meet the alphabet - letters and vowels e and ai

first compound vowel 'e' as 'a' in 'fate' (11th vowel and letter)

this is ए e, é (to emphasize the accent).
a, aa, i, ii, u, uu, Ri, Rii, LRi, LRii make it 10.
e/é is the 11th vowel/letter. it is pronounced like the name of the english letter a; as 'a' of 'fate', mate, date etc.

but we skipped three very extremely rarely used vowels Rii, LRi, LRii. i think they were there purely because of linguistics rules, 'there ought to be a vowel here, as per the rules. but it is difficult to say, so maybe we will not use it.' must have been the thought.

just like in chemistry's periodic table of elements, as soon as they figured out the reasoning and structure of the table, scientists started to give names to elements not yet discovered but predicted. the not yet discovered elements were called eka-XYZ, e.g. eka-silicon, eka-boron in 19th century, and eka-mercury much later in 20th century. a little digression into eka-mercury, in 1996 scientists made it in lab, and it lasts for 30seconds before disintegrating. "in total, about 75 atoms of Copernicium (that is the new name of eka-mercury) have been detected using various nuclear reactions." - wow! that is LRi and LRii for us right there! :)


linguistically, e is formed with a + i/ii = e= ए

• eka = एक = one, alone, the only, OM, 
• ekaveNI = एकवेणी = one with a single plait, usually sign of a wife whose husband is away.
• eka-shRinga = एकशृंग  = one horned, rhinoceros.
• ekatra = एकत्र = collected in one place, gathered
• ekAdasha = एकादशी = 11th, 11th day in the lunar calendar, holy day
• etad = एतद् = this. compared to tat = that
• elA = एला = ilAyachI (इलायची hindi), cardamom
• eva = एव = only (ahameva = only me); for emphasis (evameva = exactly, surely, certainly)

how to write 'e' :

ai, the 12th vowel.
aa + i/ii = ai = ऐ

the most common words formed with ai, are usually formed when words with 'i' or 'e' are modified by adding a suffix.
e.g. eka = one; aikya = oneness; ichchhaa = desire; aichchhika = optional (up to one's wish, i.e. to do or not to do is optional)

• aitihAsika = ऐतिहासिक = of itihaasa (history), i.e. historical
• aindra = ऐन्द्र = of indra
• aindrajAlika = ऐन्द्रजालिक  = [of indra-jaala, net of indra] magic, black magic, illusion, sorcery
• aishwarya = ऐश्वर्य = of ishwara (lord, one who has authority); prosperity, authority, opulence
• aishwaryaa = ऐश्वर्या =(फेम.) one in authority, lady, devi, Goddess. (also, the famous actress aishwarya rai bacchan)
• aihika = ऐहिक = of iha (here); of this world; worldly

how to write ai? ->

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