Indian Palaeography c12.s8: Punctuation in Aśokan Brāhmī

c12.s8.1

Punctuation is an exception rather than a general rule in Aśokan Brāhmī. In the pillar edicts especially and in others rarely we notice distinct spaces left between the words, but it should be noted that this was not so in all the cases. The idea of writing each word separately had developed but was not regularly followed. On the other hand, in the Kalasi R.E. (XI–XIV) the vertical line, i.e. the *daṇḍa*, in later scripts equivalent to the full-stop, appears generally along with the use of the cerebral *sha*. In this rock edict each edict has been separated from the other by placing a curve resembling the closing end of a parenthesis at the finish. In the Sahasram M.R.I. the *daṇḍa* regularly occurs at the end of the sentence., In the Maski M.R.I. it is again marked, but not at the proper place.