Kannada character tables

This document lists the per-character shaping information needed to shape Kannada text.

Contents

• Kannada character table

• Vedic Extensions character table

• Miscellaneous character table

Kannada character table

Kannada glyphs should be classified as in the following table. Codepoints in the Kannada block with no assigned meaning are designated as unassigned in the Unicode category column.

Assigned codepoints with a null in the Shaping class column evoke no special behavior from the shaping engine. Note that this does include some valid codepoints, such as currency marks, punctuation, and other symbols.

Note: the NUMBER and SYMBOL Shaping classes are important during syllable identification, but generally evoke no further special behavior during the rest of the shaping process.

The Mark-placement subclass column indicates mark-placement positioning for codepoints in the Mark category. Assigned, non-mark codepoints have a null in this column and evoke no special mark-placement behavior. Marks tagged with [Mn] in the Unicode category column are categorized as non-spacing; marks tagged with [Mc] are categorized as spacing-combining.

Some codepoints in the following table use a Shaping class that differs from the codepoint’s Unicode General Category. The Shaping class takes precedence during OpenType shaping, as it captures more specific, script-aware behavior.

Table 35 Kannada character table

Codepoint	Unicode category	Shaping class	Mark-placement subclass	Glyph
U+0C80	Letter	PLACEHOLDER	null	ಀ Spacing Candrabindu
U+0C81	Mark [Mn]	BINDU	TOP_POSITION	ಁ Candrabindu
U+0C82	Mark [Mc]	BINDU	RIGHT_POSITION	ಂ Anusvara
U+0C83	Mark [Mc]	VISARGA	RIGHT_POSITION	ಃ Visarga
U+0C84	Punctuation	null	null	಄ Siddham
U+0C85	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ಅ A
U+0C86	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ಆ Aa
U+0C87	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ಇ I
U+0C88	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ಈ Ii
U+0C89	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ಉ U
U+0C8A	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ಊ Uu
U+0C8B	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ಋ Vocalic R
U+0C8C	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ಌ Vocalic L
U+0C8D	unassigned
U+0C8E	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ಎ E
U+0C8F	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ಏ Ee
U+0C90	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ಐ Ai
U+0C91	unassigned
U+0C92	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ಒ O
U+0C93	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ಓ Oo
U+0C94	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ಔ Au
U+0C95	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಕ Ka
U+0C96	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಖ Kha
U+0C97	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಗ Ga
U+0C98	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಘ Gha
U+0C99	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಙ Nga
U+0C9A	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಚ Ca
U+0C9B	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಛ Cha
U+0C9C	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಜ Ja
U+0C9D	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಝ Jha
U+0C9E	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಞ Nya
U+0C9F	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಟ Tta
U+0CA0	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಠ Ttha
U+0CA1	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಡ Dda
U+0CA2	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಢ Ddha
U+0CA3	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಣ Nna
U+0CA4	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ತ Ta
U+0CA5	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಥ Tha
U+0CA6	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ದ Da
U+0CA7	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಧ Dha
U+0CA8	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ನ Na
U+0CA9	unassigned
U+0CAA	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಪ Pa
U+0CAB	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಫ Pha
U+0CAC	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಬ Ba
U+0CAD	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಭ Bha
U+0CAE	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಮ Ma
U+0CAF	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಯ Ya
U+0CB0	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ರ Ra
U+0CB1	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಱ Rra
U+0CB2	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಲ La
U+0CB3	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಳ Lla
U+0CB4	unassigned
U+0CB5	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ವ Va
U+0CB6	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಶ Sha
U+0CB7	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಷ Ssa
U+0CB8	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಸ Sa
U+0CB9	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ಹ Ha
U+0CBA	unassigned
U+0CBB	unassigned
U+0CBC	Mark [Mn]	NUKTA	BOTTOM_POSITION	಼ Nukta
U+0CBD	Letter	AVAGRAHA	null	ಽ Avagraha
U+0CBE	Mark [Mc]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	RIGHT_POSITION	ಾ Sign Aa
U+0CBF	Mark [Mn]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	TOP_POSITION	ಿ Sign I
U+0CC0	Mark [Mc]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	TOP_AND_RIGHT_POSITION	ೀ Sign Ii
U+0CC1	Mark [Mc]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	RIGHT_POSITION	ು Sign U
U+0CC2	Mark [Mc]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	RIGHT_POSITION	ೂ Sign Uu
U+0CC3	Mark [Mc]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	RIGHT_POSITION	ೃ Sign Vocalic R
U+0CC4	Mark [Mc]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	RIGHT_POSITION	ೄ Sign Vocalic Rr
U+0CC5	unassigned
U+0CC6	Mark [Mn]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	TOP_POSITION	ೆ Sign E
U+0CC7	Mark [Mc]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	TOP_AND_RIGHT_POSITION	ೇ Sign Ee
U+0CC8	Mark [Mc]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	TOP_AND_RIGHT_POSITION	ೈ Sign Ai
U+0CC9	unassigned
U+0CCA	Mark [Mc]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	TOP_AND_RIGHT_POSITION	ೊ Sign O
U+0CCB	Mark [Mc]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	TOP_AND_RIGHT_POSITION	ೋ Sign Oo
U+0CCC	Mark [Mn]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	TOP_POSITION	ೌ Sign Au
U+0CCD	Mark [Mn]	VIRAMA	TOP_POSITION	್ Virama
U+0CCE	unassigned
U+0CCF	unassigned
U+0CD0	unassigned
U+0CD1	unassigned
U+0CD2	unassigned
U+0CD3	unassigned
U+0CD4	unassigned
U+0CD5	Mark [Mc]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	RIGHT_POSITION	ೕ Length Mark
U+0CD6	Mark [Mc]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	RIGHT_POSITION	ೖ Ai Length Mark
U+0CD7	unassigned
U+0CD8	unassigned
U+0CD9	unassigned
U+0CDA	unassigned
U+0CDB	unassigned
U+0CDC	unassigned
U+0CDD	unassigned
U+0CDE	Letter	CONSONANT	null	ೞ Fa
U+0CDF	unassigned
U+0CE0	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ೠ Vocalic Rr
U+0CE1	Letter	VOWEL_INDEPENDENT	null	ೡ Vocalic Ll
U+0CE2	Mark [Mn]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	BOTTOM_POSITION	ೢ Sign Vocalic L
U+0CE3	Mark [Mn]	VOWEL_DEPENDENT	BOTTOM_POSITION	ೣ Sign Vocalic Ll
U+0CE4	unassigned
U+0CE5	unassigned
U+0CE6	Number	NUMBER	null	೦ Digit Zero
U+0CE7	Number	NUMBER	null	೧ Digit One
U+0CE8	Number	NUMBER	null	೨ Digit Two
U+0CE9	Number	NUMBER	null	೩ Digit Three
U+0CEA	Number	NUMBER	null	೪ Digit Four
U+0CEB	Number	NUMBER	null	೫ Digit Five
U+0CEC	Number	NUMBER	null	೬ Digit Six
U+0CED	Number	NUMBER	null	೭ Digit Seven
U+0CEE	Number	NUMBER	null	೮ Digit Eight
U+0CEF	Number	NUMBER	null	೯ Digit Nine
U+0CF0	unassigned
U+0CF1	Letter	CONSONANT_WITH_STACKER	null	ೱ Jihvamuliya
U+0CF2	Letter	CONSONANT_WITH_STACKER	null	ೲ Upadhmaniya
U+0CF3	Mark [Mc]	BINDU	RIGHT_POSITION	ೳ Combining Anusvara Above Right
U+0CF4	unassigned
U+0CF5	unassigned
U+0CF6	unassigned
U+0CF7	unassigned
U+0CF8	unassigned
U+0CF9	unassigned
U+0CFA	unassigned
U+0CFB	unassigned
U+0CFC	unassigned
U+0CFD	unassigned
U+0CFE	unassigned
U+0CFF	unassigned

Vedic Extensions character table

Sanskrit runs written in the Kannada script may also include characters from the Vedic Extensions block. These characters should be classified as follows.

Note: See the Vedic Extensions document for additional information.

Table 36 Vedic Extensions character table

Codepoint	Unicode category	Shaping class	Mark-placement subclass	Glyph
U+1CD0	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	TOP_POSITION	᳐ Tone Karshana
U+1CD1	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	TOP_POSITION	᳑ Tone Shara
U+1CD2	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	TOP_POSITION	᳒ Tone Prenkha
U+1CD3	Punctuation	null	null	᳓ Sign Nihshvasa
U+1CD4	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	OVERSTRUCK	᳔ Tone Midline Svarita
U+1CD5	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	BOTTOM_POSITION	᳕ Tone Aggravated Independent Svarita
U+1CD6	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	BOTTOM_POSITION	᳖ Tone Independent Svarita
U+1CD7	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	BOTTOM_POSITION	᳗ Tone Kathaka Independent Svarita
U+1CD8	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	BOTTOM_POSITION	᳘ Tone Candra Below
U+1CD9	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	BOTTOM_POSITION	᳙ Tone Kathaka Independent Svarita Schroeder
U+1CDA	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	TOP_POSITION	᳚ Tone Double Svarita
U+1CDB	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	TOP_POSITION	᳛ Tone Triple Svarita
U+1CDC	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	BOTTOM_POSITION	᳜ Tone Kathaka Anudatta
U+1CDD	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	BOTTOM_POSITION	᳝ Tone Dot Below
U+1CDE	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	BOTTOM_POSITION	᳞ Tone Two Dots Below
U+1CDF	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	BOTTOM_POSITION	᳟ Tone Three Dots Below
U+1CE0	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	TOP_POSITION	᳠ Tone Rigvedic Kashmiri Independent Svarita
U+1CE1	Mark [Mc]	CANTILLATION	RIGHT_POSITION	᳡ Tone Atharavedic Independent Svarita
U+1CE2	Mark [Mn]	AVAGRAHA	OVERSTRUCK	᳢ Sign Visarga Svarita
U+1CE3	Mark [Mn]	null	OVERSTRUCK	᳣ Sign Visarga Udatta
U+1CE4	Mark [Mn]	null	OVERSTRUCK	᳤ Sign Reversed Visarga Udatta
U+1CE5	Mark [Mn]	null	OVERSTRUCK	᳥ Sign Visarga Anudatta
U+1CE6	Mark [Mn]	null	OVERSTRUCK	᳦ Sign Reversed Visarga Anudatta
U+1CE7	Mark [Mn]	null	OVERSTRUCK	᳧ Sign Visarga Udatta With Tail
U+1CE8	Mark [Mn]	AVAGRAHA	OVERSTRUCK	᳨ Sign Visarga Anudatta With Tail
U+1CE9	Letter	SYMBOL	null	ᳩ Sign Anusvara Antargomukha
U+1CEA	Letter	null	null	ᳪ Sign Anusvara Bahirgomukha
U+1CEB	Letter	null	null	ᳫ Sign Anusvara Vamagomukha
U+1CEC	Letter	SYMBOL	null	ᳬ Sign Anusvara Vamagomukha With Tail
U+1CED	Mark [Mn]	AVAGRAHA	BOTTOM_POSITION	᳭ Sign Tiryak
U+1CEE	Letter	SYMBOL	null	ᳮ Sign Hexiform Long Anusvara
U+1CEF	Letter	null	null	ᳯ Sign Long Anusvara
U+1CF0	Letter	null	null	ᳰ Sign Rthang Long Anusvara
U+1CF2	Letter	CONSONANT_DEAD	null	ᳲ Sign Ardhavisarga
U+1CF3	Letter	CONSONANT_DEAD	null	ᳳ Sign Rotated Ardhavisarga
U+1CF3	Mark [Mc]	VISARGA	null	ᳳ Sign Rotated Ardhavisarga
U+1CF4	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	TOP_POSITION	᳴ Tone Candra Above
U+1CF5	Letter	CONSONANT_WITH_STACKER	null	ᳵ Sign Jihvamuliya
U+1CF6	Letter	CONSONANT_WITH_STACKER	null	ᳶ Sign Upadhmaniya
U+1CF7	Mark [Mc]	null	null	᳷ Sign Atikrama
U+1CF8	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	null	᳸ Tone Ring Above
U+1CF9	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	null	᳹ Tone Double Ring Above
U+1CFA	Letter	PLACEHOLDER	null	ᳺ Sign Double Anusvara Antargomukha
U+1CFB	unassigned
U+1CFC	unassigned
U+1CFD	unassigned
U+1CFE	unassigned
U+1CFF	unassigned

Miscellaneous character table

In addition to general punctuation, runs of Kannada text often use the danda (U+0964) and double danda (U+0965) punctuation marks from the Devanagari block. Kannada text can also incorporate the udatta (U+0951) and anudatta (U+0952) signs from the Devanagari block.

Table 37 Additional punctuation character table

Codepoint	Unicode category	Shaping class	Mark-placement subclass	Glyph
U+0951	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	TOP_POSITION	॑ Udatta
U+0952	Mark [Mn]	CANTILLATION	BOTTOM_POSITION	॒ Anudatta
U+0964	Punctuation	null	null	। Danda
U+0965	Punctuation	null	null	॥ Double Danda

Other important characters that may be encountered when shaping runs of Kannada text include the dotted-circle placeholder (U+25CC), the zero-width joiner (U+200D) and zero-width non-joiner (U+200C), and the no-break space (U+00A0).

The dotted-circle placeholder is frequently used when displaying a dependent vowel (matra) or a combining mark in isolation. Real-world text syllables may also use other characters, such as hyphens or dashes, in a similar placeholder fashion; shaping engines should cope with this situation gracefully.

Table 38 Miscellaneous character table

Codepoint	Unicode category	Shaping class	Mark-placement subclass	Glyph
U+00A0	Separator	PLACEHOLDER	null	No-break space
U+200C	Other	NON_JOINER	null	‌ Zero-width non-joiner
U+200D	Other	JOINER	null	‍ Zero-width joiner
U+2010	Punctuation	PLACEHOLDER	null	‐ Hyphen
U+2011	Punctuation	PLACEHOLDER	null	‑ No-break hyphen
U+2012	Punctuation	PLACEHOLDER	null	‒ Figure dash
U+2013	Punctuation	PLACEHOLDER	null	– En dash
U+2014	Punctuation	PLACEHOLDER	null	— Em dash
U+25CC	Symbol	DOTTED_CIRCLE	null	◌ Dotted circle

The zero-width joiner (ZWJ) is primarily used to prevent the formation of a conjunct from a “Consonant,Halant,Consonant” sequence. The sequence “Consonant,Halant,ZWJ,Consonant” blocks the formation of a conjunct between the two consonants.

Note, however, that the “Consonant,Halant” subsequence in the above example may still trigger a half-forms feature. To prevent the application of the half-forms feature in addition to preventing the conjunct, the zero-width non-joiner (ZWNJ) must be used instead. The sequence “Consonant,Halant,ZWNJ,Consonant” should produce the first consonant in its standard form, followed by an explicit

A secondary usage of the zero-width joiner is to prevent the formation of “Reph”. An initial “Ra,Halant,ZWJ” sequence should not produce a “Reph”, where an initial “Ra,Halant” sequence without the zero-width joiner otherwise would.

The no-break space (NBSP) is primarily used to display those codepoints that are defined as non-spacing (marks, dependent vowels (matras), below-base consonant forms, and post-base consonant forms) in an isolated context, as an alternative to displaying them superimposed on the dotted-circle placeholder. These sequences will match “NBSP,ZWJ,Halant,Consonant”, “NBSP,mark”, or “NBSP,matra”.