Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c7.s3.t7.3

c7.s3.t7.3

Several other characters underwent similar developments involving cursivization and stroke reduction or reordering. The original form of 𐨐 *ka*, for example, developed into a secondary one in which the extra stroke at the right is combined with the top stroke (𐨐); this, in turn, led to a late form in which the right-hand portion curves around to the left to meet the vertical (𐨐). In certain cases paleographic changes resulted in the development of ambiguous letters, the most important case being *ya*, whose original angular form (𐨩) developed a horizontal line across the top (𐨩) which often makes it virtually identical with *śa* (𐨭). In some cursive hands, *ta* and *ra*, *ta* and *da*, *va* and initial *a*, and various other pairs of letters are so similar as to cause serious difficulties in interpretation.