The Script of Harappa and Mohenjodaro and its Connection with Other Scripts c10.s39.4

c10.s39.4

⋈ is a phonetic compound of / and ⋈. It is elsewhere written as separate signs, see texts 4-9, and especially 4 and 5. Now why should it be optional to write / ⋈ or ⋈ ? Surely because it was optional to pronounce the combination as two syllables, or as one syllable by contraction. Now it has been shown that / has probably the value wi, ui, or u. ⋈ is probably a syllable ending in a, since the addition of / can be made to it for purposes of vowel modification. Then in / ⋈ we have ba-wi while in ⋈ we have b'wi.¹