Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c21.s14.t1: 2.14.1 Revised model of medial vowel notations

c21.s14.t1.1

In brief, the studies show that the orthographic conventions governing the notation of medial vowels in Tamil-Brāhmī are different from those followed in the Brāhmī script. There were in fact three successive (though partly overlapping) stages (designated TB-I to III) in the evolution of medial vowel notations in the Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions. These may conveniently be illustrated by the Tamil word for 'son', which would assume the apparent forms of *mākāṉa*, *makaṉa* and *makaṉ* respectively in the three stages. It also appears that there were originally only two parallel systems of medial vowel notations (TB-I and II) in Tamil-Brāhmī, TB-I being earlier judging from palaeographic evidence. TB-I evolved into the Bhattiprolu system with its distinctive *-ā* medial sign, while TB-II gave rise to TB-III with its equally distinctive *puḷḷi*. The *puḷḷi* alone has survived in the modern Tamil script.