ᨻ
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Translingual
Letter
ᨻ (ba)
- The 31st letter and 23rd consonant of the Tai Tham Pali alphabet. In Pali it represents the voiced, unaspirated labial consonant /b/.
- Pali ᨻᨴ᩠ᨵᩈᩦᨾᩣ (baddhasīmā, “set of boundary stones”)
- Northern Thai ᨻᩱ (pai, “to go”)
- Lü ᩈᩥ᩠ᨷᩈᩬᨦᨻᩢ᩠ᨶᨶᩣ (ṡiibṡoangpannaa, “Xishuangbanna”)
Usage notes
As the second or subsequent element of a consonant cluster, this letter is usually replaced by a loop. This subscript form has its own encoding in Unicode, namely as the character ᩛ.
In the modern vernacular languages, Northern Thai, Tai Lü and Tai Khün, this letter generally represents the voiceless, unaspirated labial consonant /p/. For these languages, the graphic contrast between ᨸ and ᨻ represents a distinction of tone. In Tai Lü, it is often written double (as ᨻᩛ) at the start of a syllable, possibly to reinforce the distinction from ᨠ, leading to the form of the New Tai Lue descendant.
In Lao, this letter represents the aspirated voiceless labial consonant /pʰ/. For this language, the graphic contrast between ᨹ and ᨻ represents a distinction of tone.