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 घ are:
घ = 4
घि = 400
घु = 40,000
घृ = 4,000,000
घॢ = 4
घे = 4
घै = 4
घो = 4
घौ = 4
Historic Gha
There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Gha as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta. The Tocharian Gha did not have an alterante Fremdzeichen form. The third form of gha, in Kharoshthi was probably derived from Aramaic separately from the Brahmi letter.
Brahmi Gha
The Brahmi letter, Gha, is probably derived from the Aramaic Heth, and is thus related to the modern LatinH and Greek Eta. Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Gha 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.
Gha is the fourth 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 ઘ and the Modi letter ?.
Devanagari-using Languages
In all languages, घ 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:
Gha
Ghā
Ghi
Ghī
Ghu
Ghū
Ghr
Ghr̄
Ghl
Ghl̄
Ghe
Ghai
Gho
Ghau
Gh
घ
घा
घि
घी
घु
घू
घृ
घॄ
घॢ
घॣ
घे
घै
घो
घौ
घ्
Conjuncts with घ
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 घ
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.
र্ + घ gives us the ligature rɡʱa:
घ্ + र gives us the ligature ɡʱra:
घ্ + न gives us the ligature ɡʱna:
द্ + घ gives us the ligature dɡʱa:
Stacked conjuncts of घ
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.
The Bengali script ঘ is derived from the Siddhaṃ, and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, घ. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter ঘ will sometimes be transliterated as "gho" instead of "gha". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /ɡʱo/. Like all Indic consonants, ঘ can be modified by marks to indicate another vowel than its inherent "a".
gha
ghā
ghi
ghī
ghu
ghū
ghr
ghr̄
ghe
ghai
gho
ghau
gh
ঘ
ঘা
ঘি
ঘী
ঘু
ঘূ
ঘৃ
ঘৄ
ঘে
ঘৈ
ঘো
ঘৌ
ঘ্
ঘ in Bengali-using languages
ঘ is used as a basic consonant character in all of the major Bengali script orthographies, including Bengali and Assamese.
Conjuncts with ঘ
Bengali ঘ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with both stacked ligatures being common.
দ্ + ঘ gives us the ligature dɡʱa:
ঘ্ + ন gives us the ligature ɡʱna:
ঘ্ + র gives us the ligature ɡʱra, with the ra phala suffix:
ঘ্ + য gives us the ligature ɡʱya, with the ya phala suffix:
ঙ্ + ঘ gives us the ligature ŋɡʱa:
ঙ্ + ঘ্ + র gives us the ligature ŋɡʱra, with the ra phala suffix:
ঙ্ + ঘ্ + য gives us the ligature ŋɡʱya, with the ya phala suffix:
র্ + ঘ gives us the ligature rɡʱa, with the repha prefix:
র্ + ঘ্ + য gives us the ligature rɡʱya, with the repha prefix and ya phala suffix:
Gurmukhi script
Kagaa is the ninth letter of the Gurmukhi alphabet. Its name is and pronounced as /kə̀/. To differentiate between consonants, the Punjabi tonal consonant kà is often transliterated in the way of the Hindi voiced aspirate consonants gha although Punjabi does not have this sound. It is derived from the Laṇḍā letter gha, and ultimately from the Brahmi ga. Gurmukhi kagaa does not have a special pairin or addha form for making conjuncts, and in modern Punjabi texts do not take a half form or halant to indicate the bare consonant /k/, although Gurmukhi Sanskrit texts may use an explicit halant.
Gha is the fourth consonant of the Gujarati script. It is derived from 16th century Devanagari letter gha with the top bar removed. Like most Gujarati letters, it forms conjunct clusters with a half-form, where the vertical stem on the right is dropped and the remaining letter body appended to the following letter. ઘ is similar in appearance to ધ.
Kho ra-khang is the sixth letter of the Thai alphabet. It falls under the low class of Thai consonants. In IPA, kho ra-khang is pronounced as at the beginning of a syllable and is pronounced as at the end of a syllable. The second and third letters of the alphabet, kho khai and kho khuat , are also named kho, however, they all fall under the high class of Thai consonants. The fourth and the fifth letters of the alphabet, kho khwai, kho khon, and kho ra-khang, are also named kho and fall under the low class of Thai consonants. 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. In the acrophony of the Thai script, ra-khang means ‘bell’. Kho ra-khang corresponds to the Sanskrit character ‘घ’.
