Fact · Languages and accents
Unicode says that in Hindi the word hal names the character that suppresses the inherent vowel, and halant names the consonant whose vowel is suppressed.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“In Hindi, for example, the word hal refers to the character itself, and halant refers to the consonant that has its inherent vowel suppressed”
The Unicode Standard, Version 15.0, Chapter 12: South and Central Asia, Unicode Consortium, 2022, Chapter 12, Devanagari, virama (halant).
Open the original- What it measures
- The virama is the sign that removes the inherent vowel. It appears inside many Hindi words, such as those with a consonant cluster.
- What it does not show
- The definition explains the sign's name and role. It does not give a list of words that contain it.