Kha (Devanagari) Explained
| Kha |
| Letter: | ख |
| Type: | Abugida |
| Language: | Sanskrit |
| Unicode: | U+0916 |
| Direction: | Left-to-Right |
Kha (ख) (खवर्ण khavarna) is the second 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 ખ, and the Modi letter .
Devanagari-using languages
In all languages, ख is pronounced as in Hindi pronounced as /kʰə/ or pronounced as /link/ when appropriate.
- खण्ड = khand in Hindi pronounced as /kʰəɳɖ/ "clause, fragment"
In this example, ख implements its inherent vowel, the schwa.
- अखरोट = akhrot in Hindi pronounced as /əkʰroːʈ/ "nonsense"
In this example, ख deletes the inherent schwa for correct pronunciation.
Certain words that have been borrowed from Persian and Arabic implement the nukta to more properly approximate the original word. It is then transliterated as a x.
- ख़राब = xaraab in Hindi pronounced as /xaraːb/ "bad"
Conjuncts with ख
Āryabhaṭa numeration
See main article: Āryabhaṭa numeration. Aryabhata used Devanagari letters for numbers, very similar to that of the Greeks, even after the invention of Indian numerals.The values of the different forms of ख are:[1]
- ख in Hindi pronounced as /kʰə/ = 2 (२)
- खि in Hindi pronounced as /kʰɪ/ = 200 (२००)
- खु in Hindi pronounced as /kʰʊ/ = 20,000 (२० ०००)
- खृ in Hindi pronounced as /kʰri/ = 2,000,000 (२० ०० ०००)
- खॢ in Hindi pronounced as /kʰlə/ = 2 (२० ०० ०० ०००)
- खे in Hindi pronounced as /kʰe/ = 2 (२० ०० ०० ०० ०००)
- खै in Hindi pronounced as /kʰɛː/ = 2 (२० ०० ०० ०० ०० ०००)
- खो in Hindi pronounced as /kʰoː/ = 2 (२० ०० ०० ०० ०० ०० ०००)
- खौ in Hindi pronounced as /kʰɔː/ = 2 (२० ०० ०० ०० ०० ०० ०० ०००)
References
- Kurt Elfering: Die Mathematik des Aryabhata I. Text, Übersetzung aus dem Sanskrit und Kommentar. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, München, 1975,
- Georges Ifrah: The Universal History of Numbers. From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2000, .
- B. L. van der Waerden: Erwachende Wissenschaft. Ägyptische, babylonische und griechische Mathematik. Birkhäuser-Verlag, Basel Stuttgart, 1966,
- 0035-869X. 109–126. Fleet. J. F.. Aryabhata's System of Expressing Numbers. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. January 1911. 43. 10.1017/S0035869X00040995. 25189823.
- 10.1017/S0035869X00040995. 25189823 . 109–126 . 43 . The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland . Aryabhata's System of Expressing Numbers . Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland . 1911. Fleet . J. F..
Notes and References
- Book: Ifrah, Georges. The Universal History of Numbers. From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. 2000. John Wiley & Sons. New York. 0-471-39340-1. 447–450.
