Kannada letter dha

Say d at the teeth; release it with a puff of breath.

In Latin transliteration, this sound is written dha: it is voiced (your voice is on), dental (the tongue touches the teeth) and aspirated (a puff of breath follows).

A bare Kannada consonant normally carries a short “a.” A vowel sign replaces that vowel; the virama mark cancels it when the consonant ends a syllable or joins a cluster.

How did this letter develop?

Kannada and Telugu scripts share an older southern tradition.

Brahmi is an ancient South Asian writing system. Early forms of the shared Telugu–Kannada tradition are documented in inscriptions from the 4th–7th centuries CE. Kannada-language inscriptions are attested about the 5th century CE; Halmidi is identified as the earliest inscription in Kannada.

Inscriptions in the Kannada-speaking region could be written in Prakrit, a group of early Indo-Aryan languages, or in Sanskrit, as well as in Kannada. They recorded political, religious, social and economic life; royal inscriptions could also make a ruler’s claim to rule visible.

How can I type Kannada dha?

Use Kannada transliteration and enter dha.

A transliteration input method turns Latin-letter sound input into Kannada candidates. Choose the form with the vowel sign or virama the word needs; a fixed Kannada keyboard works too, with key positions set by its layout.

Kannada consonant clusters can combine into conjunct glyphs—joined written forms—so a letter may look compressed or shifted beside another consonant. The active Kannada font draws its outline.