Brahmi Ṣa

The Brahmi letter , Ssa, is probably derived from the Aramaic Samekh , and is thus related to the modern Greek Xi.^[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Ssa 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 Ssa historic forms

Ashoka (3rd-1st c. BCE)	Girnar (~150 BCE)	Kushana (~150-250 CE)	Gujarat (~250 CE)	Gupta (~350 CE)
	No sample

Tocharian Ṣa

The Tocharian letter is derived from the Brahmi , and has an alternate Fremdzeichen form used in conjuncts and as an alternate representation of Ssä.

Tocharian Ssa with vowel marks

Ssa	Ssā	Ssi	Ssī	Ssu	Ssū	Ssr	Ssr̄	Sse	Ssai	Sso	Ssau	Ssä	Fremdzeichen

Kharoṣṭhī Ṣa

The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the Aramaic Heth , and is thus related to H and Eta.^[2]

Devanagari-using Languages

In modern languages, ष is pronounced as [ʂə] or [ʂ] when appropriate. In ancient and medieval Nepali however, ष was sometimes a homophone of ख, pronounced [kʰ].^[4] Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:

Conjuncts with ष

Half form of Ssa.

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]

Devanagari Kṣa

Kṣa half form

One of the most common true ligatures in Devanagari is the conjunct kṣa क्ष. 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.

• क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature kṣa:

• Repha र্ (r) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature rkṣa:

• Eyelash र্ (r) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature rkṣa:

• छ্ (cʰ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature cʰkṣa:

• ढ্ (ḍʱ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ḍʱkṣa:

• ड্ (ḍ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ḍkṣa:

• द্ (d) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature dkṣa:

• ङ্ (ŋ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ŋkṣa:

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

• ट্ (ṭ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ṭkṣa:

• ठ্ (ṭʰ) + क্ (k) + ष (ṣa) gives the ligature ṭʰkṣa:

ষ in Bengali-using languages

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

Conjuncts with ষ

Gujarati-using Languages

The Gujarati script is used to write the Gujarati and Kutchi languages. In both languages, ષ is pronounced as [ʂə] or [ʂ] when appropriate. Like all Indic scripts, Gujarati uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:

Ṣa	Ṣā	Ṣi	Ṣī	Ṣu	Ṣū	Ṣr	Ṣl	Ṣr̄	Ṣl̄	Ṣĕ	Ṣe	Ṣai	Ṣŏ	Ṣo	Ṣau	Ṣ
Gujarati Ṣa syllables, with vowel marks in red.

Conjuncts with ષ

Half form of Ṣa.

Gujarati ષ 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) + ષ (ʂa) gives the ligature RṢa:

• ષ્ (ʂ) + ર (ra) gives the ligature ṢRa:

• ક્ (k) + ષ (ʂa) gives the ligature KṢa:

• ર્ (r) + ક (ka) ષ (ʂa) gives the ligature RKṢa:

• ક્ (k) + ષ (ʂa) ર (ra) gives the ligature KṢRa:

• ઙ્ (ŋ) + ક (ka) ષ (ʂa) gives the ligature ṄKṢa:

• ષ્ (ʂ) + ત (ta) gives the ligature ṢTa:

• ષ્ (ʂ) + ઠ (ʈʰa) gives the ligature ṢṬha:

Conjuncts of ഷ

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.

• ഷ് (ṣ) + ട (ṭa) gives the ligature ṣṭa:

• ഷ് (ṣ) + ഠ (ṭʰa) gives the ligature ṣṭʰa:

• ഷ് (ṣ) + ണ (ṇa) gives the ligature ṣṇa:

• ഷ് (ṣ) + പ (pa) gives the ligature ṣpa:

• ഷ് (ṣ) + മ (ma) gives the ligature ṣma:

• ക് (k) + ഷ (ṣa) gives the ligature kṣa:

• ക് (k) + ഷ് (ṣ) + ണ (ṇa) gives the ligature kṣṇa:

• ക് (k) + ഷ് (ṣ) + മ (ma) gives the ligature kṣma:

• ക് (k) + ഷ് (ṣ) + ല (la) gives the ligature kṣla:

Conjuncts of ଷ

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. Except for କ୍ଷ (Kṣa), ଷ generates conjuncts only by subjoining and does not form ligatures.

Odia Kṣa କ୍ଷ

Odia independent and subjoined KSsa.

Although ostensibly a conjunct of Ka and Ssa, Odia କ୍ଷ (Kṣa) is largely treated as an independent letter pronounced /kʰjɔ/. Unlike other Odia conjuncts, କ୍ଷ can be found as an independent letter subjoined to another letter or conjunct.

• ତ୍ (t) + କ୍ (k) + ଷ (ṣa) gives the ligature tkṣa:

Conjuncts of 𑂭

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.

• 𑂭୍ (ṣ) + 𑂩 (ra) gives the ligature ṣra:

• 𑂩୍ (r) + 𑂭 (ṣa) gives the ligature rṣa: