Ja is the eighth consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, ja is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter.
Āryabhaṭa numeration
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 ज are:
ज = 8
जि = 800
जु = 80,000
जृ = 8,000,000
जॢ = 8
जे = 8
जै = 8
जो = 8
जौ = 8
Historic Ja
There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Ja as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta. The Tocharian Ja did not have an alterante Fremdzeichen form. The third form of ja, in Kharoshthi was probably derived from Aramaic separately from the Brahmi letter.
Brahmi Ja
The Brahmi letter, Ja, is probably derived from the Aramaic Zayin, and is thus related to the modern LatinZ and Greek Zeta. Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Ja 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.
Ja is the eighth 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 જ and Modi letter ?.
Devanagari Jja
Jja is the character ज with an underbar to represent the voiced palatal implosive that occurs in Sindhi. This underbar is distinct from the Devanagari stress sign anudātta. The underbar is fused to the stem of the letter while the anudātta is a stress accent applied to the entire syllable. This underbar used for Sindhi implosives does not exist as a separate character in Unicode. When the ु or ू vowel sign is applied to jja, the ु and ू vowel signs are drawn beneath jja. When the उ vowel sign or ऊ vowel sign is applied to ja with an anudātta, the उ vowel sign or ऊ vowel sign is first placed under ja and then the anudātta is placed underneath the उ vowel sign or ऊ vowel sign.
Character Name
उ vowel sign
ऊ vowel sign
ॼ
ॼु
ॼू
ज॒
जु॒
जू॒
An example of a Sindhi word that uses jja is ॼाण, which is of the feminine grammatical gender and means information or knowledge.
Devanagari Za
Za is the character ज with a single dot underneath. It is used in Devanagari transcriptions of Urdu, English, and other languages to denote the voiced alveolar sibilant. Za should not be confused with ža, which is the character jha combined with a nuqta, and is used to transcribe the voiced post-alveolar fricative from Urdu and English. Za should also not be confused zha, which is used in Devanagari transcriptions of the Avestan letter zhe to denote the voiced post-alveolar fricative.
Devanagari Zha
Zha is the character ज with three dots underneath. It is used in Devanagari transcriptions of the Avestan letter zhe to denote the voiced patalal fricative. An example of its usage is in Kavasji Edulji Kanga's Avesta, yazna 41.3 to write ईॹीम्. Zha should not be confused with za, which is used to denote the voiced alveolar sibilant from Urdu, English, and other languages. Zha should also not be confused with ža, which is the character jha combined with a nuqta, and is used to transcribe the voiced post-alveolar fricative from Urdu and English.
Devanagari-using Languages
In many languages, ज is pronounced as or when appropriate. In Marathi, ज is sometimes pronounced as or in addition to or. Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:
Ja
Jā
Ji
Jī
Ju
Jū
Jr
Jr̄
Jl
Jl̄
Je
Jai
Jo
Jau
J
ज
जा
जि
जी
जु
जू
जृ
जॄ
जॢ
जॣ
जे
जै
जो
जौ
ज्
Conjuncts with ज
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 ज
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. The conjunct jja also has a unique half form that differs from the regular conjunct.
र্ + ज gives us the ligature rja:
ज্ + र gives us the ligature jra:
ज্ + न gives us the ligature jna:
ज্ + ज gives us the ligature jja:
ज্ + ज্ + व gives us the ligature jjva:
ज্ + ज্ + य gives us the ligature jjya:
Devanagari Jña
One of the most common true ligatures in Devanagari is the conjunct jña ज्ञ. 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. ज्ञ্
ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature jña:
र্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature rjña:
भ্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature bʰjña:
ब্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature bjña:
छ্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature cʰjña:
च্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature cjña:
ढ্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature ḍʱjña:
ड্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature ḍjña:
द্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature djña:
घ্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature ɡʱjña:
ग্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature gjña:
ह্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature hjña:
ज্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature jjña:
झ্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature jʰjña:
ख্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature kʰjña:
क্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature kjña:
ल্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature ljña:
म্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature mjña:
न্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature njña:
ञ্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature ñjña:
ङ্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature ŋjña:
फ্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature pʰjña:
प্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature pjña:
श্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature ʃjña:
स্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature sjña:
ष্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature ṣjña:
थ্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature tʰjña:
त্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature tjña:
ठ্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature ṭʰjña:
ट্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature ṭjña:
व্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature vjña:
य্ + ज্ + ञ gives us the ligature yjña:
Stacked conjuncts of ज
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 জ is derived from the Siddhaṃ, and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, ज. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter জ will sometimes be transliterated as "jo" instead of "ja". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /d͡ʒo/. Like all Indic consonants, জ can be modified by marks to indicate another vowel than its inherent "a".
ja
jā
ji
jī
ju
jū
jr
jr̄
je
jai
jo
jau
j
জ
জা
জি
জী
জু
জূ
জৃ
জৄ
জে
জৈ
জো
জৌ
জ্
জ in Bengali-using languages
জ is used as a basic consonant character in all of the major Bengali script orthographies, including Bengali and Assamese.
Conjuncts with জ
Bengali জ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with a tendency towards stacked ligatures.
ব্ + জ gives us the ligature bja:
জ্ + জ gives us the ligature jja:
জ্ + ঝ gives us the ligature jjʰa:
জ্ + জ্ + ব gives us the ligature jjva, with the va phala suffix:
জ্ + ঞ gives us the ligature jña:
জ্ + র gives us the ligature jra, with the ra phala suffix:
জ্ + ব gives us the ligature jva, with the va phala suffix:
জ্ + য gives us the ligature jya, with the ya phala suffix:
ঞ + জ gives us the ligature ñja:
র্ + জ gives us the ligature rja, with the repha prefix:
র্ + জ্ + য gives us the ligature rjya, with the repha prefix and ya phala suffix:
Ja is the eighth consonant of the Gujarati script. It is possibly derived from a variant of 16th century Devanagari letter ja with the top bar removed. Ja is visually similar to the corresponding Modi letter. When combined with certain vowels, the Gujarati Ja may assume unique forms :
J
Ja
Jā
Ji
Jii
Ju
Jū
Jr
Jr̄
Jl
Jl̄
Je
Jai
Jo
Jau
જ્
જ
જા
જિ
જી
જુ
જૂ
જૃ
જૄ
જૢ
જૣ
જે
જૈ
જો
જૌ
Gujarati Za
Za is the character ja with a single dot underneath. It corresponds to the Devanagari character Za. It is also used in Gujarati transcriptions of Avestan, Urdu, English, and other languages to denote the voiced alveolar sibilant.
Gujarati Zha
Zha is the character ja with three dots underneath. It is used in Gujarati transcriptions of the Avestan letter zhe to denote the voiced patalal fricative and is analogous to the Devanagari character zha. Zha was added to the Unicode Standard as a single character ljust like the Devanagari character zha with Unicode 8.0 on 17 June 2015. An example of a word in the Gujarati script the uses zha is ચીૹ્દી.
Gurmukhi script
Jajjaa is the thirteenth letter of the Gurmukhi alphabet. Its name is and is pronounced as /d͡ʒ/ when used in words. It is derived from the Laṇḍā letter ja, and ultimately from the Brahmi ja. Gurmukhi jajaa 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 /d͡ʒ/, although Gurmukhi Sanskrit texts may use an explicit halant.
Cho chang and so so are the tenth and eleventh letters of the Thai script. They 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.
Cho chang
In IPA, cho chang is pronounced as at the beginning of a syllable and are pronounced as at the end of a syllable. The previous letter of the alphabet, cho ching, is also named cho, however, it falls under the middle class of Thai consonants. In the acrophony of the Thai script, chang means ‘elephant’. Kho khai corresponds to the Sanskrit character ‘ज’.
So so
In IPA, so so is pronounced as at the beginning of a syllable and are pronounced as at the end of a syllable. In the acrophony of the Thai script, so means ‘chain’. Old Thai had the voiced retroflex affricate sound /dʐ/. When the Thai script was developed, cho ching was slightly modified to create distinct letter for /dʐ/, which is now known as so so. During the Old Thai period, this sound merged into the aspirated stop /tɕʰ/. This is similar to how ज is sometimes pronounced as in addition to in Marathi. However, Marathi uses the same letter for both sounds while Thai split the corresponding two sounds into the separate letters cho chang and so so. In modern Thai, the voicing of /dʐ/ became lost and thus is now pronounced as at the beginning of a syllable.
