On the Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet c8.64

c8.64

The marking of the initial *I*, *U*, *E*, *O* (No 1, Col. IV, a—d) by *A plus* the corresponding medial vowel-sign is, of course, an independent invention of the framer or framers of the Kharoṣṭhī and probably due to a desire to simplify the more cumbersome system of the Brāhmī, which first developed the initial vowels, next used them in combination with the consonants and finally reduced their shapes in such combinations to simple strokes and curves.¹ Similar attempts have been repeatedly made on Indian ground. The modern Devanāgarī has its ओ and औ since the thirteenth or fourteenth century, the modern Gujarātī has its *E*, *AI*, *O* and *AU*, consisting of *A plus* the medial vowel-signs, and [64] the Tibetan alphabet, framed out of the *Vartu* letters of the seventh century A. D., expresses even *I* and *U* by *A plus* *i* and *u*. These examples show that the idea at all events came naturally to the Hindus and that it is unnecessary to look for a foreign source of its origin.