Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c7.s3.t4.4

c7.s3.t4.4

As noted earlier (2.1.3), Kharoṣṭhī employs essentially the same diacritically modified consonantal syllabic system of Brāhmī and its derivatives, despite some important differences in detail. The script comprises a basic set of consonantal symbols with inherent *a*, “full” vowel signs used for word initial and non-postconsonantal vowels, and diacritic signs attached to the consonants to indicate postconsonantal vowels. The main difference in graphic principle between Brāhmī and Kharoṣṭhī is that the latter for the most part¹⁴³ does not differentiate long and short vowels. That is to say, the vowel signs, both full and diacritic, designate vowel quality but not quantity. For example, the same sign represents either *i* or *ī*, and the inherent postconsonantal vowel can be read as either *a* or *ā* (to be understood by context); thus [Figure:] = *ka* or *kā*; [Figure:] = *ki* or *kī*, and so on. The full or initial vowel signs further differ from those of Brāhmī in that they are all constructed from the basic vowel sign for *a* to which are affixed the postconsonantal vowel diacritics to form initial *i*, *u*, and so on; thus [Figure:] = initial *a*/*ā*, while [Figure:] = initial *i*/*ī*.