What Are Conjunct Consonants?

संयुक्ताक्षर

When two consonants meet without a vowel between them they fuse into a single unit called a conjunct (संयुक्ताक्षर, saṃyuktākṣara — "joined letters"). The mechanism is the virāma (्), the mark that cancels the inherent "a" in any consonant. Once the "a" is cancelled, that consonant grabs the next one and they merge visually. There are three visual types: (1) Half-form — the first consonant loses its right vertical stroke. (2) र-Special — र either rises above as a hook (reph) or drops below as a diagonal. (3) Stacked — consonants pile vertically. A small group of common conjuncts develop unique ligature shapes that must simply be memorised.