Indian Palaeography c12.s7: The Medial Vowels and the Anusvāra
Indian Palaeography c12.s7
- Language
- English
The Medial Vowels and the Anusvāra
c12.s7.1
Bühler (pp. 14–15) seems to suggest that the addition of the medial vowels to the consonants is based on the same principle as that of the conjuncts, and for his proof he quotes the examples of the medial signs *o* and *u*, especially Pl. III*a* (Kalasi R.E. I–X), where the full form of *u* is subjoined. But this principle is not borne out by other examples. In fact the signs for the medial vowels are based on the three basic initial vowels: *a*, *i*, and *u*, and from these basic forms other signs are developed, just as in the case of the initial vowels, obviously by the Sanskrit grammarians.
c12.s7.2
(i) The medial vowel *a*, according to the rule of Sanskrit grammar, is present in all the consonants, and hence there is no separate sign for it.
c12.s7.3
(ii) The medial vowel *i* is marked primarily by adding a vertical stroke on the top right of the consonant (e.g. *ji* and *ṭi*), but in order to distinguish it from the vertical of the consonant it was usual to draw a short horizontal bar between the two verticals. In the case of the letters *ba*, *ṭha*, and *tha* the vowel is added to their middle right.
c12.s7.4
(iii) The medial vowel *u* is marked by a vertical (e.g. *nu*), horizontal (e.g. *ku* and *dhu*—the Kalasi example is an exception), or slanting (e.g. optional cases of *chu* and *khu*) stroke at the bottom right of the consonant.
c12.s7.5
(iv, v, and vi) The long vowels (i.e. *dīrgha* in Sanskrit) are formed by an additional stroke in the same manner: two verticals on the top for *ī*, and two strokes downward (e.g. *sū* and *pū*) or horizontal (e.g. *dhū*) for long *ū*. The principle governing the long medial *ā* is the same as that of deriving the initial *ā* from the initial *a*, i.e. the addition of an horizontal stroke to the top right, but sometimes it is also placed in the middle right (e.g. *ṭhā*, *thā*, *bā*, and *mā* only in the Girnar R.E.).
c12.s7.6
(vii and viii) The medial vowels *e* and *o*, which, according to Sanskrit grammar, are the *guṇa* forms of *i* and *u*, are derived from them by the addition of a horizontal stroke to the top (or middle) left of the consonant, but this addition cancels the vertical stroke of *i* and transfers the horizontal stroke of *u* from bottom to the top right (Fig. 5. IX, X).
c12.s7.7
(ix and x) The vowels *ai* and *au* are again, according to Sanskrit grammar, the *vṛiddhi* of *e* and *o*, and hence as before an additional stroke to the left is given (Fig. 5. IX, X). Actually the medial vowel *au* does not occur in Aśokan Brāhmī, but this principle is observed in the later inscriptions.
c12.s7.8
Throughout the formation of the medial vowels the hand of the Sanskrit grammarian is clearly observable. The signs follow the grammar, and not vice versa.
c12.s7.9
In some examples cursive forms of the medial vowels can be seen. In these cases the angular shape of *i* becomes rounded (*pi* in the Erragudi R.E.); *u* in *tu* slants upward (the Dhauli and Jaugad R.E.); *o* in *go* (the Rummindei M.P.I.) becomes one long stroke going across the top of the consonant. In the Girnar R.E. the strokes for *mā*, *me*, and *mo* are given in the middle instead of at the top of the consonant.
c12.s7.10
The *anusvāra* consists of a single dot placed on the right top, sometimes in the middle, and very rarely at the bottom right of the vowel or the consonant. In some cases where the medial *i* is found (e.g. *kiṁ*, Pl. IV*a*; *tiṁ*, Pl. III*a*) the *anusvāra* is placed at the angle of this vowel.
c12.s7.11
In the Jaugad S.E. there are three *svastikas* with curved arms and three *ma*’s engraved in the margin, one of the latter having a possible dot in the centre of its circle. It could be read as *maṁ*, and taken to stand for *maṅgala*, meaning auspicious. In the Rajula Mandagiri M.R.I. trisceles occurs. As these symbols are definitely auspicious marks, the attribution of alphabetic meaning to one of them seems far fetched.