View source for Zero consonant

{{Short description|Consonant letter that doesn't correspond to a consonant sound}}
{{Not to be confused with|Glottal stop}}
In [[orthography]], a '''zero consonant''', '''silent initial''', or '''null-onset letter''' is a consonant [[letter (alphabet)|letter]] that does not correspond to a [[Consonant|consonant sound]], but is required when a [[word]] or [[syllable]] starts with a [[vowel]] (i.e. has a [[null onset]]). Some [[abjad]]s, [[abugida]]s, and [[alphabet]]s 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.

==Uses==
*The letter א ''[[aleph]]'' is a zero consonant in [[Ashkenazi Hebrew]]. It originally represented a [[glottal stop]], a value it retains in other Hebrew dialects and in formal [[Israeli Hebrew]].
*In [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]], the non-hamzated letter {{angbr|[[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 {{Script|Hang|ㅇ}} ({{lang|ko|이응}}) ''ieung''. It appears twice in {{Korean|hangul=오이|rr=oi|labels=no}}, "cucumber". {{Script|Hang|ㅇ}} also represents {{IPA|/ŋ/}} -''ng'' at the end of a syllable, but historically this was a distinct letter.
*[[Burmese script|Burmese]] {{lang|my|အ}}, [[Khmer Script|Khmer]] អ, [[Thai alphabet|Thai]] อ (อ อ่าง), [[Lao script|Lao]] ອ (ອ ໂອ), [[Shan alphabet|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 the [[Canadian Aboriginal syllabics]], 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 language|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 {{IPA|/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 {{IPA|/a/}}.
*[[Sukun]], the optional zero-vowel diacritic of Arabic.
*[[Zero (linguistics)]], a broader concept
*[[Silent letter]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Typography]]