Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s5: 5.5 Graphemic inventory of Tamil-Brāhmī
Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c25.s5
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5.5 Graphemic inventory of Tamil-Brāhmī
c25.s5.1
There are 26 letters comprising 8 vowels and 18 consonants, and 9 medial vowel signs in Tamil-Brāhmī:
c25.s5.2
Vowels: *a* *ā* *i* *ī* *u* *ū* *e*/*ē* *o*/*ō*
Consonants: *k* *ṅ* *c* *ñ* *ṭ* *ṇ* *t* *n* *p* *m* *y* *r* *l* *v* *ḻ* *ḷ* *ṟ* *ṉ*
Medial vowel signs: *-ā* *-i* *-ī* *-u* *-ū* *-e*/*-ē* *-ai* *-o*/*-ō* and the *puḷḷi*.¹
c25.s5.3
In addition to the above, two letters from the Brāhmī script, viz., *dh* and *s* occur marginally in loanwords from Indo-Aryan in the Early Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions.²