Ṭa (Indic)

Ancient scripts
Bangla and Tibetan scripts
	Note: Korean Hangul is an alphabet, not an Indic abugida, but; appears to ultimately have some derivation from 'Phags-pa.
Sharada-based scripts
Nagaris and other Gupta-based scripts
Kawi scripts
Tai and Khmer scripts
Other Grantha-based scripts
Other Brahmic scripts
Phonemic representation:	/ʈ/ /t̳/
IAST transliteration:	ṭa Ṭa
ISCII code point:	BD (189)

Ṭa is a consonant of Indic abugidas. It is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter after having gone through the Gupta letter . As with the other cerebral consonants, ṭa is not found in most scripts for Tai, Sino-Tibetan, and other non-Indic languages, except for a few scripts, which retain these letters for transcribing Sanskrit religious terms.

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 ट are:[1]

ट [ʈə] = 11 (११)
टि [ʈɪ] = 1,100 (१ १००)
टु [ʈʊ] = 110,000 (१ १० ०००)
टृ [ʈri] = 11,000,000 (१ १० ०० ०००)
टॢ [ʈlə] = 1,100,000,000 (१ १० ०० ०० ०००)
टे [ʈe] = 11×10¹⁰ (११×१०^१०)
टै [ʈɛː] = 11×10¹² (११×१०^१२)
टो [ʈoː] = 11×10¹⁴ (११×१०^१४)
टौ [ʈɔː] = 11×10¹⁶ (११×१०^१६)

Historic Tta

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

Brahmi Tta

The Brahmi letter , Tta, is probably derived from the altered Aramaic Teth , and is thus related to the modern Greek Theta. Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Tta can be found, most associated with a specific set of inscriptions from an artifact or diverse records from an historic period.[2] 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 Tta historic forms
Ashoka (3rd-1st c. BCE)	Girnar (~150 BCE)	Kushana (~150-250 CE)	Gujarat (~250 CE)	Gupta (~350 CE)

Tocharian Tta

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

Tocharian Tta with vowel marks
Tta	Ttā	Tti	Ttī	Ttu	Ttū	Ttr	Ttr̄	Tte	Ttai	Tto	Ttau	Ttä

Kharoṣṭhī Tta

The Kharoṣṭhī letter is generally accepted as being derived from the altered Aramaic Teth , and is thus related to Theta, in addition to the Brahmi Tta.

Devanagari script

Ṭa (ट) is the eleventh consonant of the Devanagari abugida. [3] It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter , after having gone through the Gupta letter . Letters that derive from it are the Gujarati letter ટ, and the Modi letter 𑘘.

Devanagari-using Languages

In many languages, ट is pronounced as [ʈə] or [ʈ] when appropriate. In Marathi, ट is sometimes pronounced as [tə] or [t] in addition to [ʈə] or [ʈ]. Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:

Devanagari ट with vowel marks
Ṭa	Ṭā	Ṭi	Ṭī	Ṭu	Ṭū	Ṭr	Ṭr̄	Ṭl	Ṭl̄	Ṭe	Ṭai	Ṭo	Ṭau	Ṭ
ट	टा	टि	टी	टु	टू	टृ	टॄ	टॢ	टॣ	टे	टै	टो	टौ	ट्

Conjuncts with ट

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. Tta however, does not have a vertical stem to drop for making a half form, and either forms a stacked conjunct/ligature, or uses its full form with Virama. 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.[4]

Ligature conjuncts of ट

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 (r) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature rṭa:

ट্ (ṭ) + र (ra) gives us the ligature ṭra:

प্ (p) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature pṭa:

ष্ (ṣ) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature ṣṭa:

र্ (r) + ष্ (ṣ) + ट্ (ṭ) + र (ra) gives us the ligature rṣṭra:

ष্ (ṣ) + ट্ (ṭ) + व (va) gives us the ligature ṣṭva:

Stacked conjuncts of ट

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.

छ্ (cʰ) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature cʰṭa:

ढ্ (ḍʱ) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature ḍʱṭa:

ड্ (ḍ) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature ḍṭa:

द্ (d) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature dṭa:

ङ্ (ŋ) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature ŋṭa:

ट্ (ṭ) + ब (ba) gives us the ligature ṭba:

ट্ (ṭ) + भ (bʰa) gives us the ligature ṭbʰa:

ट্ (ṭ) + च (ca) gives us the ligature ṭca:

ट্ (ṭ) + छ (cʰa) gives us the ligature ṭcʰa:

ट্ (ṭ) + द (da) gives us the ligature ṭda:

ट্ (ṭ) + ड (ḍa) gives us the ligature ṭḍa:

ट্ (ṭ) + ढ (ḍʱa) gives us the ligature ṭḍʱa:

ट্ (ṭ) + ध (dʱa) gives us the ligature ṭdʱa:

ट্ (ṭ) + ग (ga) gives us the ligature ṭga:

ट্ (ṭ) + घ (ɡʱa) gives us the ligature ṭɡʱa:

ट্ (ṭ) + ह (ha) gives us the ligature ṭha:

ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature ṭʰṭa:

ट্ (ṭ) + ज (ja) gives us the ligature ṭja:

ट্ (ṭ) + झ (jʰa) gives us the ligature ṭjʰa:

ट্ (ṭ) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature ṭjña:

ट্ (ṭ) + क (ka) gives us the ligature ṭka:

ट্ (ṭ) + ख (kʰa) gives us the ligature ṭkʰa:

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

ट্ (ṭ) + ल (la) gives us the ligature ṭla:

ट্ (ṭ) + ळ (ḷa) gives us the ligature ṭḷa:

ट্ (ṭ) + म (ma) gives us the ligature ṭma:

ट্ (ṭ) + न (na) gives us the ligature ṭna:

ट্ (ṭ) + ङ (ŋa) gives us the ligature ṭŋa:

ट্ (ṭ) + ण (ṇa) gives us the ligature ṭṇa:

ट্ (ṭ) + ञ (ña) gives us the ligature ṭña:

ट্ (ṭ) + प (pa) gives us the ligature ṭpa:

ट্ (ṭ) + फ (pʰa) gives us the ligature ṭpʰa:

ट্ (ṭ) + स (sa) gives us the ligature ṭsa:

ट্ (ṭ) + श (ʃa) gives us the ligature ṭʃa:

ट্ (ṭ) + ष (ṣa) gives us the ligature ṭṣa:

ट্ (ṭ) + त (ta) gives us the ligature ṭta:

ट্ (ṭ) + थ (tʰa) gives us the ligature ṭtʰa:

ट্ (ṭ) + ट (ṭa) gives us the ligature ṭṭa:

ट্ (ṭ) + ठ (ṭʰa) gives us the ligature ṭṭʰa:

ट্ (ṭ) + व (va) gives us the ligature ṭva:

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

Bengali script

The Bengali script ট is derived from the Siddhaṃ , and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, ट. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter ট will sometimes be transliterated as "tto" instead of "tta". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /t̳o/.

Like all Indic consonants, ট can be modified by marks to indicate another (or no) vowel than its inherent "a".

Bengali ট with vowel marks
tta	ttā	tti	ttī	ttu	ttū	ttr	ttr̄	tte	ttai	tto	ttau	tt
ট	টা	টি	টী	টু	টূ	টৃ	টৄ	টে	টৈ	টো	টৌ	ট্

ট in Bengali-using languages

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

Conjuncts with ট

Bengali ট exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, and commonly shows both stacked and linear (horizontal) ligatures.[5]

ক্ (k) + ট (ṭa) gives us the ligature kṭa:

ক্ (k) + ট্ (ṭ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature kṭra, with the ra phala suffix:

ল্ (l) + ট (ṭa) gives us the ligature lṭa:

ণ্ (ṇ) + ট (ṭa) gives us the ligature ṇṭa:

ন্ (n) + ট (ṭa) gives us the ligature nṭa:

ন্ (n) + ট্ (ṭ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature nṭra, with the ra phala suffix:

প্ (p) + ট (ṭa) gives us the ligature pṭa:

র্ (r) + ট (ṭa) gives us the ligature rṭa, with the repha prefix:

ষ্ (ṣ) + ট (ṭa) gives us the ligature ṣṭa:

ষ্ (ṣ) + ট্ (ṭ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ṣṭra, with the ra phala suffix:

ষ্ (ṣ) + ট্ (ṭ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ṣṭya, with the ya phala suffix:

স্ (s) + ট (ṭa) gives us the ligature sṭa:

স্ (s) + ট্ (ṭ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature sṭra, with the ra phala suffix:

ট্ (ṭ) + ম (ma) gives us the ligature ṭma:

ট্ (ṭ) + র (ra) gives us the ligature ṭra, with the ra phala suffix:

ট্ (ṭ) + ট (ṭa) gives us the ligature ṭṭa:

ট্ (ṭ) + ব (va) gives us the ligature ṭva, with the va phala suffix:

ট্ (ṭ) + য (ya) gives us the ligature ṭya, with the ya phala suffix:

Gujarati script

Ṭa (ટ) is the eleventh consonant of the Gujarati script. It is possibly derived from a variant of 16th century Devanagari letter ṭa (ट) with the top bar (shiro rekha) removed.

Burmese script

Ta T'lin Cheik (ဋ) is the eleventh letter of the Burmese script.

Thai script

To Patak (ฏ) is the fifteenth letter of the Thai script. It falls under the low class of Thai consonants. In IPA, to patak is pronounced as [t] at the beginning of a syllable and may not be used to close a syllable. The 21st letter of the alphabet, to tao (ต), is also named to and falls under the middle class of Thai consonants. 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, patak (ปฏัก) means ‘skewers’. To Patak corresponds to the Sanskrit character ‘ट’.

Javanese script

References

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.
Evolutionary chart, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, 1838
(Bahri 2004, p. (xiii))
Pall, Peeter. "Microsoft Word - kblhi2" (PDF). Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
"The Bengali Alphabet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-28.