Devanagari Vowel Sign Vocalic Ll

ॣ is the Devanagari matra (dependent vowel sign) for long vocalic l, usually transliterated ḹ. Sanskrit grammarians kept the long form for symmetry, though it is not attested in a genuine Sanskrit word.

Text symbol

What ॣ means

It adds Sanskrit’s long l-vowel to a consonant.

Long vocalic l is a Sanskrit vowel category where l forms the syllable. ॣ is dependent: it joins a consonant rather than standing alone. By itself, it may appear on a dotted circle or incompletely, depending on font support.

Devanagari developed from Brahmi, a script attested by the third century BCE, and became a major Sanskrit script by the eleventh century. Those dates describe the script, not when this exact sign arose.

Part of the collection

ड

Dogri Letters & Script

Who writes ॣ

Loading…

Don't confuse it with

ॢ

Devanagari Vowel Sign Vocalic L

This is the dependent sign for short vocalic l; ॣ is the long form.

Questions people ask

Why does ॣ show as a box on some devices?

Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.