Gujarati letter da

It marks the voiced dental d in Gujarati syllables. For Gujarati da pronunciation, place the tongue tip against the upper teeth. Gujarati dda is the other letter, ડ, whose tongue tip curls back. Latin d is a transliteration hint, not a Gujarati character.

Gujarati writing gives a bare consonant an inherent vowel, usually described as a; a vowel sign changes that vowel. The virama suppresses it, as in દ્. In દિ, the short-i sign is typed after દ but displayed to its left. Joined consonants may also change shape, so read the whole Gujarati word.

The Gujarati script developed from the Devanagari tradition and is also related to the older Kaithi script. Old Gujarati, an earlier form of the language, was used for literature by the 12th century, while the earliest known manuscript in Gujarati script dates to 1592. The script first appeared in print in a 1797 advertisement. After 1800, Gujarati printing widened literary use beyond commercial letters and accounts. The letter's d sound remained its core job as the script's uses expanded.