Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s12.t2.16

c25.s12.t2.16

It is interesting that there are three distinct forms of *ḷ*, one each in the Tamil-Brāhmī, Southern Brāhmī and Bhattiprolu scripts (Fig. 5.⁶, a to c respectively). Though the sounds are identical or nearly so, the three forms of *ḷ* appear to be derived from different sources.³ As we have seen above, the Tamil-Brāhmī *ḷ* is derived from *l*. The Southern Brāhmī *ḷ* was developed from the later cursive form of Brāhmī *ḍ* (with a right-facing curve) by adding a small semicircle at the lower end.⁴ The form of *ḷ* at Bhattiprolu cannot be related to any other letter and its origin is unknown; it was probably a short-lived local experimentation.⁵