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 च are:
च = 6
चि = 600
चु = 60,000
चृ = 6,000,000
चॢ = 6
चे = 6
चै = 6
चो = 6
चौ = 6
Historic Ca
There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Ca as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms by the Gupta. The Tocharian Ca did not have an alterante Fremdzeichen form. The third form of ca, in Kharoshthi was probably derived from Aramaic separately from the Brahmi letter.
Brahmi Ca
The Brahmi letter, Ca, is probably derived from the Aramaic Tsade, and is thus related to the Greek San. Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Ca 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.
Ca is the sixth consonant of the Devanagari abugida. It ultimately arose from the Brahmi letter, after having gone through the Gupta letter. In Marathi, च is sometimes pronounced as or in addition to or. Letters that derive from it are the Gujarati letter ચ and the Modi letter ?.
Devanagari-using Languages
In all languages, च 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:
Ca
Cā
Ci
Cī
Cu
Cū
Cr
Cr̄
Cl
Cl̄
Ce
Cai
Co
Cau
C
च
चा
चि
ची
चु
चू
चृ
चॄ
चॢ
चॣ
चे
चै
चो
चौ
च्
Conjuncts with च
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 च
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 + च gives us the ligature rca:
च্ + र gives us the ligature cra:
च্ + न gives us the ligature cna:
Stacked conjuncts of च
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 চ is derived from the Siddhaṃ, and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, च. The inherent vowel of Bengali consonant letters is /ɔ/, so the bare letter চ will sometimes be transliterated as "co" instead of "ca". Adding okar, the "o" vowel mark, gives a reading of /t͡ʃo/. Like all Indic consonants, চ can be modified by marks to indicate another vowel than its inherent "a".
ca
cā
ci
cī
cu
cū
cr
cr̄
ce
cai
co
cau
c
চ
চা
চি
চী
চু
চূ
চৃ
চৄ
চে
চৈ
চো
চৌ
চ্
চ in Bengali-using languages
চ is used as a basic consonant character in all of the major Bengali script orthographies, including Bengali and Assamese.
Conjuncts with চ
Bengali চ exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts. Unlike other Bengali letters, Ca does not tend towards stacked ligatures.
চ্ + চ gives us the ligature cca:
চ্ + ছ gives us the ligature ccʰa:
চ্ + ছ্ + র gives us the ligature ccʰra, with the ra phala suffix:
চ্ + ছ্ + র gives us the ligature ccʰra, with the ra phala suffix:
চ্ + ঞ gives us the ligature cña:
চ্ + ব gives us the ligature cva, with the va phala suffix:
চ্ + য gives us the ligature cya, with the ya phala suffix:
ঞ + চ gives us the ligature ñca:
র্ + চ gives us the ligature rca, with the repha prefix:
র্ + চ্ + য gives us the ligature rcya, with the repha prefix and ya phala suffix:
শ্ + চ gives us the ligature ʃca:
Gurmukhi script
Chachaa is the eleventh letter of the Gurmukhi alphabet. Its name is and is pronounced as /t͡ʃ/ when used in words. It is derived from the Laṇḍā letter ca, and ultimately from the Brahmi ca. Gurmukhi chachaa 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 /t͡ʃ/, although Gurmukhi Sanskrit texts may use an explicit halant.
Ca is the sixth consonant of the Gujarati script. It is derived from 16th century Devanagari letter ca 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. The Gujarati letter ca should not be confused with the Gujarati vowel a.
Cho chan is the eighth letter of the Thai script. It falls under the middle class of Thai consonants. In IPA, cho chan is pronounced as at the beginning of a syllable and is pronounced as at the end of a syllable. The ninth letter of the alphabet, cho ching, is also named cho and falls under the high class of Thai consonants. The tenth and twelfth letters of the alphabet, cho chang and cho choe, are also named cho, however, they all 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, chan means ‘plate’. Cho chan corresponds to the Sanskrit character ‘च’.
