Siddham Sign Nukta

It lets a Siddham letter represent a sound the script lacks.

The Siddham nukta 𑗀 modifies a consonant to mark a sound for which traditional Siddham has no distinct letter. It extends that spelling; it does not have an independent reading.

Write it immediately after the consonant it modifies and before any following vowel sign. Its visible position can shift with the consonant’s shape and the vowel sign.

How did Siddham nukta enter the script?

Siddham is old; this addition belongs to its modern form.

North Indian inscriptions used forms known as Siddhamatrika, also called Kutila, from the sixth to about the tenth century. Siddham is a Brahmi-derived script, closely related to Sharada of Kashmir; other regional forms developed toward Nagari and the eastern Gaudi or Proto-Bengali tradition. Unicode 17.0 describes Siddham’s later use for Sanskrit Buddhist manuscripts in China, Japan, and Korea and its ceremonial role, especially in Japan’s Shingon and Tendai traditions. In Japan, Siddham is also known as Bonji.

The nukta is a modern addition for writing Japanese and English sounds without distinct traditional Siddham letters. Its name comes from the Arabic word nuqṭah, meaning “dot.”

Why does 𑗀 sometimes render incorrectly?

Some fonts mishandle how this mark shapes with Siddham vowels.

On its own, 𑗀 may show as a loose mark because combining signs attach to a base character.

A 2019 issue report for Noto Sans Siddham records the mark interrupting contextual-vowel shaping, so nearby vowel forms render incorrectly. If your sequence looks wrong, try another font with Siddham shaping support.