ख Devanagari letter kha

What ख means

A k with a puff of air, called aspiration.

The spelling kh represents that single consonant, not separate k and h sounds. Hindi examples include खादी and खंजर. The name kha includes the letter’s built-in vowel; vowel marks can change that vowel, and a vowel-suppressing mark removes it before another consonant. Read a complete word according to its language.

Where did kha come from?

Its shape evolved through older Indian writing systems.

Its ancestry runs from kha in Mauryan-era Brahmi, an ancient Indian script, through Kushana and Gupta writing. Devanagari emerged from Gupta writing in the 7th century CE and matured around the 13th century CE.

In Sanskrit, kha marked the breathy k sound. Devanagari was used in inscriptions and religious manuscripts, then for local spoken languages; scribes produced formal texts before print. Śāradā and Siddhamātr̥kā were related writing traditions, and Gujarati and Modi also have historically related kha letters.

Inside a word, the language supplies its meaning; alone, kha may be a letter or a syllable fragment.

Keep क, ख and ख़ distinct: the breathy release and the dot affect pronunciation and spelling.

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Who writes ख

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Don't confuse it with

2

क

Devanagari Letter Ka

The k without the breathy release that distinguishes ख.

ख़ The dot, called a nukta, marks a friction sound in Persian- and Arabic-derived spellings, rather than the puff of air in ख.

Related characters

1

य

Devanagari Letter Ya

Devanagari ya represents a y sound. It is the second consonant in ख्य, read khya.

Alphabet

Hindi alphabet50 letters

ॐअआइईउऊऋऌऍएऐऑओऔकखगघङचछजझञटठडढणतथदधनपफबभमयरलळवशषसहऽ

Combination ideas

1

Khya: the mark on ख् removes kha’s built-in vowel before य.

Questions people ask

1

Why does ख look different in different fonts?

Fonts draw it differently. A 2011 Devanagari implementation report documents variations in strokes and joined-letter forms; a changed appearance need not mean a different character.