On the Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet c8.48

c8.48

No 16. On phonetic grounds it may, of course, be expected that *Tsade* should have been used for the Indian *ca*. But the recognition of the real Kharoṣṭhī representative has been impeded by the circumstance that the earlier tables of the alphabet neglect to give the form of *ca*, which comes closest to the Semitic letter, viz. that with the angular head (Col. III). The tables give only the *ca* with the semicircular top, though the other form is by no means rare in the Edicts and is used also in the *cha* (Col. IV) of the same documents and even survives in the late Kharoṣṭhī inscriptions of the first and second centuries of our era. If the angular *ca* is chosen for comparison, it is not difficult to explain how the Kharoṣṭhī sign was developed. The Hindus made the top of the *Tsade* (Col. I, a—b) by itself, separating it from the remainder of the vertical, and omitted in accordance with the principles of their writing, which do not admit more than two strokes at the tops of letters (see above p. 52) the small hook on the right of the angle. Next, they placed the lower part of the vertical under the point of the angle and in doing so added a small flourish to the top of this line, which in course of time became an important element of their sign. The *Tsades* of the Papyri (Col. II) come very close to the Kharoṣṭhī *ca* and the second even shows the small projection on the left, just below the top. Nevertheless they are only independent analogous developments. For in both, the long line on the left has been made continuous with one stroke of the pen and the hook or curve on the right has been added afterwards. Moreover, in the sign of Col. II, b, it is very plain that the small projection on the left of the main line, which makes the letter so very like the Kharoṣṭhī *ca*, has been caused by a careless continuation of the right hand hook across the vertical.