On the Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet c7.s3.20
On the Origin of the Indian Brāhma Alphabet c7.s3.20
- Language
- English
c7.s3.20
¹ With respect to the missing *AU* and (*A*)*ḥ* it may be noted, that the forms of *AU* in the Gupta and Pallava inscriptions, as well as those in the Bower MS, show that it was derived from *O* by the addition of a bar to the right of the vertical. But the medial *au* in the Bharahut Toraṇa inscription (Grundriss, I, 11, Taf. II. 28. XVIII) makes it probable that there was a second form with the additional bar to the left. Regarding the origin of the Visarga, which first occurs in the Kuṣana inscriptions, of the Jihvāmūlīya and Upadhmānīya, first traceable in the Gupta inscriptions, I am not able to suggest anything.