Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c22.s2.t2.15

c22.s2.t2.15

The Tamil-Brāhmī cave inscriptions are the earliest lithic records in Dravidian. It is, therefore, not surprising that there are words and usages in the inscriptions which are not found even in the earliest layer of Old Tamil. It is, in my view, a mistake to dismiss these features as 'scribal errors'. Some of the rare usages are attested in later Tamil inscriptions indicating their presence all along in the spoken language though not represented in the earlier literary records. Some of the more interesting items not attested in Old Tamil are mentioned below.¹