Limbu Letter Ca

It starts a Limbu syllable with the “ch” sound in “chin.” When it stands bare, the script supplies a short, open “o” vowel. A vowel sign changes that vowel; the Unicode label “ca” names the letter but does not give the bare syllable’s full sound.

The script is often called Sirijanga after the Limbu culture hero Sirijanga Hang. Tradition credits him with its invention in the ninth century; the oldest known Limbu writings were collected in Darjeeling in the 1850s. A modern revival began in Kalimpong in 1925. Unicode records nineteenth-century manuscripts, early modern forms in publications duplicated by mimeograph machines from 1928 to the 1970s, and the current form used since the 1970s.

The Limbu language is distantly related to the Lepcha and Tibetan languages. The Limbu script is part of the Brahmi-derived family of South Asian writing systems; Unicode encodes some smaller medial consonants below the main letter using a Tibetan-style model, a technical resemblance rather than evidence of descent. Kirat Rai, a separate script for Bantawa developed in the 1920s, has historical ties to Limbu. Mundhum, a Limbu oral tradition of ritual narratives and knowledge, was also written in the revived script; after 1990, its texts appeared alongside Devanagari, also used for Nepali. Sikkim recognized Limbu as an official language in 1981.

How do I type ᤆ?

Choose a Limbu input layout for this letter. The Limbu Phonetic keyboard uses Roman-letter sound mappings; Limbu Typewriter is a separate arrangement, and key assignments can vary by tool.

Enter the consonant first, then its vowel sign. The mark may display above, below, or beside the main letter; a Limbu-capable font with OpenType shaping handles the placement.