On the Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet c7.s2.11
On the Origin of the Indian Brāhma Alphabet c7.s2.11
- Language
- English
c7.s2.11
Added to signs for consonants, either on the right or across the top, a straight stroke likewise denotes a change of quality viz. that the sign expresses the corresponding sound of a different class or *Varga*. The stroke has its original position in the Bhaṭṭiprolu *ḷ* (No 12, Col. VI), which has not been turned round. It appears on the left in the palatal *ña*,² because this has been turned. Its position is again the original one in the guttural *ṅa*, which in the Gayā alphabet and the Kuṣana (see above p. 31) inscriptions is [Figure:], and in which the foot of the *na* has also been modified. Finally in *ṇa* (No 14, Col. VI, b) the bar goes across the vertical. The peculiarities of the last two letters are probably due to a desire to avoid collisions with *nā*, *ne* and *O*.