Indian Palaeography from about B.C. 350 to about A.D. 1300 c8.s6.t2.9

c8.s6.t2.9

The transformation of the Vaṭṭeluttu *ka* (plate VIII, 11—14, XXI, XXII), which seems to be derived from a looped form, is analogous to that of the figure 4 in the decimal system of numeral notation (compare plate IX, B, 4, V—VII, and IX). The curious *ta* (plate VIII, 25—28, XXI, XXII) has been developed by the change of the loop of the Tamil letter (compare cols. XVII, XVIII) into a notch and the prolongation of the tail up to the head. The still more extraordinary *na* (plate VIII, 29, XXI) may be explained as a cursive derivative of the later Tamil *na* with the stroke hanging down from the top.