Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c7.s3.t6.2

c7.s3.t6.2

A connection between Kharoṣṭhī and the Semitic scripts (see table 2.2), particularly Aramaic, has been evident to scholars from an early period. The Semitic connection was first discussed in general terms by Edward Thomas¹⁶² as early (e.g., 𐡂 *ga* > 𐨒 *gha*),¹⁶⁹ or by adaptation of a phonetically similar Aramaic character (e.g., 𐨑 *kha* < 𐡒 *qoph*). The derivation of the Kharoṣṭhī retroflexes is more problematic; Bühler takes them all as secondary derivatives within Kharoṣṭhī (e.g., 𐨛 *ṭha* < 𐨟 *ta* and 𐨜 *ḍa* < 𐨡 *da*), but the paleographic connections here are far from certain.