Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c26.s15.t1: 6.15.1 Apparent lengthening of u as ū
Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c26.s15.t1
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6.15.1 Apparent lengthening of u as ū
c26.s15.t1.1
Another orthographic peculiarity of the Early Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions is the apparently 'unnecessary lengthening' of the short vowel *u* (initial and medial) as *ū* in certain positions. The present Corpus records 16 instances of this special usage in 12 inscriptions from 8 sites, far too many to be dismissed as scribal errors. All the inscriptions except one belong to the Early Period (ca. 2nd century b.c.-1st century a.d.) and occur in association with TB-I or mixed TB-I and II notations.¹¹ All of them are clustered around the Madurai region (see Map I, detail). The frequency and distribution of this peculiar usage justify the search for a rational explanation.¹²
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¹¹ The exception is the inscription at Anaimalai (*No. 60*) assigned to the Late Period (ca. 2nd century a.d.).
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¹² I. Mahadevan 1985a: pp. 22-27. The data has been updated in the present study.
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The following is the complete list of words in the Corpus with the special usage:¹
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¹ The list does not include words in which the vowels *u* and *ū* occur with normal values. It also excludes obvious scribal errors (e.g., *ur* for *ūr* 'village').
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| S.No. | Apparent reading | Actual reading | Meaning | Ref.No. |
| 1. | **a na tū vā ṉa** | *antuvaṉ* | 'a personal name' | 53.1 |
| 2. | **a va [v]i r[u] a a ra ū ma** | *avviru-ar-um* | 'those two persons also' | 45.3 |
| 3. | **a sū tā ṇa** | *a(s)sutaṉ* | 'a personal name' | 3.7.b |
| 4. | **ū tā yā ṇa sa** | *utayaṇa(s)sa* | 'of Utayaṇaṉ' | 24.5 |
| 5. | **ū pā cā a ṇa** | *upa(c)caṉ* | 'preceptor' | 10.1, 11.3 |
| 6. | **ū pā cā ṇa** | *upa(c)caṉ* | 'preceptor' | 9.1 |
| 7. | **ū pā ṟu vā . . .** | *u(p)paṟuva[ṉ]* | 'a personal name' | 11.4 |
| 8. | **ū pu vā ṇi ka ṇa** | *u(p)pu vāṇikaṉ* | 'salt merchant' | 39.1 |
| 9. | **ū ṟai** | *uṟai* | 'abode (of ascetics)' | 9.3, 24.4 |
| 10. | **ku ṉa ṟa tū** | *-kuṉṟa(t)tu* | 'of the hill' | 60.1.b |
| 11. | **ko ṭa ṭū pi ta tā a** | *koṭṭupitta-a* | 'which was caused to be carved' | 1.8 |
| 12. | **ko ṭa ṭū pi to ṉa** | *koṭṭupi(t)tōṉ* | 'he who caused to be carved' | 8.3, 9.4 |
| 13. | **ko ṭū pi to ṉa** | *koṭu(p)pi(t)tōṉ* | 'he who caused to be given' | 5.2 |
| 14. | **ni kā mā tū** | *nikama(t)tu* | 'of the merchant guild' | 3.4 |
| 15. | **pā ra a cū** | *paracu* | 'a personal name' | 9.2 |
| 16. | **pi ṇā ū** | *piṇa(v)u* | 'cleft?' | 3.8 |
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This special usage is also known from legends on pottery and other inscribed objects:
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| 17. | **ū ti rā ṇa** | *u(t)tiraṉ* | 'a personal name' (coin from Sri Lanka).² |
| 18. | **ū pā ā ṇa** | *upa[c*]aṉ* | 'preceptor'(gold ring from Karur).³ |
| 19. | **ū mā ṇ(a) . . .** | *umaṇa[ṉ]* | 'trader in salt' (pottery inscription from Uraiyur).⁴ |
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² See No. 5, Table 1.6.
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³ See No. 4, Table 1.8 and Fig. 1.24 A.
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⁴ K.V. Raman (ed.) 1988: Fig. 24.3 and Pl. 16. (See also No. 3, Table 1.5 and Fig. 1.19C in this vol.)