Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s12.t3.11

c25.s12.t3.11

According to Meenakshisundaran¹ and Nagaswamy,² the letter *ṟ* is formed by combining the letters *ṭ* and *t*. However, the form of *ṟ* illustrated by Nagaswamy is a later one. Further, Tamil-Brāhmī has no ligatures and it is very doubtful whether in this script a simple consonant would be derived from a ligature of two other consonants. A comparison with the mode of formation of the other three additional letters (*ḻ*, *ḷ* and *ṉ*) clearly indicates a similar derivation for *ṟ* also by the addition of a simple diacritic-like attachment.