La is a consonant of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, La is derived from the early "Ashoka" Brahmi letter ng after having gone through the Gupta letter .

La
La
Example glyphs
Bengali–AssameseLa
TibetanLa
TamilLa
Thai
Malayalam
Sinhala
Ashoka BrahmiLa
DevanagariLa
Cognates
Hebrewל
GreekΛ
LatinL, Ł, Ɬ
CyrillicЛ, Љ, Ԓ, Ӆ
Properties
Phonemic representation/l/
IAST transliterationl L
ISCII code pointD1 (209)

Āryabhaṭa numeration

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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 ल are:[1]

  • [lə] = 50 (५०)
  • लि [lɪ] = 5,000 (५ ०००)
  • लु [lʊ] = 500,000 (५ ०० ०००)
  • लृ [lri] = 50,000,000 (५ ०० ०० ०००)
  • लॢ [llə] = 5×109 (५×१०)
  • ले [le] = 5×1011 (५×१०११)
  • लै [lɛː] = 5×1013 (५×१०१३)
  • लो [loː] = 5×1015 (५×१०१५)
  • लौ [lɔː] = 5×1017 (५×१०१७)

Historic La

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There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. La as found in standard Brahmi,   was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta  . The Tocharian La   had an alternate Fremdzeichen form,  . The third form of la, in Kharoshthi ( ) was probably derived from Aramaic separately from the Brahmi letter.

Brahmi La

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The Brahmi letter  , La, is probably derived from the Aramaic Lamed  , and is thus related to the modern Latin L and Greek Lambda.[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi La 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 La historic forms
Ashoka
(3rd-1st c. BCE)
Girnar
(~150 BCE)
Kushana
(~150-250 CE)
Gujarat
(~250 CE)
Gupta
(~350 CE)
         

Tocharian La

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

Tocharian La with vowel marks
La Li Lu Lr Lr̄ Le Lai Lo Lau Fremdzeichen
                       

Kharoṣṭhī La

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The Kharoṣṭhī letter   is generally accepted as being derived from the Aramaic Lamed  , and is thus related to L and Lambda, in addition to the Brahmi La.[2]

Devanagari La

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La () is a 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 , and the Modi letter 𑘩. The modern letterform for Devanagari La is slightly different than the historic form, with the vertical stem reaching to the lower baseline.

Devanagari Ḷa

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Devanagari Ḷa

Ḷa () is an additional Devanagari character originally used for an allophone of the voiced retroflex stop in Vedic Sanskrit, and current represents the lateral flap [ɭ] that occurs in Marathi, Konkani, Garhwali, and Rajasthani.

Devanagari-using Languages

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In all languages, ल is pronounced as [lə] or [l] when appropriate. Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel:

Devanagari ल with vowel marks
La Li Lu Lr Lr̄ Ll Ll̄ Le Lai Lo Lau L
ला लि ली लु लू लृ लॄ लॢ लॣ ले लै लो लौ ल्
Devanagari ळ with vowel marks
Ḷa Ḷā Ḷi Ḷī Ḷu Ḷū Ḷr Ḷr̄ Ḷl Ḷl̄ Ḷe Ḷai Ḷo Ḷau
ळा ळि ळी ळु ळू ळृ ळॄ ळॢ ळॣ ळे ळै ळो ळौ ळ्

Conjuncts with ल and ळ

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Half form of La.
 
Half form of Ḷa.

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.[4]

Ligature conjuncts of ल and ळ

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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.

  • Repha र্ (r) + ल (la) gives the ligature rla: note

 

  • Eyelash र্ (r) + ल (la) gives the ligature rla:

 

  • ल্ (l) + न (na) gives the ligature lna:

 

  • ल্ (l) + rakar र (ra) gives the ligature lra:

 

  • Repha र্ (r) + ळ (ḷa) gives the ligature rḷa:

 

  • Eyelash र্ (r) + ळ (ḷa) gives the ligature rḷa:

 

Stacked conjuncts of ल

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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.

  • भ্ (bʰ) + ल (la) gives the ligature bʰla:

 

  • ब্ (b) + ल (la) gives the ligature bla:

 

  • छ্ (cʰ) + ल (la) gives the ligature cʰla:

 

  • च্ (c) + ल (la) gives the ligature cla:

 

  • ढ্ (ḍʱ) + ल (la) gives the ligature ḍʱla:

 

  • ड্ (ḍ) + ल (la) gives the ligature ḍla:

 

  • ध্ (dʱ) + ल (la) gives the ligature dʱla:

 

  • द্ (d) + ल (la) gives the ligature dla:

 

  • घ্ (ɡʱ) + ल (la) gives the ligature ɡʱla:

 

  • ग্ (g) + ल (la) gives the ligature gla:

 

  • ह্ (h) + ल (la) gives the ligature hla:

 

  • झ্ (jʰ) + ल (la) gives the ligature jʰla:

 

  • ज্ (j) + ल (la) gives the ligature jla:

 

  • ख্ (kʰ) + ल (la) gives the ligature kʰla:

 

  • क্ (k) + ल (la) gives the ligature kla:

 

  • ल্ (l) + ब (ba) gives the ligature lba:

 

  • ल্ (l) + च (ca) gives the ligature lca:

 

  • ल্ (l) + ज (ja) gives the ligature lja:

 

  • ल্ (l) + ज্ (j) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature ljña:

 

  • ल্ (l) + ल (la) gives the ligature lla:

 

  • ल্ (l) + ळ (ḷa) gives the ligature lḷa:

 

  • ळ্ (ḷ) + ल (la) gives the ligature ḷla:

 

  • ल্ (l) + ञ (ña) gives the ligature lña:

 

  • ल্ (l) + व (va) gives the ligature lva:

 

  • म্ (m) + ल (la) gives the ligature mla:

 

  • ङ্ (ŋ) + ल (la) gives the ligature ŋla:

 

  • न্ (n) + ल (la) gives the ligature nla:

 

  • ण্ (ṇ) + ल (la) gives the ligature ṇla:

 

  • ञ্ (ñ) + ल (la) gives the ligature ñla:

 

  • फ্ (pʰ) + ल (la) gives the ligature pʰla:

 

  • प্ (p) + ल (la) gives the ligature pla:

 

  • श্ (ʃ) + ल (la) gives the ligature ʃla:

 

  • स্ (s) + ल (la) gives the ligature sla:

 

  • ष্ (ṣ) + ल (la) gives the ligature ṣla:

 

  • थ্ (tʰ) + ल (la) gives the ligature tʰla:

 

  • त্ (t) + ल (la) gives the ligature tla:

 

  • ठ্ (ṭʰ) + ल (la) gives the ligature ṭʰla:

 

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

 

  • व্ (v) + ल (la) gives the ligature vla:

 

  • य্ (y) + ल (la) gives the ligature yla:

   • Note that the conjuncts shown here come from a typeface used for representing older Vedic texts, and use the older form of La for many conjuncts.

Bengali La

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The Bengali script ল is derived from the Siddhaṃ  , and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, ल. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter ল will sometimes be transliterated as "lo" instead of "la". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /lo/. Like all Indic consonants, ল can be modified by marks to indicate another (or no) vowel than its inherent "a".

Bengali ল with vowel marks
la li lu lr lr̄ le lai lo lau l
লা লি লী লু লূ লৃ লৄ লে লৈ লো লৌ ল্

ল in Bengali-using languages

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

Conjuncts with ল

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Bengali ল exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts, with a tendency towards stacked ligatures.[5]

  • ব্ (b) + ল (la) gives the ligature bla:

 

  • গ্ (g) + ল (la) gives the ligature gla:

 

  • ক্ (k) + ল (la) gives the ligature kla:

 

  • ল্ (l) + ভ (bʰa) gives the ligature lbʰa:

 

  • ল্ (l) + ড (ḍa) gives the ligature lḍa:

 

  • ল্ (l) + গ (ga) gives the ligature lga:

 

  • ল্ (l) + ক (ka) gives the ligature lka:

 

  • ল্ (l) + ক্ (k) + য (ya) gives the ligature lkya, with the ya phala suffix:

 

  • ল্ (l) + ল (la) gives the ligature lla:

 

  • ল্ (l) + ম (ma) gives the ligature lma:

 

  • ল্ (l) + প (pa) gives the ligature lpa:

 

  • ল্ (l) + ফ (pʰa) gives the ligature lpʰa:

 

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

 

  • ল্ (l) + ব (va) gives the ligature lva, with the va phala suffix:

 

  • ল্ (l) + য (ya) gives the ligature lya, with the ya phala suffix:

 

  • ম্ (m) + ল (la) gives the ligature mla:

 

  • ফ্ (pʰ) + ল (la) gives the ligature pʰla:

 

  • প্ (p) + ল (la) gives the ligature pla:

 

  • র্ (r) + ল (la) gives the ligature rla, with the repha prefix:

 

  • শ্ (ʃ) + ল (la) gives the ligature ʃla:

 

  • স্ (s) + ল (la) gives the ligature sla:

 

  • স্ (s) + প্ (p) + ল (la) gives the ligature spla:

 

Gujarati La

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Gujarati La.

La () is the twenty-eighth consonant of the Gujarati abugida. It is derived from the Devanagari La   with the top bar (shiro rekha) removed, and ultimately the Brahmi letter  .

Gujarati-using Languages

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

La Li Lu Lr Ll Lr̄ Ll̄ Le Lai Lo Lau L
 
Gujarati La syllables, with vowel marks in red.

Conjuncts with લ

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Half form of La.

Gujarati લ 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) + લ (la) gives the ligature RLa:

 

  • લ્ (l) + ર (ra) gives the ligature LRa:

 

  • લ્ (l) + ન (na) gives the ligature LNa:

 

  • શ્ (ʃ) + લ (la) gives the ligature ŚLa:

 

  • હ્ (h) + લ (la) gives the ligature HLa:

 

Javanese La

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Telugu La

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Telugu independent and subjoined La.

La () is a consonant of the Telugu abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter  . It is closely related to the Kannada letter . Since it lacks the v-shaped headstroke common to most Telugu letters, ల remains unaltered by most vowel matras, and its subjoined form is simply a smaller version of the normal letter shape. Telugu conjuncts are created by reducing trailing letters to a subjoined form that appears below the initial consonant of the conjunct. Many subjoined forms are created by dropping their headline, with many extending the end of the stroke of the main letter body to form an extended tail reaching up to the right of the preceding consonant. This subjoining of trailing letters to create conjuncts is in contrast to the leading half forms of Devanagari and Bengali letters. Ligature conjuncts are not a feature in Telugu, with the only non-standard construction being an alternate subjoined form of Ṣa (borrowed from Kannada) in the KṢa conjunct.

Telugu Lla

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Telugu independent and subjoined Lla.

In addition, Telugu has a second /l/ consonant Lla (). It is closely related to the Kannada letter . Most Telugu consonants contain a v-shaped headstroke that is related to the horizontal headline found in other Indic scripts, although headstrokes do not connect adjacent letters in Telugu. The headstroke is normally lost when adding vowel matras.

Malayalam La

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Malayalam letter La

La () is a consonant of the Malayalam abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter  , via the Grantha letter   La. Like in other Indic scripts, Malayalam consonants have the inherent vowel "a", and take one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel or no vowel at all.

 
Malayalam La matras: La, Lā, Li, Lī, Lu, Lū, Lr̥, Lr̥̄, Ll̥, Ll̥̄, Le, Lē, Lai, Lo, Lō, Lau, and L.

Conjuncts of ല

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Malayalam letter Chillu L

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.

  • ല് (l) + ക (ka) gives the ligature lka:

 

  • ല് (l) + പ (pa) gives the ligature lpa:

 

  • ല് (l) + ല (la) gives the ligature lla:

 

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

 

Malayalam Ḷa

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Malayalam letter Ḷa

Ḷa () is a consonant of the Malayalam abugida. Like in other Indic scripts, Malayalam consonants have the inherent vowel "a", and take one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel or no vowel at all.

 
Malayalam Ḷa matras: Ḷa, Ḷā, Ḷi, Ḷī, Ḷu, Ḷū, Ḷr̥, Ḷr̥̄, Ḷl̥, Ḷl̥̄, Ḷe, Ḷē, Ḷai, Ḷo, Ḷō, Ḷau, and Ḷ.

Conjuncts of ള

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Malayalam letter Chillu Ḷ

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.

  • ള് (ḷ) + ള (ḷa) gives the ligature ḷḷa:

 

Malayalam Ḻa

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Malayalam letter Ḻa

Ḻa () is a consonant of the Malayalam abugida. Like in other Indic scripts, Malayalam consonants have the inherent vowel "a", and take one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel or no vowel at all.

 
Malayalam Ḻa matras: Ḻa, Ḻā, Ḻi, Ḻī, Ḻu, Ḻū, Ḻr̥, Ḻr̥̄, Ḻl̥, Ḻl̥̄, Ḻe, Ḻē, Ḻai, Ḻo, Ḻō, Ḻau, and Ḻ.

Conjuncts of ഴ

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Malayalam letter Chillu Ḻ

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.

  • ഴ് (ḻ) + ക (ka) gives the ligature ḻka:

 

Odia La

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Odia independent and subjoined letter La.

La () is a consonant of the Odia abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter  , via the Siddhaṃ letter   La. Like in other Indic scripts, Odia consonants have the inherent vowel "a", and take one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel or no vowel at all.

Odia La with vowel matras
La Li Lu Lr̥ Lr̥̄ Ll̥ Ll̥̄ Le Lai Lo Lau L
ଲା ଲି ଲୀ ଲୁ ଲୂ ଲୃ ଲୄ ଲୢ ଲୣ ଲେ ଲୈ ଲୋ ଲୌ ଲ୍

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 subjoined form of La is one of these mismatched forms, and is referred to as "La Phala". The second type of conjunct formation is through pure ligatures, where the constituent consonants are written together in a single graphic form. ଲ generates conjuncts only by subjoining and does not form ligatures.

Odia Ḷa

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Odia independent and subjoined letter Ḷa.

Odia also has a second La character, (Ḷa). It is descended from the Siddhaṃ letter   Ḷa. Like other Odia letters, ଳ has the inherent vowel "a", and takes one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel or no vowel at all.

Odia Ḷa with vowel matras
Ḷa Ḷā Ḷi Ḷī Ḷu Ḷū Ḷr̥ Ḷr̥̄ Ḷl̥ Ḷl̥̄ Ḷe Ḷai Ḷo Ḷau
ଳା ଳି ଳୀ ଳୁ ଳୂ ଳୃ ଳୄ ଳୢ ଳୣ ଳେ ଳୈ ଳୋ ଳୌ ଳ୍

Like the letter ଲ, ଳ generates conjuncts only by subjoining and does not form ligatures.

Kaithi La

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Kaithi consonant La.

La (𑂪) is a consonant of the Kaithi abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter  , via the Siddhaṃ letter   La. Like in other Indic scripts, Kaithi consonants have the inherent vowel "a", and take one of several modifying vowel signs to represent syllables with another vowel or no vowel at all.

Kaithi La with vowel matras
La Li Lu Le Lai Lo Lau L
𑂪 𑂪𑂰 𑂪𑂱 𑂪𑂲 𑂪𑂳 𑂪𑂴 𑂪𑂵 𑂪𑂶 𑂪𑂷 𑂪𑂸 𑂪𑂹

Conjuncts of 𑂪

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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.

  • 𑂩୍ (r) + 𑂪 (la) gives the ligature rla:

 

Comparison of La

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The various Indic scripts are generally related to each other through adaptation and borrowing, and as such the glyphs for cognate letters, including La, are related as well. Where multiple characters are shown, the final character is Ḷa, except for Tocharian, New Tai Lue and Tai Viet.

Comparison of La in different scripts
Aramaic
 
Kharoṣṭhī
𐨫
Ashoka Brahmi
 
Kushana Brahmi[a]
 
Tocharian[b]
  /  
Gupta Brahmi
 
Pallava
 
Kadamba
-
Bhaiksuki
𑰩
Siddhaṃ
 
Grantha
𑌲 / 𑌳
Cham
Sinhala
ල / ළ
Pyu /
Old Mon[c]
-
Tibetan
 
Newa
𑐮
Ahom
𑜎
Malayalam
ല / ള
Telugu
ల / ళ
Burmese
လ / ဠ
Lepcha
Ranjana
 
Saurashtra
ꢭ / ꢳ
Dives Akuru
𑤨 / 𑤮
Kannada
ಲ / ಳ
Kayah Li
Limbu
Soyombo[d]
𑩽
Khmer
ល / ឡ
Tamil
  /  
Chakma
𑄣
Tai Tham
ᩃ / ᩊ
Meitei Mayek
Gaudi
-
Thai
ล / ฬ
Lao
ລ/ຫຼ/ຬ
Tai Le
Marchen
𑲋
Tirhuta
𑒪
New Tai Lue
ᦟ / ᦜ
Tai Viet
ꪩ / ꪨ
Aksara Kawi
 
'Phags-pa
Odia
ଲ / ଳ
Sharada
𑆬
Rejang
Batak
Buginese
Zanabazar Square
𑨬
Bengali-Assamese
 
Takri
𑚥
Javanese
Balinese
Makasar
𑻮
Hangul[e]
Northern Nagari
-
Dogri
𑠥
Laṇḍā
-
Sundanese
Baybayin
Modi
𑘩
Gujarati
Khojki
𑈧
Khudabadi
𑋚
Mahajani
𑅮
Tagbanwa
Devanagari
 
Nandinagari
𑧉
Kaithi
 
Gurmukhi
Multani
𑊣
Buhid
Canadian Syllabics[f]
-
Soyombo[g]
𑩽
Sylheti Nagari
Gunjala Gondi
𑵵
Masaram Gondi[h]
𑴧
Hanuno'o
Notes
  1. ^ The middle "Kushana" form of Brahmi is a later style that emerged as Brahmi scripts were beginning to proliferate. Gupta Brahmi was definitely a stylistic descendant from Kushana, but other Brahmi-derived scripts may have descended from earlier forms.
  2. ^ Tocharian is probably derived from the middle period "Kushana" form of Brahmi, although artifacts from that time are not plentiful enough to establish a definite succession.
  3. ^ Pyu and Old Mon are probably the precursors of the Burmese script, and may be derived from either the Pallava or Kadamba script
  4. ^ May also be derived from Devangari (see bottom left of table)
  5. ^ The Origin of Hangul from 'Phags-pa is one of limited influence, inspiring at most a few basic letter shapes. Hangul does not function as an Indic abugida.
  6. ^ Although the basic letter forms of the Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics were derived from handwritten Devanagari letters, this abugida indicates vowel sounds by rotations of the letter form, rather than the use of vowel diacritics as is standard in Indic abugidas.
  7. ^ May also be derived from Ranjana (see above)
  8. ^ Masaram Gondi acts as an Indic abugida, but its letterforms were not derived from any single precursor script.


Character encodings of La

edit

Most Indic scripts are encoded in the Unicode Standard, and as such the letter La in those scripts can be represented in plain text with unique codepoint. La from several modern-use scripts can also be found in legacy encodings, such as ISCII.

Character information
Preview    
Unicode name DEVANAGARI LETTER LA BENGALI LETTER LA GUJARATI LETTER LA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 2354 U+0932 2482 U+09B2 2738 U+0AB2
UTF-8 224 164 178 E0 A4 B2 224 166 178 E0 A6 B2 224 170 178 E0 AA B2
Numeric character reference ल ल ল ল લ લ
ISCII 209 D1 209 D1 209 D1
  • See further below for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Gurmukhi codepoints.


Character information
Preview 𐨫  
Unicode name KHAROSHTHI LETTER LA SIDDHAM LETTER LA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex
Unicode 68139 U+10A2B 71081 U+115A9
UTF-8 240 144 168 171 F0 90 A8 AB 240 145 150 169 F0 91 96 A9
UTF-16 55298 56875 D802 DE2B 55301 56745 D805 DDA9
Numeric character reference 𐨫 𐨫 𑖩 𑖩
  • See further below for Brahmi and Grantha codepoints.


Character information
Preview   𑨬 𑐮 𑰩 𑆬
Unicode name TIBETAN LETTER LA TIBETAN SUBJOINED LETTER LA PHAGS-PA LETTER LA ZANABAZAR SQUARE LETTER LA NEWA LETTER LA BHAIKSUKI LETTER LA SHARADA LETTER LA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 3939 U+0F63 4019 U+0FB3 43097 U+A859 72236 U+11A2C 70702 U+1142E 72745 U+11C29 70060 U+111AC
UTF-8 224 189 163 E0 BD A3 224 190 179 E0 BE B3 234 161 153 EA A1 99 240 145 168 172 F0 91 A8 AC 240 145 144 174 F0 91 90 AE 240 145 176 169 F0 91 B0 A9 240 145 134 172 F0 91 86 AC
UTF-16 3939 0F63 4019 0FB3 43097 A859 55302 56876 D806 DE2C 55301 56366 D805 DC2E 55303 56361 D807 DC29 55300 56748 D804 DDAC
Numeric character reference ལ ལ ླ ླ ꡙ ꡙ 𑨬 𑨬 𑐮 𑐮 𑰩 𑰩 𑆬 𑆬


Character information
Preview
Unicode name MYANMAR LETTER LA MYANMAR LETTER LLA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex
Unicode 4124 U+101C 4128 U+1020
UTF-8 225 128 156 E1 80 9C 225 128 160 E1 80 A0
Numeric character reference လ လ ဠ ဠ
  • See further below for Tai Tham and New Tai Lue codepoints.


Character information
Preview
Unicode name KHMER LETTER LO KHMER LETTER LA THAI CHARACTER LO LING THAI CHARACTER LO CHULA TAI VIET LETTER HIGH LO TAI VIET LETTER LOW LO
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 6043 U+179B 6049 U+17A1 3621 U+0E25 3628 U+0E2C 43689 U+AAA9 43688 U+AAA8
UTF-8 225 158 155 E1 9E 9B 225 158 161 E1 9E A1 224 184 165 E0 B8 A5 224 184 172 E0 B8 AC 234 170 169 EA AA A9 234 170 168 EA AA A8
Numeric character reference ល ល ឡ ឡ ล ล ฬ ฬ ꪩ ꪩ ꪨ ꪨ
  • See further below for Lao codepoints.


Character information
Preview 𑄣 𑜎
Unicode name KAYAH LI LETTER LA CHAKMA LETTER LAA TAI LE LETTER LA AHOM LETTER LA CHAM LETTER LA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 43292 U+A91C 69923 U+11123 6488 U+1958 71438 U+1170E 43556 U+AA24
UTF-8 234 164 156 EA A4 9C 240 145 132 163 F0 91 84 A3 225 165 152 E1 A5 98 240 145 156 142 F0 91 9C 8E 234 168 164 EA A8 A4
UTF-16 43292 A91C 55300 56611 D804 DD23 6488 1958 55301 57102 D805 DF0E 43556 AA24
Numeric character reference ꤜ ꤜ 𑄣 𑄣 ᥘ ᥘ 𑜎 𑜎 ꨤ ꨤ
  • See further below for Sinhala, Dives Akura and Saurashtra codepoints.


Character information
Preview 𑘩 𑧉 𑩽 𑵵  
Unicode name MODI LETTER LA NANDINAGARI LETTER LA SOYOMBO LETTER LA SYLOTI NAGRI LETTER LO GUNJALA GONDI LETTER LA KAITHI LETTER LA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 71209 U+11629 72137 U+119C9 72317 U+11A7D 43039 U+A81F 73077 U+11D75 69802 U+110AA
UTF-8 240 145 152 169 F0 91 98 A9 240 145 167 137 F0 91 A7 89 240 145 169 189 F0 91 A9 BD 234 160 159 EA A0 9F 240 145 181 181 F0 91 B5 B5 240 145 130 170 F0 91 82 AA
UTF-16 55301 56873 D805 DE29 55302 56777 D806 DDC9 55302 56957 D806 DE7D 43039 A81F 55303 56693 D807 DD75 55300 56490 D804 DCAA
Numeric character reference 𑘩 𑘩 𑧉 𑧉 𑩽 𑩽 ꠟ ꠟ 𑵵 𑵵 𑂪 𑂪


Character information
Preview 𑒪 𑲋
Unicode name TIRHUTA LETTER LA LEPCHA LETTER LA LIMBU LETTER LA MEETEI MAYEK LETTER LAI MARCHEN LETTER LA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 70826 U+114AA 7196 U+1C1C 6423 U+1917 43970 U+ABC2 72843 U+11C8B
UTF-8 240 145 146 170 F0 91 92 AA 225 176 156 E1 B0 9C 225 164 151 E1 A4 97 234 175 130 EA AF 82 240 145 178 139 F0 91 B2 8B
UTF-16 55301 56490 D805 DCAA 7196 1C1C 6423 1917 43970 ABC2 55303 56459 D807 DC8B
Numeric character reference 𑒪 𑒪 ᰜ ᰜ ᤗ ᤗ ꯂ ꯂ 𑲋 𑲋


Character information
Preview 𑚥 𑠥 𑈧 𑋚 𑅮 𑊣
Unicode name TAKRI LETTER LA DOGRA LETTER LA KHOJKI LETTER LA KHUDAWADI LETTER LA MAHAJANI LETTER LA MULTANI LETTER LA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 71333 U+116A5 71717 U+11825 70183 U+11227 70362 U+112DA 69998 U+1116E 70307 U+112A3
UTF-8 240 145 154 165 F0 91 9A A5 240 145 160 165 F0 91 A0 A5 240 145 136 167 F0 91 88 A7 240 145 139 154 F0 91 8B 9A 240 145 133 174 F0 91 85 AE 240 145 138 163 F0 91 8A A3
UTF-16 55301 56997 D805 DEA5 55302 56357 D806 DC25 55300 56871 D804 DE27 55300 57050 D804 DEDA 55300 56686 D804 DD6E 55300 56995 D804 DEA3
Numeric character reference 𑚥 𑚥 𑠥 𑠥 𑈧 𑈧 𑋚 𑋚 𑅮 𑅮 𑊣 𑊣


Character information
Preview 𑻮
Unicode name BALINESE LETTER LA BATAK LETTER LA BUGINESE LETTER LA JAVANESE LETTER LA MAKASAR LETTER LA REJANG LETTER LA SUNDANESE LETTER LA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 6958 U+1B2E 7134 U+1BDE 6674 U+1A12 43437 U+A9AD 73454 U+11EEE 43326 U+A93E 7068 U+1B9C
UTF-8 225 172 174 E1 AC AE 225 175 158 E1 AF 9E 225 168 146 E1 A8 92 234 166 173 EA A6 AD 240 145 187 174 F0 91 BB AE 234 164 190 EA A4 BE 225 174 156 E1 AE 9C
UTF-16 6958 1B2E 7134 1BDE 6674 1A12 43437 A9AD 55303 57070 D807 DEEE 43326 A93E 7068 1B9C
Numeric character reference ᬮ ᬮ ᯞ ᯞ ᨒ ᨒ ꦭ ꦭ 𑻮 𑻮 ꤾ ꤾ ᮜ ᮜ


Character information
Preview 𑴧
Unicode name TAGALOG LETTER LA TAGBANWA LETTER LA BUHID LETTER LA HANUNOO LETTER LA MASARAM GONDI LETTER LA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 5902 U+170E 5998 U+176E 5966 U+174E 5934 U+172E 72999 U+11D27
UTF-8 225 156 142 E1 9C 8E 225 157 174 E1 9D AE 225 157 142 E1 9D 8E 225 156 174 E1 9C AE 240 145 180 167 F0 91 B4 A7
UTF-16 5902 170E 5998 176E 5966 174E 5934 172E 55303 56615 D807 DD27
Numeric character reference ᜎ ᜎ ᝮ ᝮ ᝎ ᝎ ᜮ ᜮ 𑴧 𑴧



Character information
Preview
Unicode name MALAYALAM LETTER LA MALAYALAM LETTER CHILLU L MALAYALAM LETTER LLA MALAYALAM LETTER CHILLU LL GURMUKHI LETTER LA GURMUKHI LETTER LLA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 3378 U+0D32 3453 U+0D7D 3379 U+0D33 3454 U+0D7E 2610 U+0A32 2611 U+0A33
UTF-8 224 180 178 E0 B4 B2 224 181 189 E0 B5 BD 224 180 179 E0 B4 B3 224 181 190 E0 B5 BE 224 168 178 E0 A8 B2 224 168 179 E0 A8 B3
Numeric character reference ല ല ൽ ൽ ള ള ൾ ൾ ਲ ਲ ਲ਼ ਲ਼


Character information
Preview
Ashoka 
Kushana 
Gupta 
𑁵 𑌲 𑌳
Unicode name BRAHMI LETTER LA BRAHMI LETTER OLD TAMIL LLA GRANTHA LETTER LA GRANTHA LETTER LLA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 69678 U+1102E 69749 U+11075 70450 U+11332 70451 U+11333
UTF-8 240 145 128 174 F0 91 80 AE 240 145 129 181 F0 91 81 B5 240 145 140 178 F0 91 8C B2 240 145 140 179 F0 91 8C B3
UTF-16 55300 56366 D804 DC2E 55300 56437 D804 DC75 55300 57138 D804 DF32 55300 57139 D804 DF33
Numeric character reference 𑀮 𑀮 𑁵 𑁵 𑌲 𑌲 𑌳 𑌳


Character information
Preview
Unicode name TAI THAM LETTER LA TAI THAM CONSONANT SIGN MEDIAL LA TAI THAM LETTER LAE TAI THAM CONSONANT SIGN LA TANG LAI TAI THAM LETTER LLA NEW TAI LUE LETTER LOW LA NEW TAI LUE LETTER HIGH LA NEW TAI LUE SIGN LAE NEW TAI LUE SIGN LAEV
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 6723 U+1A43 6742 U+1A56 6739 U+1A53 6743 U+1A57 6730 U+1A4A 6559 U+199F 6556 U+199C 6622 U+19DE 6623 U+19DF
UTF-8 225 169 131 E1 A9 83 225 169 150 E1 A9 96 225 169 147 E1 A9 93 225 169 151 E1 A9 97 225 169 138 E1 A9 8A 225 166 159 E1 A6 9F 225 166 156 E1 A6 9C 225 167 158 E1 A7 9E 225 167 159 E1 A7 9F
Numeric character reference ᩃ ᩃ ᩖ ᩖ ᩓ ᩓ ᩗ ᩗ ᩊ ᩊ ᦟ ᦟ ᦜ ᦜ ᧞ ᧞ ᧟ ᧟


Character information
Preview
Unicode name LAO LETTER LO LOOT LAO SEMIVOWEL SIGN LO LAO LETTER PALI LLA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex dec hex
Unicode 3749 U+0EA5 3772 U+0EBC 3756 U+0EAC
UTF-8 224 186 165 E0 BA A5 224 186 188 E0 BA BC 224 186 172 E0 BA AC
Numeric character reference ລ ລ ຼ ຼ ຬ ຬ

References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ a b Bühler, Georg (1898). "On the Origin of the Indian Brahmi Alphabet". archive.org. Karl J. Trübner. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  3. ^ Evolutionary chart, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, 1838 [1]
  4. ^ Pall, Peeter. "Microsoft Word - kblhi2" (PDF). Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Eesti Keele Instituudi kohanimeandmed. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  5. ^ "The Bengali Alphabet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-28.
^note Conjuncts are identified by IAST transliteration, except aspirated consonants are indicated with a superscript "h" to distinguish from an unaspirated cononant + Ha, and the use of the IPA "ŋ" and "ʃ" instead of the less dinstinctive "ṅ" and "ś".