A (Brahmic)

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Letter A in Indic scripts

Example glyphs
Devanagari| A
Properties
Phonemic representation| /-/
IAST transliteration| \- -
ISCII code point| 00 (0)

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Indic letters

Consonants
|  Ka|  Ca|  Ṭa|  Ta|  Pa|  Ya|  Śa

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Kha|  Cha|  Ṭha|  Tha|  Pha|  Ra|  Ṣa
Ga|  Ja|  Ḍa|  Da|  Ba|  La|  Sa
Gha|  Jha|  Ḍha|  Dha|  Bha|  Va|  Ha
Ṅa|  Ña|  Ṇa|  Na|  Ma| |
|  Ḷa|  Ḻa|  Ṟa| | |
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Vowels
|  A|  I|  U|  Ṛ|  Ḷ|  E|  O

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Ā|  Ī|  Ū|  Ṝ|  Ḹ|  Ai|  Au
Other marks

* Chandrabindu
* Anusvara
* Visarga
* Virama
* Nuqta
* Avagraha

Punctuation

* Daṇḍa

* v
* t
* e

"A" is the first letter in all of the Brahmic scripts (Devanagari अ, Bengali অ, Tamil அ, Telugu అ, and Thai อ and others), except for Sylheti Nagri. It is derived from the Brahmi script 𑀅, which itself traces its origins to ancient scripts influenced by the Aramaic and Phoenician alphabets.

Historically, the Brahmi letter for "A" is believed to have evolved from a pictographic or abstract representation, much like its Semitic counterpart, Aleph (𐤀). However, instead of an ox's head, Brahmi and its descendants focused on syllabic representation, making "A" the foundational vowel sound from which other syllables were formed.

Phonetically, "A" in Brahmic scripts typically represents the open front or central vowel sound ([a] or Ə), often serving as the inherent vowel in consonantal characters. Unlike in Semitic scripts, where Aleph primarily represented a glottal stop, in Brahmic scripts, the base vowel "A" is the most fundamental sound, and other vowel modifications are marked with diacritics. This inherent vowel system is a distinguishing feature of abugidas compared to alphabets.

In Sanskrit and classical Indian languages, "A" is considered the first and most primal sound, often linked to creation in linguistic philosophy. It serves as the base form for many syllabic structures, and in Vedic traditions, it is sometimes associated with the primordial sound "Om" (ॐ).

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