On the Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet c7.s1.15

c7.s1.15

No 8. The discovery of the angular *gha* (Col. V, a) which occurs a few times in the Kālsī version² and is constant in the cave inscriptions, makes its identification with the three-barred [60] *Cheth* of the archaic Phoenician, of the Sinjirli and other ancient inscriptions, very probable. The Semitic sign, which often slants towards the left, has been laid on its side (see the hypothetical form in Col. IV) and the long upper bar, covering the letter, has been raised upwards and converted into the long vertical on the left.³ The usual form of the Aśoka Edicts with the curve is of course cursive. In the Bhaṭṭiprolu alphabet this letter has been discarded and a derivative from *ga* (No 3, Col. VI) takes its place. The Sabaean *Cheth* 𐩢, from which Dr. Taylor derives the Indian *gha*, is no doubt an analogous development from the old North-Semitic sign.