[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Archaeology, epigraphy and coins](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy) › [Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D.](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003) › c26.s19 # Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c26.s19: 6.19 Pause in Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c26.s19 - **Language:** English ## Contents - [c26.s19.t1 6.19.1 Pause in lieu of doubling of consonants](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t1) — 7 parts - [c26.s19.t2 6.19.2 Pause indicating that the following vowel is a diphthong](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t2) — 7 parts ### 6.19 Pause in Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions ### [c26.s19.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.1) One of the remarkable orthographic features of the Early Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions is the occasional pause or break between a consonant and the following vowel in the \*same\* syllable. This does not appear to be alphabetic writing with separation of consonants from the following vowels.² This orthographic feature does not occur in the Late Period and is not also attested in Tamil literary or epigraphical sources. The pause is noticed only in three words (two of them with two variants each) in the Corpus. An empirical study of the words reveals that the pause serves two functions. ### 6.19.1 Pause in lieu of doubling of consonants ### [c26.s19.t1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t1.1) | (i) | \*ataṭ-aṇam\* (read \*atiṭ-āṇam\* for \*atiṭṭānam\*) | 'hermitage' | 50.3 | | (ii) | \*atiṭ-aṇam\* (read \*atiṭ-āṇam\* for \*atiṭṭānam\*) | 'hermitage' | 49.8 | | | The word occurs elsewhere in the Corpus as \*atiṭṭānam\* with the normal doubling of consonants (\*-ṭṭ-\*).³ | | 63.6 | ### [c26.s19.t1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t1.2) ³ See Commentary (49.8). ### [c26.s19.t1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t1.3) It is interesting that this archaic orthographic convention occurs also in Tamil-Brāhmī legends on inscribed objects. ### [c26.s19.t1.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t1.4) (i) \*kol-i- p-puṟai\* 'Kolli Puṟai ' (Early Cēra coin from Karur).⁴ (ii) \*kol-irum-puṟai -y\* (\*kolli\* + \*irum-\*) 'Irumboṟai of Kolli ' (Early Cēra coin from Karur).⁵ (iii) \*veḷ-i cāmpāṉ\* 'Veḷḷi Cāmpāṉ' (silver ring from Karur).⁶ ### [c26.s19.t1.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t1.5) ⁴ See No. 7, Table 1.6 and Fig. 1.22 B. ### [c26.s19.t1.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t1.6) ⁵ See No. 8, Table 1.6 and Fig. 1.22 C. ### [c26.s19.t1.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t1.7) ⁶ See No. 7, Table 1.8 and Fig. 1.24 B. ### 6.19.2 Pause indicating that the following vowel is a diphthong ### [c26.s19.t2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t2.1) | (i) | \*ar-itaṉ\* (\*Aritaṉ\*) | 8.2 | | (ii) | \*ar-iytaṉ\* (\*Ariytaṉ\*) | 18.2 | ### [c26.s19.t2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t2.2) These are personal names of donors derived from Harīta (Pkt.). The pause between \*r\* and \*i\* in the first example seems to signal that the following vowel \*i\* should be read as the diphthong \*-iy\* as made explicit in the second example. Cf. also \*ariti\* (34.²) and \*ariyti\* (25.¹.b), personal names of donors, derived from Hariti or Haritī (Pkt.).⁷ (iii) \*par-acu\* (Paracu) 9.² ### [c26.s19.t2.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t2.3) ¹ E.g., \*kāviri-iṉ\*, \*yāṉai-um\*, etc., in the Velvikudi Plates (\*Pāṇṭiyar Ceppēṭukaḷ\*: No. 1, lines 93 and 57-58 respectively). ### [c26.s19.t2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t2.4) ² See section 6.18. ### [c26.s19.t2.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t2.5) ⁷ See Commentary (8.2). ### [c26.s19.t2.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t2.6) This is a personal name of a donor.¹ The pause between \*r\* and \*a\* seems to signal that the following vowel is to be read as the diphthong \*ai\*. Cf. (inscr.) pairs like \*aracu\* / \*araicu\* and \*uvaccaṉ\* / \*uvaiccaṉ\*; cf. LT \*amaiccu\* \< Pkt. \*amacca\*. ### [c26.s19.t2.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19.t2.7) ¹ See Commentary (9.2). --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.epigraphy.mahadevan-2003.c26.s19) · Pramāṇa