Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c26.s5: 6.5 TB-I system of medial vowel notation
Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c26.s5
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6.5 TB-I system of medial vowel notation
c26.s5.1
The Brāhmī principle of the 'inherent' *-a* was given up and the consonantal symbol was regarded as basic (mute). This simple but original modification enabled the Tamil-Brāhmī script to depict basic consonants in final position and in consonant clusters without ligatures. The employment of a specific marker to depict the medial *-a* follows as the natural corollary to the abandoning of the concept of the 'inherent' *-a* in the consonantal symbol. Consequently, the first of the medial vowel markers in Brāhmī, the short horizontal stroke to the top right of a consonant, came to represent the medial *-a* in the TB-I notation.
c26.s5.2
*Examples:*
c26.s5.3
| Apparent reading | Actual reading (with TB-I notation) |
| **kā ṇi ya nā na tā-** | *kaṇi-y nanta-* 'name and title of a monk' (1.1-2)¹ |
| **ko ṭu pi tā vā ṉa** | *koṭupitavaṉ* 'he who caused to be given' (11.2) |
| **i ḷā nā tā ṉa** | *iḷanataṉ* 'name of a donor' (17.1) |
c26.s5.4
However, a separate marker for the medial *-ā* was not developed in this system and the same marker depicted the medial *-a* and *-ā*, which could be distinguished only from the linguistic context.
c26.s5.5
*Examples:*
c26.s5.6
| **sā lā kā ṉa** | *sālakaṉ* 'sister-in-law's husband' (2.6) |
| **pā kā ṉa ū ra** | *pākaṉ-ūr* 'a place-name' (13.1) |
c26.s5.7
The Mangulam inscriptions (Nos. *1-6*) are typical examples of the Tamil-Brāhmī script with the TB-I notation. It is difficult to explain why a separate marker for the medial *-ā* was not evolved in this system as at Bhattiprolu. The ambiguity in this system was removed in the Bhattiprolu script with the invention of a separate marker for the medial *-ā* vowel.