ᬬ	ᯛ	ᯛ	ᨐ	ᨐ	ꦪ	ꦪ	𑻬	𑻬	ꤿ	ꤿ	ᮚ	ᮚ

Character information

Preview	ᜌ		ᝬ		ᝌ		ᜬ		𑴥
Unicode name	TAGALOG LETTER YA		TAGBANWA LETTER YA		BUHID LETTER YA		HANUNOO LETTER YA		MASARAM GONDI LETTER YA
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	5900	U+170C	5996	U+176C	5964	U+174C	5932	U+172C	72997	U+11D25
UTF-8	225 156 140	E1 9C 8C	225 157 172	E1 9D AC	225 157 140	E1 9D 8C	225 156 172	E1 9C AC	240 145 180 165	F0 91 B4 A5
UTF-16	5900	170C	5996	176C	5964	174C	5932	172C	55303 56613	D807 DD25
Numeric character reference	ᜌ	ᜌ	ᝬ	ᝬ	ᝌ	ᝌ	ᜬ	ᜬ	𑴥	𑴥

Character information

Preview	ᔦ		ᔨ		ᔪ		ᔭ		ᔾ
Unicode name	CANADIAN SYLLABICS YE		CANADIAN SYLLABICS YI		CANADIAN SYLLABICS YO		CANADIAN SYLLABICS YA		CANADIAN SYLLABICS Y
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	5414	U+1526	5416	U+1528	5418	U+152A	5421	U+152D	5438	U+153E
UTF-8	225 148 166	E1 94 A6	225 148 168	E1 94 A8	225 148 170	E1 94 AA	225 148 173	E1 94 AD	225 148 190	E1 94 BE
Numeric character reference	ᔦ	ᔦ	ᔨ	ᔨ	ᔪ	ᔪ	ᔭ	ᔭ	ᔾ	ᔾ

• The full range of yE Canadian syllabic characters can be found at the codepoint ranges 1526-153E, 141E, 142B-142E, 18B0-18B3, 18DC-18DD.

Character information

Preview	ຍ		ຽ		ໟ		ຢ
Unicode name	LAO LETTER NYO		LAO SEMIVOWEL SIGN NYO		LAO LETTER KHMU NYO		LAO LETTER YO
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	3725	U+0E8D	3773	U+0EBD	3807	U+0EDF	3746	U+0EA2
UTF-8	224 186 141	E0 BA 8D	224 186 189	E0 BA BD	224 187 159	E0 BB 9F	224 186 162	E0 BA A2
Numeric character reference	ຍ	ຍ	ຽ	ຽ	ໟ	ໟ	ຢ	ຢ

References

1. Ifrah, Georges (2000). The Universal History of Numbers. From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 447–450. ISBN 0-471-39340-1.
2. Bühler, Georg (1898). "On the Origin of the Indian Brahmi Alphabet". archive.org. Karl J. Trübner. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
3. Evolutionary chart, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, 1838
4. Michaels, Axel (2024-05-07), "From Gorkha to Nepal", Nepal, Oxford University PressNew York, pp. 136–159, ISBN 0-19-765093-7, retrieved 2024-09-01
5. Pall, Peeter. "Microsoft Word - kblhi2" (PDF). Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
6. "The Bengali Alphabet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-28.
7. Jain & Cardona, Danesh & George (Jul 26, 2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 82. ISBN 9781135797119.
8. Zui. "Writing in North America — Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics". The Language Closet. Retrieved 2 April 2023.

^note Conjuncts are identified by IAST transliteration, except aspirated consonants are indicated with a superscript "h" to distinguish from an unaspirated cononant + Ha, and the use of the IPA "ŋ" and "ʃ" instead of the less dinstinctive "ṅ" and "ś".