Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s10.1

c25.s10.1

**a / ā:** In Early Tamil-Brāhmī, the two arms of the letter are wide apart and often turn away from each other at right angles (Chart 4: *a: 1, 2*). This form is attested in the Asokan Edicts at Erragudi¹ and is also characteristic of the Early Sinhala-Brāhmī script.² The exceptional form (ibid. *63*) looking somewhat like X may be compared with those occurring in the pottery inscriptions at Arikamedu (Chart 7: AKW 6; AKB 7, 20), in which the lower arm of the letter is reversed and placed on the opposite side of the vertical. In Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu, the Late Tamil-Brāhmī forms are still retained at Pulankurichi (Chart 8), but later become cursive (Chart 4: *a: 108, ā: 116*).