Kha (Devanagari) Explained

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 pronounced as /hi/ or pronounced as /link/ when appropriate.

• खण्ड = khand pronounced as /hi/ "clause, fragment"

In this example, ख implements its inherent vowel, the schwa.

• अखरोट = akhrot pronounced as /hi/ "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 pronounced as /hi/ "bad"

Conjuncts with ख

• ख+य = व्याख्या, ख्याल, विख्यात।

Mathematics

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 pronounced as /hi/ = 2 (२)
• खि pronounced as /hi/ = 200 (२००)
• खु pronounced as /hi/ = 20,000 (२० ०००)
• खृ pronounced as /hi/ = 2,000,000 (२० ०० ०००)
• खॢ pronounced as /hi/ = 2 (२० ०० ०० ०००)
• खे pronounced as /hi/ = 2 (२० ०० ०० ०० ०००)
• खै pronounced as /hi/ = 2 (२० ०० ०० ०० ०० ०००)
• खो pronounced as /hi/ = 2 (२० ०० ०० ०० ०० ०० ०००)
• खौ pronounced as /hi/ = 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

1. 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.