Jha as found in standard Brahmi, was a simple geometric shape, with variations toward more flowing forms in later times.

The Brahmi letter , Jha, is probably derived from the altered Aramaic Zayin , and is thus related to the modern Latin and Greek Z.

A couple of identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Jha can be found, most associated with a specific set of inscriptions from an artifact or diverse records from an historic period.

It is used to transcribe the voiced patalal fricative [ʒ] from Urdu (ژ) and English.

Ža (झ़) should not be confused with za (ज़), which is used to denote the voiced alveolar sibilant [z] from Urdu, English, and other languages.

Ža (झ़) should also not be confused zha (ॹ), which is used in Devanagari transcriptions of the Avestan letter "zhe" (𐬲) to denote the voiced post-alveolar fricative [ʒ].

An equivalent sound, in some Slavic languages, is ž, ż or ж ("zh").

[4] Like all Indic scripts, Devanagari uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel: Devanagari exhibits conjunct ligatures, as is common in Indic scripts.

Some conjunct clusters are always represented by a true ligature, instead of a shape that can be broken into constituent independent letters.

Nepali and Marathi texts use the "eyelash" Ra half form for an initial "R" instead of repha.

Vertically stacked ligatures are the most common conjunct forms found in Devanagari text.

The Bengali script ঝ is derived from the Siddhaṃ , and is marked by a similar horizontal head line, but less geometric shape, than its Devanagari counterpart, झ.

It is possibly derived from a variant of 16th century Devanagari Jha with the top bar (shiro rekha) removed, and ultimately the Brahmi letter .

Like all Indic scripts, Gujarati uses vowel marks attached to the base consonant to override the inherent /ə/ vowel: Gujarati ઝ exhibits conjunct ligatures, much like its parent Devanagari Script.

Gurmukhi chajaa does not have a special pairin or addha (reduced) form for making conjuncts, and in modern Punjabi texts do not take a half form or halant to indicate the bare consonant /t͡ʃ/, although Gurmukhi Sanskrit texts may use an explicit halant.

As is common in Indic scripts, Malayalam joins letters together to form conjunct consonant clusters.

Texts written with the modern reformed Malayalam orthography, put̪iya lipi, may favor more regular conjunct forms than older texts in paḻaya lipi, due to changes undertaken in the 1970s by the Government of Kerala.

As is common in Indic scripts, Odia joins letters together to form conjunct consonant clusters.

The most common conjunct formation is achieved by using a small subjoined form of trailing consonants.

The second type of conjunct formation is through pure ligatures, where the constituent consonants are written together in a single graphic form.

As is common in Indic scripts, Kaithi joins letters together to form conjunct consonant clusters.