vyañjana

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀯𑁆𑀬𑀜𑁆𑀚𑀦 (Brahmi script)
• व्यञ्जन (Devanagari script)
• ৰ‍্যঞ্জন (Bengali script)
• ව්‍යඤ‍්ජන (Sinhalese script)
• ဝျဉ္ဇန or ဝျၺ္ၹၼ or ဝျၺ်ၹၼ (Burmese script)
• วฺยญฺชน or วยัญชะนะ (Thai script)
• ᩅ᩠ᨿᨬ᩠ᨩᨶ (Tai Tham script)
• ວ຺ຍຎ຺ຊນ or ວຍັຎຊະນະ or ວຢັຎຊະນະ (Lao script)
• វ្យញ្ជន (Khmer script)
• 𑅇𑄳𑄠𑄐𑄴𑄎𑄚 (Chakma script)

Alternative scripts

• byañjana (Latin script)
• 𑀩𑁆𑀬𑀜𑁆𑀚𑀦 (Brahmi script)
• ब्यञ्जन (Devanagari script)
• ব্যঞ্জন (Bengali script)
• බ්‍යඤ‍්ජන (Sinhalese script)
• ဗျဉ္ဇန or ၿျၺ္ၹၼ or ၿျၺ်ၹၼ (Burmese script)
• พฺยญฺชน or พยัญชะนะ (Thai script)
• ᨻ᩠ᨿᨬ᩠ᨩᨶ (Tai Tham script)
• ພ຺ຍຎ຺ຊນ or ພຍັຎຊະນະ or ພຢັຎຊະນະ (Lao script)
• ព្យញ្ជន (Khmer script)
• 𑄝𑄳𑄠𑄐𑄴𑄎𑄚 (Chakma script)

Etymology

Inherited from Sanskrit व्यञ्जन (vyañjana). By surface analysis, vi- +‎ añj (“to daub”) +‎ -ana. The sense 'letter' is a shared innovation of the early Prakrits, taken up by Sanskrit.

Noun

vyañjana n

1. sign
2. mark
3. (grammar) letter
   • c. 500 AD, Kaccāyana, Pālivyākaraṇaṃ [Pali Grammar]‎^[1] (overall work in Pali), page 4; republished as Satish Chandra Acharyya Vidyabhusana, editor, Kaccayana's Pali Grammar (edited in Devanagari character and translated into English), Calcutta, Bengal: Mahabodhi Society, 1901:

     क, ख, ग, घ, ङ, च, छ, ज, झ, ञ, ट, ठ, ड, ढ, ण, त, थ, द, ध, न, प, फ, ब, भ, म, य, र, ल, व, स, ह, ळ, ं। इति व्यञ्जन नाम होन्ति।

     Ka, kha, ga, gha, ṅa, ca, cha, ja, jha, ña, ṭa, ṭha, ḍa, ḍha, ṇa, ta, tha, da, dha, na, pa, pha, ba, bha, ma, ya, ra, la, va, sa, ha, ḷa, aṃ, iti vyañjanā nāma honti.

     'k', 'kh', 'g', 'gh', 'ṅ', 'c', 'ch', 'j', 'jh', 'ñ, 'ṭ', 'ṭh', 'ḍ', 'ḍh', 'ṇ', 't', 'th', 'd', 'dh', 'n', 'p', 'ph', 'b', 'bh', 'm', 'y', 'r', 'l', 'v', 's', 'h', 'ḷ' and 'ṃ', these are the consonants by name.

4. letter (as opposed to spirit)

Declension

Declension table of "vyañjana" (neuter)

Case \ Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	vyañjanaṃ	vyañjanāni or vyañjanā
Accusative (second)	vyañjanaṃ	vyañjanāni
Instrumental (third)	vyañjanena	vyañjanehi or vyañjanebhi
Dative (fourth)	vyañjanassa or vyañjanāya or vyañjanatthaṃ	vyañjanānaṃ
Ablative (fifth)	vyañjanasmā or vyañjanamhā or vyañjanā	vyañjanehi or vyañjanebhi
Genitive (sixth)	vyañjanassa	vyañjanānaṃ
Locative (seventh)	vyañjanasmiṃ or vyañjanamhi or vyañjane	vyañjanesu
Vocative (calling)	vyañjana	vyañjanāni

Descendants

• Burmese: ဗျည်း (byany:, “letter”)
• Khmer: ព្យញ្ជនៈ (pyŭəñcĕəʼnĕəʼ, “letter”)
• Northern Thai: ᨻ᩠ᨿᨬ᩠ᨩᨶ (“letter”)
• Thai: พยัญชนะ (pá-yan-chá-ná, “letter”)

References

Pali Text Society (1921–1925) “vyañjana”, in Pali-English Dictionary‎, London: Chipstead