Nowadays, Zero consonant is a topic that has captured the attention of many people around the world. From its impact on society to its influence on the economy, Zero consonant is a topic that has become increasingly relevant in everyday conversations. With the increasing importance of Zero consonant, it is crucial to understand its scope and implications in different aspects of life. In this article, we will thoroughly explore Zero consonant and analyze its impact on our modern society. From its origins to its possible future developments, we will delve into the fascinating world of Zero consonant and discover its true meaning in today's world.
Consonant letter that doesn't correspond to a consonant sound
In orthography, a zero consonant, silent initial, or null-onset letter is a consonant letter that does not correspond to a consonant sound, but is required when a word or syllable starts with a vowel (i.e. has a null onset). Some abjads, abugidas, and alphabets have zero consonants, generally because they have an orthographic rule that all syllables must begin with a consonant letter, whereas the language they transcribe allows syllables to start with a vowel. In a few cases, such as Pahawh Hmong below, the lack of a consonant letter represents a specific consonant sound, so the lack of a consonant sound requires a distinct letter to disambiguate.
In Arabic, the non-hamzated letter ⟨ا⟩alif is often a placeholder for an initial vowel.
In Javanese script, the letter ꦲ ha is used for a vowel (silent 'h').
In Korean hangul, the zero consonant is ㅇ (이응) ieung. It appears twice in 아음; a-eum, "velar consonant". ㅇ also represents /ŋ/ -ng at the end of a syllable, but historically this was a distinct letter.
Burmeseအ, Khmer អ, Thai อ (อ อ่าง), Lao ອ (ອ ໂອ), Shan ဢ (ဢ ဢၢင်ႇ) are null-initial vowel-support letters. Thai อ่าง, for example, is ang "basin". (า is the vowel a and ง the consonant ng.) อ and ອ pull double duty as vowels in some positions.
In Thaana of the Maldives, އ is a zero. It requires a diacritic to indicate the associated vowel: އި is i, އޮ o, etc. This is similar to an abjad, but the vowel mark is not optional.
The Lontara script for Buginese, with zero ᨕ, is similar to Thaana, except that without a vowel diacritic ᨕ represents an initial vowel a. The Lepcha script of Nepal is similar.
In Cree and Inuit, a triangle represents a vowel-initial syllable. The orientation of this triangle specifies the vowel: ᐁ e, ᐃ i, ᐅ o, ᐊ a.
In the Romanized Popular Alphabet used for Hmong, an apostrophe marks a vowel-initial syllable. The absence of any letter indicates that the syllable starts with a glottal stop, a far more common occurrence.
Pahawh Hmong, a semi-syllabary, also has a zero consonant, as well as a letter for glottal stop, with the lack of an initial consonant letter indicating that the syllable begins with a /k/.
See also
Virama, a zero-vowel diacritic in many abugidas, such as Hindi Devanagari. The virama marks the absence of a vowel; the absence of a virama or vowel diacritic implies an inherent vowel such as schwa.
Sukun, the optional zero-vowel diacritic of Arabic.