Newa Letter Pha

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What sound does 𑐦 make?

It represents an aspirated p: a p followed by a puff of air.

On its own, 𑐦 carries Newa’s inherent vowel, roughly an unstressed “uh.” A dependent vowel sign changes that vowel; the virama 𑑂 removes it, letting the consonant end a syllable or join a conjunct.

What is the history of Newa script?

Newa evolved from older Indian scripts.

The Newa script, also called Prachalit Lipi, developed from Brahmi, an ancient Indian script, through the northern Gupta script. It is documented from the tenth century CE in inscriptions and manuscripts; the oldest known document written in Newar is dated 1114 CE. Newa served public records, coins, books, and religious writing, including Sanskrit texts in Buddhist and Hindu settings.

After the Newa dynasties fell in the late eighteenth century, the script’s public role declined; it was banned in 1905, and the ban was lifted in 1951. As of 2026, Newa is used for Nepal Bhasa and some Sanskrit and Nepali, although Nepal Bhasa is more often written in Devanagari. Newa is related to Devanagari and has affinities with Bengali and Tirhuta scripts.