Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c7.s6.t2.5

c7.s6.t2.5

(5) The Anusvāra has the full form of *ma* (see above, § 9, B, 4) only occasionally in *maṁ* (29, IV). More commonly it is represented cursively by a straight stroke as in *maṁ* (38, XI), or by two hooks at the sides of *ma* as in *maṁ* (38, X). In combination with other consonants ending in a single slanting or vertical line, the Anusvāra is marked by an angle, opening upwards, which the foot of the consonant bisects (8, IV; 11, IV; 17, V; 19, V; &c.), or, rarely in Shāhbāzgarhī, oftener in Mansehra, by a straight line, a substitute for the curve of *ma*, as in *thaṁ* (21, V). If the foot of the consonant has some other appendage, the Anusvāra is attached higher up to the vertical, as in *ñaṁ* (14, V); *ḍaṁ* (18, V); *vraṁ* (33, V); *haṁ* (37, V). The angular Anusvāra is always divided in *yaṁ* (30, V) and in *śaṁ*, and the one half is added to the right end of the *mātṛkā*, and the other to the left. This may also be done in *kaṁ* and in *bhaṁ* (28, IV).