Kannada Letter Ra

Use a Kannada transliteration input tool and enter ra.

With Kannada transliteration enabled, Latin letters represent sounds rather than translate words. Select ರ if the tool offers several candidates.

Enter the consonant before its vowel sign. A virama is a mark that removes the consonant’s built-in vowel; it also joins consonants into clusters.

What sound does Kannada ra represent?

It represents Kannada’s ordinary r sound.

The letter includes a built-in a vowel, so unmarked ರ reads as ra. A vowel sign changes the vowel; a virama removes it.

Kannada script developed from southern writing descended from Brahmi, an ancient Indian script. Early Telugu-Kannada forms appear in Kadamba and Chalukya inscriptions from the 4th–7th centuries CE. The Halmidi inscription, writing carved on stone, attests Kannada-language writing from about the 5th century CE. Early records concern religion, public affairs and property: a Ganga land grant from the late fifth century CE includes Kannada passages in a largely Sanskrit text. These dates describe the script’s development, not the first appearance of this exact modern shape. Kannada script also writes Sanskrit, Tulu and Konkani.

Why does Kannada ra change shape?

Its position in a consonant cluster controls its form.

ರ + virama + ಕ produces ರ್ಕ (rka); ಕ + virama + ರ produces ಕ್ರ (kra). Here ಕ is the Kannada letter ka. Ra comes first in the first sequence and second in the other, so these spell different sound sequences.

A zero-width joiner, an invisible text character, can request an alternate presentation for a cluster beginning with ra. This affects how the cluster is drawn, rather than replacing ra with another letter.