Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c26.s22.t9: 6.22.9 Discussion
Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c26.s22.t9
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6.22.9 Discussion
c26.s22.t9.1
While the comparative method is objective, the results in this case do not appear to be secure as they fail to resolve the following contradictions implicit in the argument summarised at (B) above:
c26.s22.t9.2
(a) On the one hand, the orthography of the Early Tamil-Brāhmī script is described as experimental, halting or even defective; and on the other, the script is regarded as so sophisticated as to anticipate the modern theory of the phoneme and devise an orthographic system based on it.
c26.s22.t9.3
(b) *Tolkāppiyam* has been rightly praised for its extraordinary insights into the principles of articulatory phonetics; but at the same time, the work is presumed to be unaware of the articulatory feature of voicing of the consonants in medial position.