Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s13: 5.13 Medial vowel signs
Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s13
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5.13 Medial vowel signs
c25.s13.1
When one looks at the orderly sequence of the medial vowel signs in the Brāhmī script (Chart 1), one cannot but wonder at the originality and effectiveness of the system which has the brevity of syllabaries and the simplicity of alphabets.⁵ There can hardly be any doubt that the system is indigenously developed. The primitiveness of the signs in Asokan Brāhmī indicates that we are looking at the system in the very initial stage of its invention. A comparison with the medial vowel signs in Tamil-Brāhmī (Chart 2) shows not only that the two systems are identical, but also that the date of adaptation of Tamil-Brāhmī from Mauryan Brāhmī cannot be later than the end of the Mauryan Age. The evolution of the medial vowel signs in Tamil-Brāhmī and Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu is traced in Chart 6 (from the occurrences in the Corpus), Chart 7 (based on pottery inscriptions) and Chart 8 (from the Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu inscriptions at Pulankurichi).
c25.s13.2
⁵ It is the system of medial vowel signs that has uniquely positioned Brāhmī between true syllabaries (of the West Asian type) and true alphabets (represented by the Greek and Latin scripts). The Brāhmī script has been aptly described as 'alpha-syllabic'. (S. B. Steever 1998: pp. 4-5).
c25.s13.3
*-ā*: The medial *-ā* sign remains stable till the end of the Tamil-Brāhmī period (Chart 6: *-ā*). In Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu, the stroke becomes longer (ibid. *104*) or droops down (ibid. *107*); later, the stroke gets attached to the middle of the consonantal characters, especially *k* (ibid. *117*, *118*, *121*). This is a diagnostic feature which separates Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu from Late Tamil-Brāhmī.
c25.s13.4
*-i*: The angular form of the medial *-i* sign in Early Tamil-Brāhmī (Chart 6: *-i*: *1*) becomes cursive in Late Tamil-Brāhmī (ibid. *60*, *83*). In an exceptional form in the pottery inscriptions at Kodumanal, the medial *-i* stroke is attached to the horizontal arm in *ki* (Chart 7: KDM 15). In Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu, the curved medial stroke placed above the consonant is sometimes detached from it (as in *ḷi* in Chart 6: *-i*: *113*).
c25.s13.5
*-ī*: The medial *-ī* sign occurs relatively rarely. The primitive form of the sign with twin strokes survives even in Late Tamil-Brāhmī (Chart 6: *-ī*: *65*) along with the more evolved forms in the same period (ibid. *66*, *72*). In an exceptional form in the pottery inscriptions at Kodumanal, the medial *-ī* strokes are attached to the horizontal arm in *kī* (Chart 7: KDM 1). In Late Vaṭṭeḻuttu, the twin strokes of the sign become cursive as in the letter *kī* at Pulankurichi (Chart 8). The form with a flourish occurring in Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu (Chart 6: *-ī*: *115*, *116*) is influenced by contemporary Southern Brāhmī.
c25.s13.6
*-u*: The medial *-u* sign, a short horizontal or vertical stroke at the lower right of the consonantal characters (depending on their shape) remains stable in Tamil-Brāhmī and tends to become cursive in Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu (Chart 6: *-u*: *112*, *114*).
c25.s13.7
*-ū*: The medial *-ū* sign remains stable in Tamil-Brāhmī (Chart 6: *-ū*), the only notable exception being the cursive twin strokes at Ammankoyilpatti (ibid. *84*) influenced by Southern Brāhmī. In Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu, the twin strokes tend to join together in an angular form as in *nū*, *yū* and *vū* at Pulankurichi (Chart 8).
c25.s13.8
*-e/-ē*: The medial *-e /-ē* sign remains stable in Tamil-Brāhmī (Chart 6: *-e/-ē*) except for some elongation in the Late Period (ibid. *83*). The sign becomes occasionally cursive in Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu as at Pulankurichi (Chart 8: *le*, *ḷe*).
c25.s13.9
*-o/-ō*: The points of attachment of the twin strokes of the medial *-o/-ō* sign at either side of the vertical vary at random; in some cases, the left stroke is at a lower level (Chart 6: *-o /-ō*: *1*, *2*) and in others, the right stroke is lower (ibid. *9*, *13*). In Late Tamil-Brāhmī, the twin strokes are joined together in a continuous horizontal line at the top of the consonantal character (ibid. *62*). The left stroke becomes occasionally cursive (ibid. *69*, *73*). In Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu, the right stroke becomes attached to the middle of the consonantal character, especially *k* (ibid. *117*, *121*) as in the case of the medial *-ā* stroke in this period. This is also a diagnostic feature which distinguishes Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu from Late Tamil-Brāhmī. The Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu at Pulankurichi, however, retains the Late Tamil-Brāhmī forms (Chart 8: *ko* and *to* ).
c25.s13.10
*-e and -o* (with the *puḷḷi*) :
c25.s13.11
The medial *-e* sign with the *puḷḷi* is not attested in Tamil-Brāhmī, but occurs in Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu (Chart 6: *-e: 102*, etc.). The medial *-o* sign with the *puḷḷi* occurs once in Late Tamil-Brāhmī (ibid. *-o: 77*) and twice in Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu (ibid. *102*, *104*). At Pulankurichi, there are rare occurrences of medial *-e* and *-o* signs with the *puḷḷi* (not marked in Chart 8).
c25.s13.12
*-ai*: The form of the medial *-ai* sign (Chart 6: *-ai: 2*) remains stable till almost the end of the Late Period. At Arachalur, we come across two changes, one in which one of the strokes becomes cursive (Chart 6: *-ai: 85*) and the other in which both strokes are joined in a horizontally laid S-like stroke (ibid. *87*). In Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu at Pulankurichi, the medial *-ai* sign is a horizontal stroke with a small hook attached to its left end (Chart 8). At the next stage, the two strokes of the medial *-ai* sign are joined in a single curve with a loop in the middle (Chart 6: *-ai: 115*) or at the left end (ibid. *119*). In an exceptional case, the primitive form of the medial *-ai* sign survives in an Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu inscription at Sittannavasal-B (ibid. *102*), though other inscriptions in the same cave show the evolved forms characteristic of the period (ibid. *101* with two slightly different forms).