What ಳ means
Use Kannada phonetic input or the INSCRIPT keyboard layout.
A phonetic input method turns a typed transliteration into Kannada suggestions; INSCRIPT assigns Kannada letters to fixed keys.
In Kannada spelling, a consonant carries an unwritten vowel by default. A vowel sign changes that vowel, and the virama removes it so consonants can form a cluster.
What sound does ಳ make?
It is a curled-back L sound, distinct from plain ಲ.
Kannada script developed from Brahmi through an early Telugu-Kannada tradition used for inscriptions and records. A related retroflex-lateral sign appears in a 5th century Sālamkāyana inscription, showing that the written sound distinction predates the modern form.
Earlier Kannada writing used ೞ, an older LLLA sign, before ಳ became the later form. Active Kannada use of ೞ ended after the end of the tenth century; Unicode 17.0.0 also records it in Badaga spelling for vowel retroflexion. Kēśirāja's grammar in 1260 CE classifies kuḷa as native Kannada and kṣaḷa as borrowed from Sanskrit, though both contain ಳ.
Neutral within Kannada spelling: it marks a consonant sound in a word.
Do not replace it with plain ಲ; Kannada distinguishes their L sounds.
Part of the collection
Who writes ಳ
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Don't confuse it with
3
More like this
13
ళTelugu Letter Lla
ळDevanagari Letter Lla
ളMalayalam Letter Lla
ළSinhala Letter Muurdhaja Layanna
Tulu-Tigalari Letter Lla
ಱKannada Letter Rra
ಲKannada Letter La
ವKannada Letter Va
ऀDevanagari Sign Inverted Candrabindu
ँDevanagari Sign Candrabindu
ंDevanagari Sign Anusvara
ःDevanagari Sign Visarga
ऄDevanagari Letter Short ACollections with ಳ
2
How to type or find ಳ
- Also called
- ḷa · retroflex L · retroflex la
- Search it as
- Kannada LLA · phonetic Kannada keyboard · ಳ vs ಲ · old Kannada LLLA · kuḷa · kṣaḷa
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
ಳ\0CB3Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.