Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c7.s19.t1.29

c7.s19.t1.29

(22) On the transformation of *pha* by the development of a central vertical (see above, under 1), the curve of aspiration is attached first to the top of the new sign (plate IV, 28, XXII; V, 31, III, &c.). But in the 11th century it sinks lower down (plate V, 31, XII), and it occupies already in the 12th century the position which it has in the modern Devanāgarī letter (plate V, 31, XX—XXIII). Retrograde archaic forms, like those in plate V, 31, II, XIV, are, however, not rare. Their occurrence has probably to be explained by the influence of the popular cursive alphabets.