A is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, A is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter
. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the "A" vowel inherently, and thus there is no modifier sign for "A" in Indic scripts.
A | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Example glyphs | |
Bengali–Assamese | ![]() |
Tibetan | ![]() |
Tamil | ![]() |
Thai | อ |
Malayalam | അ |
Sinhala | අ |
Ashoka Brahmi | ![]() |
Devanagari | ![]() |
Cognates | |
Hebrew | א |
Greek | Α |
Latin | A, Ɑ |
Cyrillic | А, Я, Ҍ |
Properties | |
Phonemic representation | /ɐ/ /ə/ /ɔ/ /o/D /ɔː/E /ɑː/F |
IAST transliteration | a A |
ISCII code point | A4 (164) |
^D in Thai ^E in Thai ^F in Khmer |
Āryabhaṭa numeration
Aryabhata used Devanagari letters for numbers, very similar to the Greek numerals, even after the invention of Indian numerals. The letter अ was not used in the Aryabhata number system, and consonants with the inherent "a" vowel retained their base value.[1]
Historic A
There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. A as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta
. Like all Brahmic scripts, the Tocharian A
is the inherent vowel for all consonant characters, apart from the alternate Fremdzeichen forms, which have the inherent vowel "Ä". In Kharoṣṭhī, the only independent vowel letter is for the inherent A, with all other independent vowels built from vowel marks added to A.
Brahmi A
The Brahmi letter , A, is probably derived from the Aramaic Alef
, and is thus related to the modern Latin A and Greek Alpha.[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi A 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.
Ashoka (3rd-1st c. BCE) | Girnar (~150 BCE) | Kushana (~150-250 CE) | Gujarat (~250 CE) | Gupta (~350 CE) |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Tocharian A
The Tocharian letter is derived from the Brahmi
.
Ka | Kha | Ga | Gha | Ca | Cha | Ja | Jha | Nya | Ṭa | Ṭha | Ḍa | Ḍha | Ṇa |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Ta | Tha | Da | Dha | Na | Pa | Pha | Ba | Bha | Ma | Ya | Ra | La | Va |
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Śa | Ṣa | Sa | Ha | ||||||||||
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Kharoṣṭhī A
The Kharoṣṭhī letter A is the only independent vowel in Kharosthi. It is derived from the Aramaic Alef , and is thus related to A and Alpha, as well as the Brahmi A.[2]
Devanagari A
![Thumb](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Devanagari_%E0%A4%85.svg/100px-Devanagari_%E0%A4%85.svg.png)
A (अ) is a vowel 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 અ, and the Modi letter 𑘀.
Devanagari Using Languages
The Devanagari script is used to write the Hindi language, Sanskrit and many other Indo-Aryan languages. In most of these languages, अ is pronounced as [ə]. Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari vowels come in two forms: an independent vowel form for syllables that begin with a vowel sound. However, since /ə/ is the inherent vowel of all consonants, there is no need for an A vowel sign.
Bengali A
![Thumb](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Bengali_Letter_A.svg/100px-Bengali_Letter_A.svg.png)
A (অ) is a vowel of the Bengali abugida. It is derived from the Siddhaṃ letter , and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, अ.
Bengali Script Using Languages
The Bengali script is used to write several languages of eastern India, notably the Bengali language and Assamese. In most languages, অ is pronounced as [ɔ]. Like all Indic scripts, Bengali vowels come in two forms: an independent vowel form for syllables that begin with a vowel sound. However, Bengali A represents the /ɔ/ vowel inherent in all consonants, and is thus indicated by the lack of any modifying vowel sign.
Gujarati A
![Thumb](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/Gujarati_vowel_A.svg/100px-Gujarati_vowel_A.svg.png)
A (અ) is a vowel of the Gujarati abugida. It is derived from the Devanagari A , and ultimately the Brahmi letter
.
Gujarati-using Languages
The Gujarati script is used to write the Gujarati and Kutchi languages. In both languages, અ is pronounced as [ə]. Like all Indic scripts, Gujarati vowels come in two forms: an independent vowel form for syllables that begin with a vowel sound. However, since A is the inherent vowel in unmarked consonants, there is no A vowel sign in Gujarati.
Javanese A
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Telugu A
![Thumb](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Telugu_vowel_A.svg/100px-Telugu_vowel_A.svg.png)
A (అ) is a vowel of the Telugu abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter . It is closely related to the Kannada letter ಅ. Like in other Indic scripts, "A" in Telugu is inherent in all consonants, and there is no vowel sign for the "A" vowel.
Malayalam A
![Thumb](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/Malayalam_vowel_A.svg/100px-Malayalam_vowel_A.svg.png)
A (അ) is a vowel of the Malayalam abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Grantha letter
a. Like in other Indic scripts, "A" is the inherent vowel of Malayalam consonants, so there is no modifying vowel sign for A. As in most Indic scripts, independent Malayalam vowels do not decompose into A with a vowel sign attached, but rather are unique characters themselves. Independent vowel letters in Malayalam are used when a word begins with a vowel, rather than a consonant sound.
Odia A
![Thumb](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Odia_alphabet_%E0%AC%85.svg/320px-Odia_alphabet_%E0%AC%85.svg.png)
A (ଅ) is a vowel of the Odia abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Siddhaṃ letter
a. Like in other Indic scripts, Odia consonants inherently contain the "a" vowel, so there is no modifying sign for indicating that vowel.
Thai script
O ang (อ) and Ho nokhuk (ฮ) are the forty-third and forty-fourth letters of the Thai script. Unlike many Indic scripts, Thai consonants do not form conjunct ligatures, and use the pinthu—an explicit virama with a dot shape—to indicate bare consonants.
O ang
In IPA, O ang is pronounced as [ʔ] at the beginning of a syllable and not be used to close a syllable. It falls under the middle class of Thai consonants. In the acrophony of the Thai script, ang (อ่าง) means 'basin'. O ang corresponds to the Sanskrit character 'अ'.
Ho nokhuk
In IPA, Ho nokhuk is pronounced as [h] at the beginning of a syllable and not be used to close a syllable. It falls under the low class of Thai consonants. In the acrophony of the Thai script, nokhuk (นกฮูก) means 'owl'.
Kaithi A
A (𑂃) is a vowel of the Kaithi abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , via the Siddhaṃ letter
A. Like in other Indic scripts, the Kaithi vowel A is an independent letter and lacks a vowel sign, as "a" is inherent to the consonant letters.
Comparison of A
The various Indic scripts are generally related to each other through adaptation and borrowing, and as such the glyphs for cognate letters, including A, are related as well.
Character encodings of A
Most Indic scripts are encoded in the Unicode Standard, and as such the letter A in those scripts can be represented in plain text with unique codepoint. A from several modern-use scripts can also be found in legacy encodings, such as ISCII.
Preview | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | అ | ଅ | ಅ | അ | અ | ਅ | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | GURMUKHI LETTER A | BENGALI LETTER A | TAMIL LETTER A | TELUGU LETTER A | ORIYA LETTER A | KANNADA LETTER A | MALAYALAM LETTER A | GUJARATI LETTER A | GURMUKHI LETTER A | |||||||||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 2565 | U+0A05 | 2437 | U+0985 | 2949 | U+0B85 | 3077 | U+0C05 | 2821 | U+0B05 | 3205 | U+0C85 | 3333 | U+0D05 | 2693 | U+0A85 | 2565 | U+0A05 |
UTF-8 | 224 168 133 | E0 A8 85 | 224 166 133 | E0 A6 85 | 224 174 133 | E0 AE 85 | 224 176 133 | E0 B0 85 | 224 172 133 | E0 AC 85 | 224 178 133 | E0 B2 85 | 224 180 133 | E0 B4 85 | 224 170 133 | E0 AA 85 | 224 168 133 | E0 A8 85 |
Numeric character reference | ਅ | ਅ | অ | অ | அ | அ | అ | అ | ଅ | ଅ | ಅ | ಅ | അ | അ | અ | અ | ਅ | ਅ |
ISCII | 164 | A4 | 164 | A4 | 164 | A4 | 164 | A4 | 164 | A4 | 164 | A4 | 164 | A4 | 164 | A4 | 164 | A4 |
Preview | 𐨀 | ![]() | 𑌅 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | BRAHMI LETTER A | KHAROSHTHI LETTER A | SIDDHAM LETTER A | GRANTHA LETTER A | ||||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 69637 | U+11005 | 68096 | U+10A00 | 71040 | U+11580 | 70405 | U+11305 |
UTF-8 | 240 145 128 133 | F0 91 80 85 | 240 144 168 128 | F0 90 A8 80 | 240 145 150 128 | F0 91 96 80 | 240 145 140 133 | F0 91 8C 85 |
UTF-16 | 55300 56325 | D804 DC05 | 55298 56832 | D802 DE00 | 55301 56704 | D805 DD80 | 55300 57093 | D804 DF05 |
Numeric character reference | 𑀅 | 𑀅 | 𐨀 | 𐨀 | 𑖀 | 𑖀 | 𑌅 | 𑌅 |
Preview | ![]() | ꡝ | 𑨀 | 𑐀 | 𑰀 | 𑆃 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | TIBETAN LETTER A | PHAGS-PA LETTER A | ZANABAZAR SQUARE LETTER A | NEWA LETTER A | BHAIKSUKI LETTER A | SHARADA LETTER A | ||||||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 3944 | U+0F68 | 43101 | U+A85D | 72192 | U+11A00 | 70656 | U+11400 | 72704 | U+11C00 | 70019 | U+11183 |
UTF-8 | 224 189 168 | E0 BD A8 | 234 161 157 | EA A1 9D | 240 145 168 128 | F0 91 A8 80 | 240 145 144 128 | F0 91 90 80 | 240 145 176 128 | F0 91 B0 80 | 240 145 134 131 | F0 91 86 83 |
UTF-16 | 3944 | 0F68 | 43101 | A85D | 55302 56832 | D806 DE00 | 55301 56320 | D805 DC00 | 55303 56320 | D807 DC00 | 55300 56707 | D804 DD83 |
Numeric character reference | ཨ | ཨ | ꡝ | ꡝ | 𑨀 | 𑨀 | 𑐀 | 𑐀 | 𑰀 | 𑰀 | 𑆃 | 𑆃 |
Preview | အ | ᩋ | ᩬ | ᦀ | ᦁ | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | MYANMAR LETTER A | TAI THAM LETTER A | TAI THAM VOWEL SIGN OA BELOW | NEW TAI LUE LETTER HIGH QA | NEW TAI LUE LETTER LOW QA | |||||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 4129 | U+1021 | 6731 | U+1A4B | 6764 | U+1A6C | 6528 | U+1980 | 6529 | U+1981 |
UTF-8 | 225 128 161 | E1 80 A1 | 225 169 139 | E1 A9 8B | 225 169 172 | E1 A9 AC | 225 166 128 | E1 A6 80 | 225 166 129 | E1 A6 81 |
Numeric character reference | အ | အ | ᩋ | ᩋ | ᩬ | ᩬ | ᦀ | ᦀ | ᦁ | ᦁ |
- U+1A6C is widely misencoded as U+1A60+1A4B, which is intended for a distinctive but as yet unattested subscripting of the letter in the Khmer style.
Preview | អ | ອ | อ | ฮ | ꪮ | ꪯ | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | KHMER LETTER QA | LAO LETTER O | THAI CHARACTER O ANG | THAI CHARACTER HO NOKHUK | TAI VIET LETTER LOW O | TAI VIET LETTER HIGH O | ||||||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 6050 | U+17A2 | 3757 | U+0EAD | 3629 | U+0E2D | 3630 | U+0E2E | 43694 | U+AAAE | 43695 | U+AAAF |
UTF-8 | 225 158 162 | E1 9E A2 | 224 186 173 | E0 BA AD | 224 184 173 | E0 B8 AD | 224 184 174 | E0 B8 AE | 234 170 174 | EA AA AE | 234 170 175 | EA AA AF |
Numeric character reference | អ | អ | ອ | ອ | อ | อ | ฮ | ฮ | ꪮ | ꪮ | ꪯ | ꪯ |
Preview | අ | ꤢ | ᥣ | 𑜒 | 𑤀 | ꢂ | ꨀ | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | SINHALA LETTER AYANNA | KAYAH LI LETTER A | TAI LE LETTER A | AHOM LETTER A | DIVES AKURU LETTER A | SAURASHTRA LETTER A | CHAM LETTER A | |||||||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 3461 | U+0D85 | 43298 | U+A922 | 6499 | U+1963 | 71442 | U+11712 | 71936 | U+11900 | 43138 | U+A882 | 43520 | U+AA00 |
UTF-8 | 224 182 133 | E0 B6 85 | 234 164 162 | EA A4 A2 | 225 165 163 | E1 A5 A3 | 240 145 156 146 | F0 91 9C 92 | 240 145 164 128 | F0 91 A4 80 | 234 162 130 | EA A2 82 | 234 168 128 | EA A8 80 |
UTF-16 | 3461 | 0D85 | 43298 | A922 | 6499 | 1963 | 55301 57106 | D805 DF12 | 55302 56576 | D806 DD00 | 43138 | A882 | 43520 | AA00 |
Numeric character reference | අ | අ | ꤢ | ꤢ | ᥣ | ᥣ | 𑜒 | 𑜒 | 𑤀 | 𑤀 | ꢂ | ꢂ | ꨀ | ꨀ |
Preview | 𑘀 | 𑦠 | ꠀ | 𑵠 | ![]() | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | MODI LETTER A | NANDINAGARI LETTER A | SYLOTI NAGRI LETTER A | GUNJALA GONDI LETTER A | KAITHI LETTER A | |||||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 71168 | U+11600 | 72096 | U+119A0 | 43008 | U+A800 | 73056 | U+11D60 | 69763 | U+11083 |
UTF-8 | 240 145 152 128 | F0 91 98 80 | 240 145 166 160 | F0 91 A6 A0 | 234 160 128 | EA A0 80 | 240 145 181 160 | F0 91 B5 A0 | 240 145 130 131 | F0 91 82 83 |
UTF-16 | 55301 56832 | D805 DE00 | 55302 56736 | D806 DDA0 | 43008 | A800 | 55303 56672 | D807 DD60 | 55300 56451 | D804 DC83 |
Numeric character reference | 𑘀 | 𑘀 | 𑦠 | 𑦠 | ꠀ | ꠀ | 𑵠 | 𑵠 | 𑂃 | 𑂃 |
Preview | 𑒁 | ᰣ | ꯑ | 𑲏 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | TIRHUTA LETTER A | LEPCHA LETTER A | MEETEI MAYEK LETTER ATIYA | MARCHEN LETTER A | ||||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 70785 | U+11481 | 7203 | U+1C23 | 43985 | U+ABD1 | 72847 | U+11C8F |
UTF-8 | 240 145 146 129 | F0 91 92 81 | 225 176 163 | E1 B0 A3 | 234 175 145 | EA AF 91 | 240 145 178 143 | F0 91 B2 8F |
UTF-16 | 55301 56449 | D805 DC81 | 7203 | 1C23 | 43985 | ABD1 | 55303 56463 | D807 DC8F |
Numeric character reference | 𑒁 | 𑒁 | ᰣ | ᰣ | ꯑ | ꯑ | 𑲏 | 𑲏 |
Preview | 𑚀 | 𑠀 | 𑈀 | 𑊰 | 𑅐 | 𑊀 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | TAKRI LETTER A | DOGRA LETTER A | KHOJKI LETTER A | KHUDAWADI LETTER A | MAHAJANI LETTER A | MULTANI LETTER A | ||||||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 71296 | U+11680 | 71680 | U+11800 | 70144 | U+11200 | 70320 | U+112B0 | 69968 | U+11150 | 70272 | U+11280 |
UTF-8 | 240 145 154 128 | F0 91 9A 80 | 240 145 160 128 | F0 91 A0 80 | 240 145 136 128 | F0 91 88 80 | 240 145 138 176 | F0 91 8A B0 | 240 145 133 144 | F0 91 85 90 | 240 145 138 128 | F0 91 8A 80 |
UTF-16 | 55301 56960 | D805 DE80 | 55302 56320 | D806 DC00 | 55300 56832 | D804 DE00 | 55300 57008 | D804 DEB0 | 55300 56656 | D804 DD50 | 55300 56960 | D804 DE80 |
Numeric character reference | 𑚀 | 𑚀 | 𑠀 | 𑠀 | 𑈀 | 𑈀 | 𑊰 | 𑊰 | 𑅐 | 𑅐 | 𑊀 | 𑊀 |
Preview | ᬅ | ᯀ | ᨕ | ꦄ | 𑻱 | ꥆ | ᮃ | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | BALINESE LETTER AKARA | BATAK LETTER A | BUGINESE LETTER A | JAVANESE LETTER A | MAKASAR LETTER A | REJANG LETTER A | SUNDANESE LETTER A | |||||||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 6917 | U+1B05 | 7104 | U+1BC0 | 6677 | U+1A15 | 43396 | U+A984 | 73457 | U+11EF1 | 43334 | U+A946 | 7043 | U+1B83 |
UTF-8 | 225 172 133 | E1 AC 85 | 225 175 128 | E1 AF 80 | 225 168 149 | E1 A8 95 | 234 166 132 | EA A6 84 | 240 145 187 177 | F0 91 BB B1 | 234 165 134 | EA A5 86 | 225 174 131 | E1 AE 83 |
UTF-16 | 6917 | 1B05 | 7104 | 1BC0 | 6677 | 1A15 | 43396 | A984 | 55303 57073 | D807 DEF1 | 43334 | A946 | 7043 | 1B83 |
Numeric character reference | ᬅ | ᬅ | ᯀ | ᯀ | ᨕ | ᨕ | ꦄ | ꦄ | 𑻱 | 𑻱 | ꥆ | ꥆ | ᮃ | ᮃ |
Preview | ᜀ | ᝠ | ᝀ | ᜠ | 𑴀 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unicode name | TAGALOG LETTER A | TAGBANWA LETTER A | BUHID LETTER A | HANUNOO LETTER A | MASARAM GONDI LETTER A | |||||
Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
Unicode | 5888 | U+1700 | 5984 | U+1760 | 5952 | U+1740 | 5920 | U+1720 | 72960 | U+11D00 |
UTF-8 | 225 156 128 | E1 9C 80 | 225 157 160 | E1 9D A0 | 225 157 128 | E1 9D 80 | 225 156 160 | E1 9C A0 | 240 145 180 128 | F0 91 B4 80 |
UTF-16 | 5888 | 1700 | 5984 | 1760 | 5952 | 1740 | 5920 | 1720 | 55303 56576 | D807 DD00 |
Numeric character reference | ᜀ | ᜀ | ᝠ | ᝠ | ᝀ | ᝀ | ᜠ | ᜠ | 𑴀 | 𑴀 |