Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c10.s3.11

c10.s3.11

Comparing the Telugu-Canarese alphabets with the Tamiḷ it is, then, impossible to suppose that the last is the work of Sanskrit grammarians; for had they been the authors of it, it would have been far more perfect[^3), and would have shown signs of adaptation which are wanting in it. Add to this that the Tamiḷ letters ḷ, ḻ[^4) and ṟ are totally distinct from the Telugu-Canarese corresponding letters and ṉ superfluous, and the amount of proof that the Vaṭṭeḻuttu is of independent origin, and not derived from the S. Açoka character, appears to be conclusive[^5).