Conjunct consonant
Conjunct consonants are a type of letters that is used, for example, in Brahmi or its derived modern scripts such as Balinese, Bengali, Devanagari, Gujarati, Tibetan and Dzongkha to write consonant clusters such as or. Although letters are formed usually by using a simple consonant with the inherent value vowel "a", or by combining a consonant with an vowel in the form of a diacritic, the use of conjunct consonant permits the creation of more sophisticated sounds. Conjuncts are often used with loan words. Native words typically use the basic consonant, and native speakers know to suppress the vowel.
In modern Devanagari the components of a conjunct are written left to right when possible, but in Brahmi characters, they are joined vertically downwards.
Some simple examples of conjunct consonants in Devanagari are त + व, ण + ढ, स + थ, where the vertical stroke of the first letter is simply lost in the combination. Sometimes, conjunct consonants are not clearly derived from the letters making up their components: the conjunct for is क्ष and for it is ज्ञ.
Some examples of conjunct consonants in Gujarati are પ + ઝ, હ + ળ, જ + ભ . Sometimes, conjunct consonants are not clearly derived from the letters making up their components: the conjunct for is શ્ચ and for it is ઞ્જ.
Conjunct consonants are used in many other scripts as well, most of which are derived from the Brahmi script. In Balinese, conjunct consonants are called Haksara Wrehastra.