Kannada Anusvara

Check which Kannada input layout is active; the keys differ. Phonetic, Inscript, and Nudi keyboards use different key maps. As of 2026, Lexilogos's Kannada transliteration keyboard maps M to ಂ.

With phonetic input, type the word through that layout and check the Kannada output. A Latin-key shortcut from another layout may produce a different sign.

What does ಂ mean in Kannada?

It writes a nasal sound shaped by the following consonant. Before a stop consonant, made by briefly blocking the breath, the nasal uses the same mouth position as the next consonant. In ಅಂಗ, it is made at the back of the mouth. Before a non-stop or at a word ending, it is pronounced like m.

In Kannada, this mark writes the nasal part of a consonant cluster compactly. Sanskrit uses anusvara to mark nasalization of a vowel; Kannada uses it chiefly for a nasal before a consonant. The Halmiḍi inscription, the oldest discovered Kannada inscription, already contains this mark. Its first editor dated it around 450 CE; later readings of its letter forms place it at the end of the fifth or beginning of the sixth century.