[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Archaeology, epigraphy and coins](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy) › [Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D.](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003) › c18 # Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c18: Table of Conventional Symbols Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c18 - **Language:** English ### Table of Conventional Symbols ### [c18.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.1) \[ \] Letters read doubtfully. ### [c18.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.2) \[\*\] Letters not in the original; restored or supplied by the author. ### [c18.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.3) \[|\*\] A full stop not in the original; added by the author. ### [c18.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.4) | Line divider occurring in the original. ### [c18.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.5) $ Represents a symbol in the original (see Fig. 5.11 for illustrations). ### [c18.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.6) … Three dots indicate a lost passage with one or more letters. ### [c18.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.7) ( ) (i) A letter not in the original added when the inscriptional words from the Corpus are cited elsewhere. ### [c18.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.8) (ii) Words added by way of elucidation (in translation). ### [c18.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.9) (?) Meaning or interpretation of the preceding word is uncertain. ### [c18.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.10) = Used to separate external sandhi. ### [c18.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.11) - The hyphen is used ### [c18.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.12) (i) before a full vowel in medial position (e.g., \*kuv-an\*); (ii) to separate the paragogic suffixes \*i\*, \*iy\*, \*y\* and \*y-i\* from the stems (e.g., \*siri-y-i\*); (iii) to separate a doubled consonant or a glide before external sandhi (e.g., \*cel-l=irumpoṟai\*, \*kō-v=ātāṉ\*); (iv) to separate segments of some compounds (e.g., \*poṉ-vāṇikaṉ\*); (v) to indicate an incomplete word at the end of a line. ### [c18.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.13) The hyphen is not used in transcription of the texts in the Tamil script. ### [c18.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.14) \* Indicates a reconstructed linguistic form or one which is not attested. ### [c18.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.15) \< Derived from ### [c18.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.16) \\> Becomes, changes into. ### [c18.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.17) Notes on Reference Numbers ### [c18.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.18) 1. Reference Numbers for inscriptions (in bold italics) follow the order of inscriptions in the Corpus. Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions are numbered \*\*\*1-89\*\*\* and Early Vaṭṭeluttu inscriptions \*\*\*101-121\*\*\* for ready recognition. For further details, see Introduction to the Corpus. ### [c18.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18.19) 2. Reference Numbers for inscriptional words follow the order of headwords in the Commentary. Each word is allotted a Reference Number comprising the inscription number and the word number separated by a dot. Minimal lexical segments of inscriptional words are indicated by alphabetical suffixes a, b, c, etc., for further analysis. (E.g.) \*\*\*poṉ-vāṇikaṉ\*\*\* (\*\*\*69.2\*\*\*) has two segments, \*\*\*poṉ\*\*\* (\*\*\*69.2.a\*\*\*) and \*\*\*vāṇikaṉ\*\*\* (\*\*\*69.2.b\*\*\*). For further details, see Introduction to the Commentary. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c18) · Pramāṇa