Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c7.s3.t7.5

c7.s3.t7.5

Several modified characters developed in Kharoṣṭhī of the middle and later periods. For instance, *ṣa* frequently appears in alternation with ordinary *sa* (), of which it is presumably a modification, perhaps derived from a reduction of the conjunct *sya*.¹⁷⁷ Several consonants, such as *ga*, *ḍa*, and *va*, were often written in intervocalic position with a diacritic mark consisting of a horizontal line added at the lower right, which is usually thought to represent a fricative pronunciation; for example, *g'a*. Such diacritically marked consonants are particularly common in the central Asian documents but also occur in some later Indian inscriptions, notably in the Wardak vase inscription (CII 2.1, 165–70). Another diacritic sign, again most common in central Asia but also found in India, is a horizontal line or dot above the character, which usually indicates an abridged conjunct consonant; thus *ṣ̄a* = *ṣṇa*, *c̄a* = *śca*, and so on.