Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s12.t4.5

c25.s12.t4.5

The earliest form of *ṉ* in the cave inscriptions resembles an inverted J (Chart 3: IV.³). The angular form (ibid. IV.²) preserved in the pottery inscriptions at Arikamedu (Chart 7: AKW 9; AKB 22) and Kodumanal (ibid. KDM 38) is probably equally early as indicated by the similar mode of formation of the letters *ḷ*, *ṟ* and *ṉ*. In one of the variant forms, the top attachment is almost flattened making the letter look like *nā* (Chart 5B: *ṉ*: *21*). In course of time, the baseline to the left of the vertical becomes shorter and the top hook gets bigger and tends to bend lower until it almost touches the baseline and goes down even below (Chart 3: IV. 4). In a parallel development, the baseline gets elongated towards the left and the hook at right becomes smaller (ibid. IV. 5). In Early Vaṭṭeluttu, the baseline has shrunk into a small hook attached to the top left of the larger curve (ibid. IV. 6). See also Charts 5B and 6 to 8 for attested forms.