Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c23.s27.t5: 4.24.5 A democratic, quasi-alphabetic script

c23.s27.t5.1

The Tamil-Brāhmī script is a quasi-alphabetic script with just 26 characters (8 vowels and 18 consonants). The enormous importance of such a simple, easy-to-learn script in the spread and democratisation of literacy can hardly be overestimated. Palm leaf as a writing surface was also a happy choice, as in the semi-arid Tamil countryside it is abundant, perennial and virtually free. Palm leaf and the iron stylus radically altered the ductus of the script from the angular Brāhmī to the round Vaṭṭeḻuttu in the course of a few centuries.