Sharada letter vocalic L

It writes Sanskrit’s rare syllabic l vowel, transliterated ḷ. Here l carries the vowel role in a syllable instead of acting as the ordinary consonant. Sanskrit grammar describes it as very rare, appearing chiefly in forms and derivatives of the root kḷp, a basic verb stem.

Sharada was used for Sanskrit, Kashmiri, and other languages of northern South Asia in inscriptions and literary works. Unicode places its principal use from the 8th century through the 20th century. A Koshur survey identifies 9th-century Utpala coins and a fragment of an Avantiswami inscription among the earliest records. In the 19th century, stronger competition from Persian script and Devanagari narrowed Sharada’s use to specialist and ritual settings.

Sharada belongs to the Brahmi-based script family and is closely related to Devanagari. An account from IGNCA describes Devashesha as a 13th-century descendant of Sharada and presents Takri as a later development. These are script-lineage connections; a similar-looking letter from another script is not a substitute for this one.

How do I type Sharada vocalic l?

Use this standalone letter for an independent vowel. When the sound follows a consonant within a syllable, Sharada uses a separate dependent vowel sign. The sign attaches to the consonant; 𑆋 does not.

Choose a Sharada Unicode keyboard layout. A phonetic or InScript layout works if it includes Sharada’s independent vowels. If the character appears as a square, use a font with Sharada glyphs. The keyboard enters the character; the font draws it.