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Early Tamil Epigraphy From the Earliest Times to the 6 th Century AD By Iravatham Mahadevan --- An Overview by S. Swaminathan

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About Evolution of Tamil Scripts

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Tamil Scripts

Early Tamil EpigraphyFrom the Earliest Times to the 6th

Century ADBy

Iravatham Mahadevan---

An Overview by

S Swaminathan

Early Tamil EpigraphyFrom the Earliest Times to the 6th Century

ADBy

Iravatham Mahadevan---

Published by Cre-A India

ampHarvard University USA

2003

The book deals with development of two scripts of TamilTamil-Brahmi and Early VaTTezhuttu

covering a period from the 3rd century BC till the 6th century

AD

First let me provide some background

information regarding the scripts discussed in the book

in order to follow lsquoMy Overviewrsquo

Brahmi Tamil Brahmi

VaTTezhuttu Tamil and

Grantha

We would come across with five scripts in the book

Short description of these scripts follows

Brahmi is an ancient script of India

The earliest writing in Brahmi is found in the edicts of Asoka dated to the 3rd

century BC

Brahmi is a general term and there existed a number of regional variations

like Southern Brahmi Sinhala-Brahmi etc

Brahmi

Brahmi is the script from which

all other native Indian scriptsexcept the Harappan

are derived

BrahmiMother script of Indian Languages

Development of the letter N (ண)

in all Indian languages

starting from Brahmi It may be noted

how the characters change drastically

over the centuries

Development of latter k (க) inDevanagari Tamil and other south Indian Scripts

BC-AD

Development of vowels of Tamilfrom Early Tamil-Brahmi

Developmentof consonants

of Tamilfrom

Early Tamil-Brahmi

Pallava Grantha a derivative of Brahmi

a script developed to writeSanskrit in the Tamil

countrywas the inspiration to most of the Asian scripts

This happened through the political and the cultural

conquest by the Indian rulers starting from the Pallava-s

BrahmiMother script of many Asian

Languages

Development of

letter k (க)for the languages ofJavaSumatraBorneo ThaiLaosKhmerCombodia Vietnam etcfrom the Grantha script

Tamil-Brahmi is the name of the script

in which the earliest inscriptionsin Tamil are found

Tamil-Brahmi

Let us see how Tamil-Brahmi looks like

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 2: Tamil Scripts

Early Tamil EpigraphyFrom the Earliest Times to the 6th Century

ADBy

Iravatham Mahadevan---

Published by Cre-A India

ampHarvard University USA

2003

The book deals with development of two scripts of TamilTamil-Brahmi and Early VaTTezhuttu

covering a period from the 3rd century BC till the 6th century

AD

First let me provide some background

information regarding the scripts discussed in the book

in order to follow lsquoMy Overviewrsquo

Brahmi Tamil Brahmi

VaTTezhuttu Tamil and

Grantha

We would come across with five scripts in the book

Short description of these scripts follows

Brahmi is an ancient script of India

The earliest writing in Brahmi is found in the edicts of Asoka dated to the 3rd

century BC

Brahmi is a general term and there existed a number of regional variations

like Southern Brahmi Sinhala-Brahmi etc

Brahmi

Brahmi is the script from which

all other native Indian scriptsexcept the Harappan

are derived

BrahmiMother script of Indian Languages

Development of the letter N (ண)

in all Indian languages

starting from Brahmi It may be noted

how the characters change drastically

over the centuries

Development of latter k (க) inDevanagari Tamil and other south Indian Scripts

BC-AD

Development of vowels of Tamilfrom Early Tamil-Brahmi

Developmentof consonants

of Tamilfrom

Early Tamil-Brahmi

Pallava Grantha a derivative of Brahmi

a script developed to writeSanskrit in the Tamil

countrywas the inspiration to most of the Asian scripts

This happened through the political and the cultural

conquest by the Indian rulers starting from the Pallava-s

BrahmiMother script of many Asian

Languages

Development of

letter k (க)for the languages ofJavaSumatraBorneo ThaiLaosKhmerCombodia Vietnam etcfrom the Grantha script

Tamil-Brahmi is the name of the script

in which the earliest inscriptionsin Tamil are found

Tamil-Brahmi

Let us see how Tamil-Brahmi looks like

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 3: Tamil Scripts

The book deals with development of two scripts of TamilTamil-Brahmi and Early VaTTezhuttu

covering a period from the 3rd century BC till the 6th century

AD

First let me provide some background

information regarding the scripts discussed in the book

in order to follow lsquoMy Overviewrsquo

Brahmi Tamil Brahmi

VaTTezhuttu Tamil and

Grantha

We would come across with five scripts in the book

Short description of these scripts follows

Brahmi is an ancient script of India

The earliest writing in Brahmi is found in the edicts of Asoka dated to the 3rd

century BC

Brahmi is a general term and there existed a number of regional variations

like Southern Brahmi Sinhala-Brahmi etc

Brahmi

Brahmi is the script from which

all other native Indian scriptsexcept the Harappan

are derived

BrahmiMother script of Indian Languages

Development of the letter N (ண)

in all Indian languages

starting from Brahmi It may be noted

how the characters change drastically

over the centuries

Development of latter k (க) inDevanagari Tamil and other south Indian Scripts

BC-AD

Development of vowels of Tamilfrom Early Tamil-Brahmi

Developmentof consonants

of Tamilfrom

Early Tamil-Brahmi

Pallava Grantha a derivative of Brahmi

a script developed to writeSanskrit in the Tamil

countrywas the inspiration to most of the Asian scripts

This happened through the political and the cultural

conquest by the Indian rulers starting from the Pallava-s

BrahmiMother script of many Asian

Languages

Development of

letter k (க)for the languages ofJavaSumatraBorneo ThaiLaosKhmerCombodia Vietnam etcfrom the Grantha script

Tamil-Brahmi is the name of the script

in which the earliest inscriptionsin Tamil are found

Tamil-Brahmi

Let us see how Tamil-Brahmi looks like

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 4: Tamil Scripts

First let me provide some background

information regarding the scripts discussed in the book

in order to follow lsquoMy Overviewrsquo

Brahmi Tamil Brahmi

VaTTezhuttu Tamil and

Grantha

We would come across with five scripts in the book

Short description of these scripts follows

Brahmi is an ancient script of India

The earliest writing in Brahmi is found in the edicts of Asoka dated to the 3rd

century BC

Brahmi is a general term and there existed a number of regional variations

like Southern Brahmi Sinhala-Brahmi etc

Brahmi

Brahmi is the script from which

all other native Indian scriptsexcept the Harappan

are derived

BrahmiMother script of Indian Languages

Development of the letter N (ண)

in all Indian languages

starting from Brahmi It may be noted

how the characters change drastically

over the centuries

Development of latter k (க) inDevanagari Tamil and other south Indian Scripts

BC-AD

Development of vowels of Tamilfrom Early Tamil-Brahmi

Developmentof consonants

of Tamilfrom

Early Tamil-Brahmi

Pallava Grantha a derivative of Brahmi

a script developed to writeSanskrit in the Tamil

countrywas the inspiration to most of the Asian scripts

This happened through the political and the cultural

conquest by the Indian rulers starting from the Pallava-s

BrahmiMother script of many Asian

Languages

Development of

letter k (க)for the languages ofJavaSumatraBorneo ThaiLaosKhmerCombodia Vietnam etcfrom the Grantha script

Tamil-Brahmi is the name of the script

in which the earliest inscriptionsin Tamil are found

Tamil-Brahmi

Let us see how Tamil-Brahmi looks like

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 5: Tamil Scripts

Brahmi Tamil Brahmi

VaTTezhuttu Tamil and

Grantha

We would come across with five scripts in the book

Short description of these scripts follows

Brahmi is an ancient script of India

The earliest writing in Brahmi is found in the edicts of Asoka dated to the 3rd

century BC

Brahmi is a general term and there existed a number of regional variations

like Southern Brahmi Sinhala-Brahmi etc

Brahmi

Brahmi is the script from which

all other native Indian scriptsexcept the Harappan

are derived

BrahmiMother script of Indian Languages

Development of the letter N (ண)

in all Indian languages

starting from Brahmi It may be noted

how the characters change drastically

over the centuries

Development of latter k (க) inDevanagari Tamil and other south Indian Scripts

BC-AD

Development of vowels of Tamilfrom Early Tamil-Brahmi

Developmentof consonants

of Tamilfrom

Early Tamil-Brahmi

Pallava Grantha a derivative of Brahmi

a script developed to writeSanskrit in the Tamil

countrywas the inspiration to most of the Asian scripts

This happened through the political and the cultural

conquest by the Indian rulers starting from the Pallava-s

BrahmiMother script of many Asian

Languages

Development of

letter k (க)for the languages ofJavaSumatraBorneo ThaiLaosKhmerCombodia Vietnam etcfrom the Grantha script

Tamil-Brahmi is the name of the script

in which the earliest inscriptionsin Tamil are found

Tamil-Brahmi

Let us see how Tamil-Brahmi looks like

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 6: Tamil Scripts

Brahmi is an ancient script of India

The earliest writing in Brahmi is found in the edicts of Asoka dated to the 3rd

century BC

Brahmi is a general term and there existed a number of regional variations

like Southern Brahmi Sinhala-Brahmi etc

Brahmi

Brahmi is the script from which

all other native Indian scriptsexcept the Harappan

are derived

BrahmiMother script of Indian Languages

Development of the letter N (ண)

in all Indian languages

starting from Brahmi It may be noted

how the characters change drastically

over the centuries

Development of latter k (க) inDevanagari Tamil and other south Indian Scripts

BC-AD

Development of vowels of Tamilfrom Early Tamil-Brahmi

Developmentof consonants

of Tamilfrom

Early Tamil-Brahmi

Pallava Grantha a derivative of Brahmi

a script developed to writeSanskrit in the Tamil

countrywas the inspiration to most of the Asian scripts

This happened through the political and the cultural

conquest by the Indian rulers starting from the Pallava-s

BrahmiMother script of many Asian

Languages

Development of

letter k (க)for the languages ofJavaSumatraBorneo ThaiLaosKhmerCombodia Vietnam etcfrom the Grantha script

Tamil-Brahmi is the name of the script

in which the earliest inscriptionsin Tamil are found

Tamil-Brahmi

Let us see how Tamil-Brahmi looks like

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 7: Tamil Scripts

Brahmi is the script from which

all other native Indian scriptsexcept the Harappan

are derived

BrahmiMother script of Indian Languages

Development of the letter N (ண)

in all Indian languages

starting from Brahmi It may be noted

how the characters change drastically

over the centuries

Development of latter k (க) inDevanagari Tamil and other south Indian Scripts

BC-AD

Development of vowels of Tamilfrom Early Tamil-Brahmi

Developmentof consonants

of Tamilfrom

Early Tamil-Brahmi

Pallava Grantha a derivative of Brahmi

a script developed to writeSanskrit in the Tamil

countrywas the inspiration to most of the Asian scripts

This happened through the political and the cultural

conquest by the Indian rulers starting from the Pallava-s

BrahmiMother script of many Asian

Languages

Development of

letter k (க)for the languages ofJavaSumatraBorneo ThaiLaosKhmerCombodia Vietnam etcfrom the Grantha script

Tamil-Brahmi is the name of the script

in which the earliest inscriptionsin Tamil are found

Tamil-Brahmi

Let us see how Tamil-Brahmi looks like

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 8: Tamil Scripts

Development of the letter N (ண)

in all Indian languages

starting from Brahmi It may be noted

how the characters change drastically

over the centuries

Development of latter k (க) inDevanagari Tamil and other south Indian Scripts

BC-AD

Development of vowels of Tamilfrom Early Tamil-Brahmi

Developmentof consonants

of Tamilfrom

Early Tamil-Brahmi

Pallava Grantha a derivative of Brahmi

a script developed to writeSanskrit in the Tamil

countrywas the inspiration to most of the Asian scripts

This happened through the political and the cultural

conquest by the Indian rulers starting from the Pallava-s

BrahmiMother script of many Asian

Languages

Development of

letter k (க)for the languages ofJavaSumatraBorneo ThaiLaosKhmerCombodia Vietnam etcfrom the Grantha script

Tamil-Brahmi is the name of the script

in which the earliest inscriptionsin Tamil are found

Tamil-Brahmi

Let us see how Tamil-Brahmi looks like

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 9: Tamil Scripts

Development of latter k (க) inDevanagari Tamil and other south Indian Scripts

BC-AD

Development of vowels of Tamilfrom Early Tamil-Brahmi

Developmentof consonants

of Tamilfrom

Early Tamil-Brahmi

Pallava Grantha a derivative of Brahmi

a script developed to writeSanskrit in the Tamil

countrywas the inspiration to most of the Asian scripts

This happened through the political and the cultural

conquest by the Indian rulers starting from the Pallava-s

BrahmiMother script of many Asian

Languages

Development of

letter k (க)for the languages ofJavaSumatraBorneo ThaiLaosKhmerCombodia Vietnam etcfrom the Grantha script

Tamil-Brahmi is the name of the script

in which the earliest inscriptionsin Tamil are found

Tamil-Brahmi

Let us see how Tamil-Brahmi looks like

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 10: Tamil Scripts

Development of vowels of Tamilfrom Early Tamil-Brahmi

Developmentof consonants

of Tamilfrom

Early Tamil-Brahmi

Pallava Grantha a derivative of Brahmi

a script developed to writeSanskrit in the Tamil

countrywas the inspiration to most of the Asian scripts

This happened through the political and the cultural

conquest by the Indian rulers starting from the Pallava-s

BrahmiMother script of many Asian

Languages

Development of

letter k (க)for the languages ofJavaSumatraBorneo ThaiLaosKhmerCombodia Vietnam etcfrom the Grantha script

Tamil-Brahmi is the name of the script

in which the earliest inscriptionsin Tamil are found

Tamil-Brahmi

Let us see how Tamil-Brahmi looks like

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 11: Tamil Scripts

Developmentof consonants

of Tamilfrom

Early Tamil-Brahmi

Pallava Grantha a derivative of Brahmi

a script developed to writeSanskrit in the Tamil

countrywas the inspiration to most of the Asian scripts

This happened through the political and the cultural

conquest by the Indian rulers starting from the Pallava-s

BrahmiMother script of many Asian

Languages

Development of

letter k (க)for the languages ofJavaSumatraBorneo ThaiLaosKhmerCombodia Vietnam etcfrom the Grantha script

Tamil-Brahmi is the name of the script

in which the earliest inscriptionsin Tamil are found

Tamil-Brahmi

Let us see how Tamil-Brahmi looks like

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 12: Tamil Scripts

Pallava Grantha a derivative of Brahmi

a script developed to writeSanskrit in the Tamil

countrywas the inspiration to most of the Asian scripts

This happened through the political and the cultural

conquest by the Indian rulers starting from the Pallava-s

BrahmiMother script of many Asian

Languages

Development of

letter k (க)for the languages ofJavaSumatraBorneo ThaiLaosKhmerCombodia Vietnam etcfrom the Grantha script

Tamil-Brahmi is the name of the script

in which the earliest inscriptionsin Tamil are found

Tamil-Brahmi

Let us see how Tamil-Brahmi looks like

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 13: Tamil Scripts

Development of

letter k (க)for the languages ofJavaSumatraBorneo ThaiLaosKhmerCombodia Vietnam etcfrom the Grantha script

Tamil-Brahmi is the name of the script

in which the earliest inscriptionsin Tamil are found

Tamil-Brahmi

Let us see how Tamil-Brahmi looks like

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 14: Tamil Scripts

Tamil-Brahmi is the name of the script

in which the earliest inscriptionsin Tamil are found

Tamil-Brahmi

Let us see how Tamil-Brahmi looks like

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 15: Tamil Scripts

நா ழ ucirc கொக uuml ற oacute த ouml ப [ளி] ouml

The hermitage (is the gift) of koRRantai of nAzhaL

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptionKudumiyanmalai 3rd century AD

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 16: Tamil Scripts

VaTTezhuttu a cursive style

was derived from Tamil-Brahmi andwas current all over the Tamil country

from the 5th century AD

VaTTezhuttu

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 17: Tamil Scripts

Tamil script that came into use from the 7th century displaced VaTTezhuttu

With the ascendancy of the Chozhas andthe displacement was total by 13th

century

However the script lingered on till the 19th century

in Kerala for writing Malayalam

VaTTezhuttu

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 18: Tamil Scripts

The Pulankurichchi inscriptions (5th century) are the earliest

A number of hero-stones in the Dharmapuri district

have been found inscribed in Early VaTTezhuttu

VaTTezhuttu

Let us see a specimen of VaTTEzhttu

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 19: Tamil Scripts

ஐ ம ப த தேத ழ னai m pa t tE zha na

ச ன ந தேநா ற றca na n nO R Ra

ச ந த ர நா ந தஆca na ti ra na n ti A

ச ர க ரு நா ச தகைகci ri ka ru ni cI ti kai ஐமபததேதழு நாடகள உணணா sectiquestiexclyacuteOgrave

தேநாறற சநதரநாநத ஆசரகரு தவம கொசயத இடம

The seat of penance of chantiramanti Acirikaru who observed the fast (unto death) for fifty-seven days

Vattezhuttu inscriptionThirunatharkunru 6th century AD

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 20: Tamil Scripts

The Pallava rulers created the Tamil script out of the Grantha script by the 7th century

adding necessary additional letters from VaTTezhuttu

Tamil Script

This is the view of Mahadevan and is not shared by some

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 21: Tamil Scripts

There are (according to Mahadevan) no inscriptions in the Tamil script before Mahendra Pallavan I (7th century

AD)

Tamil Script

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 22: Tamil Scripts

There was a steep increase in inscriptions in Tamil

from the 9th century onwards

The classical phase of Tamil script starts with the ascendancy of the Chozha-s from the middle of the 9th century

From the 11th century onwards this became the main script for Tamilthroughout the Tamil country

Tamil Script

Here is an example of Tamil script in the early stages

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 23: Tamil Scripts

ŠவŠ sbquo தி கோகocirc பரகோகசர பdivideமsvatiShrI kOpparakEsari parmadivideIgrave யாntildeIcirc 34 இவாntildeIcirc கனRku yANdu 34 ivANDu kAnaநாethIcirc Oacuteனயாoacuteதைதிigrave IgraveளograveETHnATTu muniyantaik kuLattuigraveIgrave மoacute திர ஆicircசyacute atildedivideograve தி அethEcircKku manthiri Accan mUrti aTTi

ன கIacute 2 இரntildeIcirc கச ஒOtilde கசoslashNa kAcu 2 iraNDu kAcA oru kAcAl

Tamil inscription Parantaka Chozha 10th century AD

In the 34th year of Parantaka Chozha Achchan mUrti a ministerhas given 2 kasu-s for the renovation of the lake

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 24: Tamil Scripts

Grantha was derived from the Southern Brahmi script

of Prakrit characters by the Pallava-s (6th century AD)

to write Sanskrit in the Tamil country

Grantha Script

Let us see how Grantha script then looked like

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 25: Tamil Scripts

sup2frac34frac343Eacutecentpermilfrac14Aacuteograve3OtildeAacuteAacutesectAumliexclEtadanishTamadrumamalO

daggerAacutehellipcurrenfrac344otilde AringcentordmcentograveAtildeordmcentogravesectfrac34iquestHamasudham vicitracittEna

iquestcentdivideAacuteiexclAgravecentfrac34oacuteOtildesectAgravefrac12ocirc3AtildelsaquosectAacutenirmApitanRpRNabrahmE

permilAringAtildeAringcentpermilIumlAumligravebdquocentfrac34iexclAcircfrac34iquestotildeShvaravishNulakshitAyatanam

Grantha inscriptionMahendra Pallava 7th century AD

The (cave) temple dedicated to Brahma Siva and Vishnu was excavated by Vichitrachitta (Mahendra Pallava)

without using brick timber metal and mortar

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 26: Tamil Scripts

Discovery of inscriptions in the Tamil country has been

eventful

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 27: Tamil Scripts

Discovery

Till the end of the 19th century only two scripts were known

VaTTezhuttu of the Pandiya-s belonging to 8th century and

Tamil of the Pallava-s dated the 7th century

It was wondered why there should be two scripts for one language

But their descent from Brahmi was inferred

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 28: Tamil Scripts

Discovery

The complete absence of written record of a great literary civilization of 2000 years vintage

was a puzzle

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 29: Tamil Scripts

This was solved when cave inscriptions resembling closely the script of Asokan edicts were found in Tamilnadu

around the end of the 19th century

Discovery

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 30: Tamil Scripts

The earliest finding of cave inscription is of Mangulamby Robert Sewell in 1882

This is not only oldest finding it is oldest lithic record in Tamilnadu andit is also of great historical significance

Discovery

And a host of discoveries followed

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 31: Tamil Scripts

Until middle of the last century cave inscriptions were the only source

of early Tamil writing

Then it was presumed that Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions were caused to be inscribed by Jaina and Buddhist monks who were not conversant with Tamil and that these inscriptions did not represent

language of the day

Discovery

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
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Page 32: Tamil Scripts

With the finding of inscribed pottery in Arikkamedu during 1941-44 and later from many other sites

the view has changed

Discovery

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 33: Tamil Scripts

The pottery inscriptions made it possible to date inscriptions more accurately

It looks that inscribing on pottery was given up after the 3rd century AD

Discovery

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 34: Tamil Scripts

Deciphering the Tamil-Brahmi script

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 35: Tamil Scripts

DecipheringDifficulties

Deciphering cave inscriptions posed a number of problems

Most of the inscriptions were in inaccessible locations

Inscriptions were not bold and clear

Language was mistaken for Prakrit

Clues to a correct understanding of the script were not found

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 36: Tamil Scripts

1906 Venkayya identified the script to be BrahmiBut he thought that the language was PaliHe read a line in Mettuppatti as anatai ariya

attempted to seek Vedic roots for the words

1914 Krishna Sastri attempted to readthe bold Sittannavasal inscription

DecipheringMilestones

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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  • Slide 87
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  • Slide 93
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Page 37: Tamil Scripts

DecipheringMilestones

1919 Krishna Sastrifirst noted purely southern charactaristics like

the occurrences of letter L [ளி]which was identified earlier in Simhala-Brahmi

He also identified the presence of three unusual characterslater identified as zh [ழ] R [ற] and n [ன]

He was the first to feel that some of the consonants must be basic (கொ$மouml)

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 38: Tamil Scripts

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer pointed out the powerful misguiding factor that what was written in Brahmi must be in

Prakrit

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 39: Tamil Scripts

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer found

- Soft consonants ( ग ज ड द ब) were absent

- sa (ஸ स ) was occasionally used but Sh (ordm श) and sh (ஷ ष) were absent

- All vowels except ai au Ri (ऋ) Lr (ऌ) M (अ) and H (अ13)

were used

- Conjunct consonants (Uumlethகொ$டOslashograveETH)were absent completely

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 40: Tamil Scripts

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer ruled out

Indo-European language and proved it is Tamil

He demonstrated convincingly presence of Tamil grammatical elementslike pAkan (Agraveiexclcedilyacute) vaNikan (Aringfrac12centcedilyacute) etc

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
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Page 41: Tamil Scripts

DecipheringMilestones

1924 KV Subramania Iyer could not still read correctly because of his incorrect orthography (spelling)his overestimation of the Prakrit elements etc

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
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  • Slide 123
Page 42: Tamil Scripts

DecipheringMilestones

1938-9 Narayana Rao tried to put the clock backHe felt that the language was Prakrit

and actually read the inscriptions fully

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 43: Tamil Scripts

DecipheringMilestones

1961 KG Krishnan identified pulli (OgraveucircCcedil$) a device introduced lsquolaterrsquo to mark

the basic consonants (கொ$மouml plusmnOslashograveETH) and the short e (plusmn) and o (acute) vowels

Later pulli was also identified in the 2nd century AD silver coin

of Satakarni

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 44: Tamil Scripts

DecipheringMilestones

1964 Kamil Zwelebil published the first formal study of cave inscriptions

1967 TV Mahalingam published the first book-lengthstudy of cave inscriptions

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
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Page 45: Tamil Scripts

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

1961 Mahadevan took up study of inscriptions

1962-66 First round of visits to the caves

1966 Corpus of 74 Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and2 Early VaTTezhuttu inscriptions

from 21 sites published

1987 Mahadevan proposed a tentative model

1991-96 Second field expedition

2003 Publication of lsquoEarly Tamil Epigraphyrsquo

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
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Page 46: Tamil Scripts

DecipheringMahadevanrsquos attempts

Mahadevan made field visits to the sites andprepared tracings direct from stones

andmade use of computer enhancement of

photos

He made chronological classification

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 47: Tamil Scripts

Let us have a look at some important inscriptions

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 48: Tamil Scripts

Mangulam inscription was discovered by Robert Sewell in 1882 and was rediscovered

by KV Subramania Iyer in 1906

Mangulam inscription

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 49: Tamil Scripts

This Tamil-Brahmi inscription is important because

this is the earliest inscription to be found and

in this inscription Nedunchezhiyana Sangam king is mentioned

Mangulam inscription

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 50: Tamil Scripts

Mangulam inscription

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 51: Tamil Scripts

The inscription is in Tamil-Brahmi and is dated to the 2nd century BC

Mangulam inscription

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 52: Tamil Scripts

A line from the inscription is given to compare the Tamil script 2000 years ago

with the present day script

க ணா ய நா ந த அ ஸி ர ய இka Ni y na n ta a si ri y i

It may be noted that a non-Tamil letter s (ஸ) is used

Mangulam inscription

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 53: Tamil Scripts

The text of the inscription is given along

with meaning in present day Tamil கணாய நாநதஅஸிரயஇ குவஅனதேக த3 மமம இததஅகொநாடுஞசழயனkaNiy nantarsquoasiriyrsquoI kuvrsquoankE dammam ittArsquoa neTuncazhiyan

பணாஅன கடலஅனவழுததய கொகடடுப1ததஅ பளிஇயpaNarsquoan kaDalrsquoan vazhuttiy koTuppittarsquoa paLiy

Mangulam inscription

குரு நாநதஸிர குவனுககு தரமம இது கொநாடுஞகொசழயனன

பணாயள கடலன வழுத கொசயதளிககபபடடபடுககைக

This is the charity to nanta-siri kuvan the kaNi the bed was caused to

be carved by kaTalan vazhuti the servant of neTunchezhian

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 54: Tamil Scripts

Edakkal inscription

Inscription in Edakkal Kerala was discovered by Fawcett in 1894

He made careful drawing and took photos and submitted to Hultzsch

Hultzsch took estampages and published a brief note to Fawcett

Fawcett published a paper in 1901

Hultzsch made an attempt to decipher but could not

For a century no further was action taken

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 55: Tamil Scripts

Mahadevan made two expeditions in 1995 and 1996

Unfortunately these Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions have been obliterated

due to graffiti by tourists

Edakkal inscription

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
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Page 56: Tamil Scripts

During the 1996 expedition Mahadevan found two other Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

dated to the 3rd century AD

In one of them there was a mention of kaTummiputa chEra a ChEra king

This is also another important inscriptionfor it belongs to the age of a Sangam king

Edakkal inscription

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 57: Tamil Scripts

In Pugalur near Karur the ancient Chera capitala number of inscriptions were discovered

One of them is important for it is a record of a Chera king of the Irumporai line

which ruled from Karur in the Sangam age

Pugalur inscription

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
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Page 58: Tamil Scripts

Pugalur inscription

Oacute த அமntildeணாyacute யuumlecircdivide கொசiacuteகயபyacute உகைறoumlmutA amaNNan yARRUr senkAyapan uRaiy

தேக ஆதyacute கொசoslashலிOtildeotilde கொபகைற மகyacutekO Atan cellirumpoRai makanகொபOtildeiacuteகIcirciacuteதேகyacute மகyacuteஇளிiacuteperunkaTunkOn makan (i)LanகIcirciacuteதேகஇளிiacute தேக ஆக அUacuteograve த கoslashkaTunkO(i)LankO Aka aRutta kal

The text of the inscription

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 59: Tamil Scripts

The abode of the senior Jaina monk senkAyapan of yARRUr The rock (shelter) was carved

when (i)LankaTunkO the son of perunkaTunkOn

the son of King Atan sel irumpoRai became the heir apparent

Pugalur inscription

The meaning of the inscription

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
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Page 60: Tamil Scripts

Inscription in Jambai in Villuppuram districtis one among the most outstanding discoveries

Dated to the 1st century AD the inscription records the grant of a cave shelter

by atiyan neTumAn anchi identified as the famous chieftain of Takatur

(modern Dharmapuri) celebrated in Purananuru

Jamabai inscription

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
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Page 61: Tamil Scripts

ஸதயOgrave தேத அதயoacute கொநாIcircமoacute அiuml ச ஈograve த பCcedil$

satiyaputO atiyan neTumAn anci Itta paLi

Jamabai inscription

The hermitage was given by atiyamaAn neTumAn antildechi the satiyaputta

The text of the inscription is given along

with its meaning

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
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Page 62: Tamil Scripts

Atiyan neTumAn anchi has the title of satiyapitOa title found in the Second Rock edict of Asoka

along with Cheras Chozhas and Pandyas thus establishing conclusively Asokarsquos connection

with the Tamil country

Jamabai inscription

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
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  • Slide 123
Page 63: Tamil Scripts

The identification of Satiyaputo with with Atiyaman was on the linguistic grounds by Sesha Iyer and

improved upon by Burrow

Jamabai inscription

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
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  • Slide 123
Page 64: Tamil Scripts

According to Burrow the developments are satiya [ஸதய] to atiya [அதய]

(with the loss of the initial consonant) and

putO [Ograveதேத] meaning lsquosonrsquo [makan மகyacute] then makan [மகyacute] to mAn [மyacute]like chEramAn [தே$ordmAtildeAacute$yacute]corresponding to kEraLaputO

[தே$கAtildeCcedilOgraveதே$த]

Jamabai inscription

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
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Page 65: Tamil Scripts

Now let us go through the contents of the book

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
  • Slide 15
  • Slide 16
  • Slide 17
  • Slide 18
  • Slide 19
  • Slide 20
  • Slide 21
  • Slide 22
  • Slide 23
  • Slide 24
  • Slide 25
  • Slide 26
  • Slide 27
  • Slide 28
  • Slide 29
  • Slide 30
  • Slide 31
  • Slide 32
  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
  • Slide 39
  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
  • Slide 43
  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
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  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
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  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
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  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 66: Tamil Scripts

Mahadevanrsquos book deals with Early Tamil-Brahmi

(2nd century BC to 1st century AD)Late Tamil Brahmi

(2nd to 4th centuries AD)Early Vattezhuththu

(5th amp 6th centuries AD)and does not include

Later Vattezhuththu and Tamil (both from 7th century AD)

Mahadevanrsquos Book

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
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  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
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  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
  • Slide 43
  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
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  • Slide 57
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  • Slide 59
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Page 67: Tamil Scripts

Part One Early Tamil Inscriptions

Part Two Studies in Early Tamil Epigraphy

Part Three Corpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Mahadevanrsquos BookContents

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
  • Slide 15
  • Slide 16
  • Slide 17
  • Slide 18
  • Slide 19
  • Slide 20
  • Slide 21
  • Slide 22
  • Slide 23
  • Slide 24
  • Slide 25
  • Slide 26
  • Slide 27
  • Slide 28
  • Slide 29
  • Slide 30
  • Slide 31
  • Slide 32
  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
  • Slide 39
  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
  • Slide 43
  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
  • Slide 59
  • Slide 60
  • Slide 61
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  • Slide 82
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  • Slide 87
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  • Slide 90
  • Slide 91
  • Slide 92
  • Slide 93
  • Slide 94
  • Slide 95
  • Slide 96
  • Slide 97
  • Slide 98
  • Slide 99
  • Slide 100
  • Slide 101
  • Slide 102
  • Slide 103
  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
  • Slide 107
  • Slide 108
  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
  • Slide 115
  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 68: Tamil Scripts

Part One

Early Tamil Inscriptions

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
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  • Slide 26
  • Slide 27
  • Slide 28
  • Slide 29
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  • Slide 31
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  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
  • Slide 39
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  • Slide 42
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  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
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  • Slide 50
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  • Slide 123
Page 69: Tamil Scripts

Discovering cave inscriptions have been uneven andthe book discusses important discoveries

The contemporary inscriptions on potteries coins seals and rings are included in the appendix to this chapter

Chapter 1 Discovery

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
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  • Slide 16
  • Slide 17
  • Slide 18
  • Slide 19
  • Slide 20
  • Slide 21
  • Slide 22
  • Slide 23
  • Slide 24
  • Slide 25
  • Slide 26
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  • Slide 28
  • Slide 29
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  • Slide 32
  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
  • Slide 39
  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
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  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
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  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
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  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
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  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
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  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 70: Tamil Scripts

The exciting story of deciphering is a very important chapter

The early attempts like the path-breaking paper byKV Subramania Iyer in 1924and the discovery of pulli and important researches from 1970

including Mahadevanrsquos work and finally a chronology of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions that includes pottery and other inscriptions

Chapter 2

Decipherment

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
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Page 71: Tamil Scripts

This chapter discusses the unsolved problem of the language of the cave inscriptions

how much and what kind of Tamilexplains the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan elements

Chapter 3Language

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
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Page 72: Tamil Scripts

The chapter shows how cave inscriptions portray life in early Tamil societystate and administrationreligion particularly Jainismsociety ndash agriculture trade professions

social organisations personal namesplace names flora amp fauna and culture

Chapter 4Polity

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
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Page 73: Tamil Scripts

Review of earlier theorieslisting evidences to support his theory of origin of Tamil-Brahmi from Brahmi

supported by 8 palaeographic Charts

Brief discussion on other Brahmi variants

Chapter 5 Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
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Page 74: Tamil Scripts

Detailed discussion on palaeography of Tamil-Brahmi and early VaTTezhuttu

vowels consonants the pulli numeralspunctuation symbols used in caves

Short discussion on evolution of VaTTezhuttu

Notes on emergence of Tamil script

Chapter 5Palaeography (Study of ancient

writing)

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
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Page 75: Tamil Scripts

The most important chapter

Different orthographic models studiedespecially for denoting medial vowelswhich among other things provides insight

into the relationship of Tamil-Brahmi and other Brahmi variants and

their relative chronology

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
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Page 76: Tamil Scripts

Orthographic peculiarities of inscriptionsEvolution of alternate models

Tamil-Brahmi I II and IIIMedial vowel notations

in cave and pottery inscriptionsAssimilation of loan-wordsVoicing of consonants

Chapter 6Orthography (Study of spelling)

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
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Page 77: Tamil Scripts

Phonology (study of sounds) with detailed inventory ofvowels consonants and consonant-vowelsand sound variations

Morphophonemics study of changes that occur during Sandhi etc

Morphology (study of forms of changes of words)in early Tamil and

Syntax (arrangement of words in a sentence)

Chapter 7Grammar

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
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  • Slide 21
  • Slide 22
  • Slide 23
  • Slide 24
  • Slide 25
  • Slide 26
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  • Slide 28
  • Slide 29
  • Slide 30
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  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
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  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
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  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
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  • Slide 93
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  • Slide 96
  • Slide 97
  • Slide 98
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Page 78: Tamil Scripts

Part TwoCorpus of Early Tamil Inscriptions

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
  • Slide 15
  • Slide 16
  • Slide 17
  • Slide 18
  • Slide 19
  • Slide 20
  • Slide 21
  • Slide 22
  • Slide 23
  • Slide 24
  • Slide 25
  • Slide 26
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  • Slide 28
  • Slide 29
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  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
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Page 79: Tamil Scripts

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsContents

InscriptionsEarly and late Tamil-BrahmiEarly vattazhuttuTracings and estampages

Commentary

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
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  • Slide 73
  • Slide 74
  • Slide 75
  • Slide 76
  • Slide 77
  • Slide 78
  • Slide 79
  • Slide 80
  • Slide 81
  • Slide 82
  • Slide 83
  • Slide 84
  • Slide 85
  • Slide 86
  • Slide 87
  • Slide 88
  • Slide 89
  • Slide 90
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  • Slide 92
  • Slide 93
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Page 80: Tamil Scripts

Corpus of Early Tamil InscriptionsInscriptions

This is an authoritative Corpus for researchers

110 inscriptions from 52 sitesarranged chronologicallywith text containingLiteral transcript as engraved on stoneText organised into words Translation into English Essential data specific to individual inscriptionsDate Publication and most importantly Notes

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
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Page 81: Tamil Scripts

Part ThreeCorpus of Early Tamil

Inscriptions Commentary on Inscriptions

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
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  • Slide 64
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  • Slide 66
  • Slide 67
  • Slide 68
  • Slide 69
  • Slide 70
  • Slide 71
  • Slide 72
  • Slide 73
  • Slide 74
  • Slide 75
  • Slide 76
  • Slide 77
  • Slide 78
  • Slide 79
  • Slide 80
  • Slide 81
  • Slide 82
  • Slide 83
  • Slide 84
  • Slide 85
  • Slide 86
  • Slide 87
  • Slide 88
  • Slide 89
  • Slide 90
  • Slide 91
  • Slide 92
  • Slide 93
  • Slide 94
  • Slide 95
  • Slide 96
  • Slide 97
  • Slide 98
  • Slide 99
  • Slide 100
  • Slide 101
  • Slide 102
  • Slide 103
  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
  • Slide 107
  • Slide 108
  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
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Page 82: Tamil Scripts

A detailed word-by-word study of inscriptionswith a view to situate them

in the main stream of Indian epigraphydeals with

Meaning literal and interpretationGrammatical notesCitations from literary and inscriptional parallelsLoan wordsContents relating to the development of

Tamil language and society

Commentary on Inscriptions

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
  • Slide 15
  • Slide 16
  • Slide 17
  • Slide 18
  • Slide 19
  • Slide 20
  • Slide 21
  • Slide 22
  • Slide 23
  • Slide 24
  • Slide 25
  • Slide 26
  • Slide 27
  • Slide 28
  • Slide 29
  • Slide 30
  • Slide 31
  • Slide 32
  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
  • Slide 39
  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
  • Slide 43
  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
  • Slide 59
  • Slide 60
  • Slide 61
  • Slide 62
  • Slide 63
  • Slide 64
  • Slide 65
  • Slide 66
  • Slide 67
  • Slide 68
  • Slide 69
  • Slide 70
  • Slide 71
  • Slide 72
  • Slide 73
  • Slide 74
  • Slide 75
  • Slide 76
  • Slide 77
  • Slide 78
  • Slide 79
  • Slide 80
  • Slide 81
  • Slide 82
  • Slide 83
  • Slide 84
  • Slide 85
  • Slide 86
  • Slide 87
  • Slide 88
  • Slide 89
  • Slide 90
  • Slide 91
  • Slide 92
  • Slide 93
  • Slide 94
  • Slide 95
  • Slide 96
  • Slide 97
  • Slide 98
  • Slide 99
  • Slide 100
  • Slide 101
  • Slide 102
  • Slide 103
  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
  • Slide 107
  • Slide 108
  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
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  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 83: Tamil Scripts

Let us follow some important discussions

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
  • Slide 15
  • Slide 16
  • Slide 17
  • Slide 18
  • Slide 19
  • Slide 20
  • Slide 21
  • Slide 22
  • Slide 23
  • Slide 24
  • Slide 25
  • Slide 26
  • Slide 27
  • Slide 28
  • Slide 29
  • Slide 30
  • Slide 31
  • Slide 32
  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
  • Slide 39
  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
  • Slide 43
  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
  • Slide 59
  • Slide 60
  • Slide 61
  • Slide 62
  • Slide 63
  • Slide 64
  • Slide 65
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  • Slide 71
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  • Slide 82
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  • Slide 85
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  • Slide 88
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  • Slide 90
  • Slide 91
  • Slide 92
  • Slide 93
  • Slide 94
  • Slide 95
  • Slide 96
  • Slide 97
  • Slide 98
  • Slide 99
  • Slide 100
  • Slide 101
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  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
  • Slide 107
  • Slide 108
  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
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  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 84: Tamil Scripts

Many Asokan edicts are in Prakrit and the script is Brahmi

This Brahmi script cannot be used directly for Tamilbecause there are no symbolsto represent basic consonants and

short e and o

Different Requirements of Prakrit and Tamil

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
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Page 85: Tamil Scripts

At least three different methods Tamil-Brahmi I II and III were triedfor medial vowel notation that isto represent

basic consonants like (igrave) consonants with medial ndasha like (cedil) and ndashA like (cedil$)

Attempts to adapt Brahmi for Tamil

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
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Page 86: Tamil Scripts

Pulli came to be used in Tamil-Brahmi lateras a negative vowel markerto provide what the parent Brahmi script lacked

to represent basic consonants (igrave) andto represent short e (plusmn) and o (acute)

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
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  • Slide 82
  • Slide 83
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  • Slide 85
  • Slide 86
  • Slide 87
  • Slide 88
  • Slide 89
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  • Slide 123
Page 87: Tamil Scripts

Pulli occurs only from the 2nd century AD onwards

But it is seldom found in the pottery inscriptions

Even later it was avoided in palm leaf writing

Pulli in Tamil-Brahmi

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
  • Slide 15
  • Slide 16
  • Slide 17
  • Slide 18
  • Slide 19
  • Slide 20
  • Slide 21
  • Slide 22
  • Slide 23
  • Slide 24
  • Slide 25
  • Slide 26
  • Slide 27
  • Slide 28
  • Slide 29
  • Slide 30
  • Slide 31
  • Slide 32
  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
  • Slide 39
  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
  • Slide 43
  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
  • Slide 59
  • Slide 60
  • Slide 61
  • Slide 62
  • Slide 63
  • Slide 64
  • Slide 65
  • Slide 66
  • Slide 67
  • Slide 68
  • Slide 69
  • Slide 70
  • Slide 71
  • Slide 72
  • Slide 73
  • Slide 74
  • Slide 75
  • Slide 76
  • Slide 77
  • Slide 78
  • Slide 79
  • Slide 80
  • Slide 81
  • Slide 82
  • Slide 83
  • Slide 84
  • Slide 85
  • Slide 86
  • Slide 87
  • Slide 88
  • Slide 89
  • Slide 90
  • Slide 91
  • Slide 92
  • Slide 93
  • Slide 94
  • Slide 95
  • Slide 96
  • Slide 97
  • Slide 98
  • Slide 99
  • Slide 100
  • Slide 101
  • Slide 102
  • Slide 103
  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
  • Slide 107
  • Slide 108
  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
  • Slide 115
  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 88: Tamil Scripts

A short summary of Mahadevanrsquos findings

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
  • Slide 15
  • Slide 16
  • Slide 17
  • Slide 18
  • Slide 19
  • Slide 20
  • Slide 21
  • Slide 22
  • Slide 23
  • Slide 24
  • Slide 25
  • Slide 26
  • Slide 27
  • Slide 28
  • Slide 29
  • Slide 30
  • Slide 31
  • Slide 32
  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
  • Slide 39
  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
  • Slide 43
  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
  • Slide 59
  • Slide 60
  • Slide 61
  • Slide 62
  • Slide 63
  • Slide 64
  • Slide 65
  • Slide 66
  • Slide 67
  • Slide 68
  • Slide 69
  • Slide 70
  • Slide 71
  • Slide 72
  • Slide 73
  • Slide 74
  • Slide 75
  • Slide 76
  • Slide 77
  • Slide 78
  • Slide 79
  • Slide 80
  • Slide 81
  • Slide 82
  • Slide 83
  • Slide 84
  • Slide 85
  • Slide 86
  • Slide 87
  • Slide 88
  • Slide 89
  • Slide 90
  • Slide 91
  • Slide 92
  • Slide 93
  • Slide 94
  • Slide 95
  • Slide 96
  • Slide 97
  • Slide 98
  • Slide 99
  • Slide 100
  • Slide 101
  • Slide 102
  • Slide 103
  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
  • Slide 107
  • Slide 108
  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
  • Slide 115
  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 89: Tamil Scripts

According to Mahadevan there were three stages of development of medial vowel notation

Tamil-Brahmi I - 2nd century BC to 1st century BC

Tamil-Brahmi II - 1st century BC to 5th century AD

Tamil-Brahmi III - 2nd century AD to 6th century AD

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
  • Slide 15
  • Slide 16
  • Slide 17
  • Slide 18
  • Slide 19
  • Slide 20
  • Slide 21
  • Slide 22
  • Slide 23
  • Slide 24
  • Slide 25
  • Slide 26
  • Slide 27
  • Slide 28
  • Slide 29
  • Slide 30
  • Slide 31
  • Slide 32
  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
  • Slide 39
  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
  • Slide 43
  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
  • Slide 59
  • Slide 60
  • Slide 61
  • Slide 62
  • Slide 63
  • Slide 64
  • Slide 65
  • Slide 66
  • Slide 67
  • Slide 68
  • Slide 69
  • Slide 70
  • Slide 71
  • Slide 72
  • Slide 73
  • Slide 74
  • Slide 75
  • Slide 76
  • Slide 77
  • Slide 78
  • Slide 79
  • Slide 80
  • Slide 81
  • Slide 82
  • Slide 83
  • Slide 84
  • Slide 85
  • Slide 86
  • Slide 87
  • Slide 88
  • Slide 89
  • Slide 90
  • Slide 91
  • Slide 92
  • Slide 93
  • Slide 94
  • Slide 95
  • Slide 96
  • Slide 97
  • Slide 98
  • Slide 99
  • Slide 100
  • Slide 101
  • Slide 102
  • Slide 103
  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
  • Slide 107
  • Slide 108
  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
  • Slide 115
  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 90: Tamil Scripts

The figure that follows attempts to showthrough an example the basic consonants and medial vowel notations

as depicted in these stages

Possible ambiguity is indicated by pointing out alternate readings

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
  • Slide 15
  • Slide 16
  • Slide 17
  • Slide 18
  • Slide 19
  • Slide 20
  • Slide 21
  • Slide 22
  • Slide 23
  • Slide 24
  • Slide 25
  • Slide 26
  • Slide 27
  • Slide 28
  • Slide 29
  • Slide 30
  • Slide 31
  • Slide 32
  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
  • Slide 39
  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
  • Slide 43
  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
  • Slide 59
  • Slide 60
  • Slide 61
  • Slide 62
  • Slide 63
  • Slide 64
  • Slide 65
  • Slide 66
  • Slide 67
  • Slide 68
  • Slide 69
  • Slide 70
  • Slide 71
  • Slide 72
  • Slide 73
  • Slide 74
  • Slide 75
  • Slide 76
  • Slide 77
  • Slide 78
  • Slide 79
  • Slide 80
  • Slide 81
  • Slide 82
  • Slide 83
  • Slide 84
  • Slide 85
  • Slide 86
  • Slide 87
  • Slide 88
  • Slide 89
  • Slide 90
  • Slide 91
  • Slide 92
  • Slide 93
  • Slide 94
  • Slide 95
  • Slide 96
  • Slide 97
  • Slide 98
  • Slide 99
  • Slide 100
  • Slide 101
  • Slide 102
  • Slide 103
  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
  • Slide 107
  • Slide 108
  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
  • Slide 115
  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 91: Tamil Scripts

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Developmentordm$தநா

cannot write சதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacuteசதிoacute

சதoacuteAlternatereadings

சograveநாசograveoacuteசதிநா

சதoacuteNo

alternatereading

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
  • Slide 15
  • Slide 16
  • Slide 17
  • Slide 18
  • Slide 19
  • Slide 20
  • Slide 21
  • Slide 22
  • Slide 23
  • Slide 24
  • Slide 25
  • Slide 26
  • Slide 27
  • Slide 28
  • Slide 29
  • Slide 30
  • Slide 31
  • Slide 32
  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
  • Slide 39
  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
  • Slide 43
  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
  • Slide 59
  • Slide 60
  • Slide 61
  • Slide 62
  • Slide 63
  • Slide 64
  • Slide 65
  • Slide 66
  • Slide 67
  • Slide 68
  • Slide 69
  • Slide 70
  • Slide 71
  • Slide 72
  • Slide 73
  • Slide 74
  • Slide 75
  • Slide 76
  • Slide 77
  • Slide 78
  • Slide 79
  • Slide 80
  • Slide 81
  • Slide 82
  • Slide 83
  • Slide 84
  • Slide 85
  • Slide 86
  • Slide 87
  • Slide 88
  • Slide 89
  • Slide 90
  • Slide 91
  • Slide 92
  • Slide 93
  • Slide 94
  • Slide 95
  • Slide 96
  • Slide 97
  • Slide 98
  • Slide 99
  • Slide 100
  • Slide 101
  • Slide 102
  • Slide 103
  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
  • Slide 107
  • Slide 108
  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
  • Slide 115
  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 92: Tamil Scripts

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

In the light of finding TB-II style of writingin the Arikamedu potteries dated to 2nd century BC

Mahadevan is expresses his inability to explain howlsquotwo parallel mutually exclusive competing systemsrsquo appear at the same time andwithin a small homogenous linguistic communityrsquo

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
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Page 93: Tamil Scripts

Mahadevanrsquos findingsStages of Development

Since most of the Early Brahmi inscriptions are found near MaduraiTamil-Brahmi script must have been created

in the Pandya kingdom around the end of 3rd century BC

and then spread to other parts of the Tamil country

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
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  • Slide 123
Page 94: Tamil Scripts

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

The language is Old Tamil not materially different from

the language of later Tamil inscriptions or even literary texts

in its basic phonological morphological and syntactical features

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
  • Slide 15
  • Slide 16
  • Slide 17
  • Slide 18
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  • Slide 21
  • Slide 22
  • Slide 23
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  • Slide 27
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  • Slide 29
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  • Slide 31
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  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
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  • Slide 40
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  • Slide 42
  • Slide 43
  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
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  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
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  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
  • Slide 59
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  • Slide 61
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  • Slide 101
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  • Slide 103
  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
  • Slide 107
  • Slide 108
  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
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  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 95: Tamil Scripts

Mahadevanrsquos findingsLanguage

All loan-words are nounsMost of the loan-words are adapted

to the Tamil phonetic patterngaNaka to kaNakagOpa to kOpanrAjA to irAsardAnam to tAnam adhiTThAna to atiTTAnam

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
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Page 96: Tamil Scripts

The earliest Tamil inscriptions are from 3rd century BC whereas of Kannada-Telugu appear 8 centuries later

Sangam literature is dated to the beginning of Christian era while literature of Kannada and Telugu

appear a millennium later

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
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  • Slide 123
Page 97: Tamil Scripts

The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country are almost exclusively in Tamil

In contrast for the same period inscriptions in stone seals pottery etc

in the Upper South India are exclusively in Prakrit

Mahadevanrsquos findingsComparison with Situation in Upper

South India

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
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  • Slide 118
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  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 98: Tamil Scripts

Literacy in the Tamil countrywhen compared with the situation

in contemporary Upper South Indiacommenced much earlier

Tamil the local language was used for all purposes from the beginning democratic character in society existed

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
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Page 99: Tamil Scripts

Literacy in the Tamil Countryseems to have been widespread in all the regions in the Tamil country both in urban and rural areas

in all strata of Tamil society

Primary evidence for this comes from inscribed pottery

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
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  • Slide 118
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Page 100: Tamil Scripts

A number of reasons are contributed to this

In Upper South India the spoken languages were Kannada and Telugu but Prakrit was the language of the rulers

But the Tamil country was politically independent and

the rulers were Tamils

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
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  • Slide 118
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  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 101: Tamil Scripts

It had the presence of a strong bardic tradition

Priestly hierarchy that could have vested interest in maintaining oral tradition or

discouraging writing after its adventwas not present

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
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  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
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  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
  • Slide 43
  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
  • Slide 59
  • Slide 60
  • Slide 61
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  • Slide 65
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  • Slide 80
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  • Slide 83
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  • Slide 85
  • Slide 86
  • Slide 87
  • Slide 88
  • Slide 89
  • Slide 90
  • Slide 91
  • Slide 92
  • Slide 93
  • Slide 94
  • Slide 95
  • Slide 96
  • Slide 97
  • Slide 98
  • Slide 99
  • Slide 100
  • Slide 101
  • Slide 102
  • Slide 103
  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
  • Slide 107
  • Slide 108
  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
  • Slide 115
  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 102: Tamil Scripts

A strong tradition of local autonomy through self-governing villages councils and

merchant guilds

The spread of Jainism and Buddhism andextensive foreign trade

Mahadevanrsquos findingsWidespread literacy in Tamilnadu

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
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  • Slide 121
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  • Slide 123
Page 103: Tamil Scripts

Tamil-Brahmi was derived from Brahmi

All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamil-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding

Brahmi letter and have the same phonetic value

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
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  • Slide 38
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  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
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  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
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  • Slide 73
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  • Slide 77
  • Slide 78
  • Slide 79
  • Slide 80
  • Slide 81
  • Slide 82
  • Slide 83
  • Slide 84
  • Slide 85
  • Slide 86
  • Slide 87
  • Slide 88
  • Slide 89
  • Slide 90
  • Slide 91
  • Slide 92
  • Slide 93
  • Slide 94
  • Slide 95
  • Slide 96
  • Slide 97
  • Slide 98
  • Slide 99
  • Slide 100
  • Slide 101
  • Slide 102
  • Slide 103
  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
  • Slide 107
  • Slide 108
  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
  • Slide 115
  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 104: Tamil Scripts

Vowels

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
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  • Slide 41
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  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
  • Slide 59
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  • Slide 61
  • Slide 62
  • Slide 63
  • Slide 64
  • Slide 65
  • Slide 66
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  • Slide 69
  • Slide 70
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  • Slide 73
  • Slide 74
  • Slide 75
  • Slide 76
  • Slide 77
  • Slide 78
  • Slide 79
  • Slide 80
  • Slide 81
  • Slide 82
  • Slide 83
  • Slide 84
  • Slide 85
  • Slide 86
  • Slide 87
  • Slide 88
  • Slide 89
  • Slide 90
  • Slide 91
  • Slide 92
  • Slide 93
  • Slide 94
  • Slide 95
  • Slide 96
  • Slide 97
  • Slide 98
  • Slide 99
  • Slide 100
  • Slide 101
  • Slide 102
  • Slide 103
  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
  • Slide 107
  • Slide 108
  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
  • Slide 115
  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 105: Tamil Scripts

Brahmi Tamil-Brahmi

Consonants

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
  • Slide 15
  • Slide 16
  • Slide 17
  • Slide 18
  • Slide 19
  • Slide 20
  • Slide 21
  • Slide 22
  • Slide 23
  • Slide 24
  • Slide 25
  • Slide 26
  • Slide 27
  • Slide 28
  • Slide 29
  • Slide 30
  • Slide 31
  • Slide 32
  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
  • Slide 35
  • Slide 36
  • Slide 37
  • Slide 38
  • Slide 39
  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
  • Slide 43
  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
  • Slide 48
  • Slide 49
  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
  • Slide 52
  • Slide 53
  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
  • Slide 59
  • Slide 60
  • Slide 61
  • Slide 62
  • Slide 63
  • Slide 64
  • Slide 65
  • Slide 66
  • Slide 67
  • Slide 68
  • Slide 69
  • Slide 70
  • Slide 71
  • Slide 72
  • Slide 73
  • Slide 74
  • Slide 75
  • Slide 76
  • Slide 77
  • Slide 78
  • Slide 79
  • Slide 80
  • Slide 81
  • Slide 82
  • Slide 83
  • Slide 84
  • Slide 85
  • Slide 86
  • Slide 87
  • Slide 88
  • Slide 89
  • Slide 90
  • Slide 91
  • Slide 92
  • Slide 93
  • Slide 94
  • Slide 95
  • Slide 96
  • Slide 97
  • Slide 98
  • Slide 99
  • Slide 100
  • Slide 101
  • Slide 102
  • Slide 103
  • Slide 104
  • Slide 105
  • Slide 106
  • Slide 107
  • Slide 108
  • Slide 109
  • Slide 110
  • Slide 111
  • Slide 112
  • Slide 113
  • Slide 114
  • Slide 115
  • Slide 116
  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 106: Tamil Scripts

Medial vowel signs are identical along with phonetic values

Brahmi

Tamil-Brahmi

Medial vowel signs

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
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Page 107: Tamil Scripts

The additional letters zh ழL ளி R ற and n னwere adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic

value in Brahmi

Development of additional letters

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
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  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 108: Tamil Scripts

ளி

Development of additional letters

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
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  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 109: Tamil Scripts

Mahadevanrsquos findingsEvolution and Chronology of South

Indian Scripts 3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

5th century AD

6th century AD

7th century AD

14th century AD

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
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  • Slide 98
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  • Slide 101
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  • Slide 107
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  • Slide 109
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  • Slide 111
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  • Slide 114
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  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 110: Tamil Scripts

Tolkappiyam places the four letters zh [ழ] L [ளி]R [ற] and n [ன]at the end of the series of stops nasals and liquids

This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics

This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken from Brahmi

Mahadevanrsquos findingsOrigin of Tamil-Brahmi

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
  • Slide 2
  • Slide 3
  • Slide 4
  • Slide 5
  • Slide 6
  • Slide 7
  • Slide 8
  • Slide 9
  • Slide 10
  • Slide 11
  • Slide 12
  • Slide 13
  • Slide 14
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  • Slide 31
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  • Slide 33
  • Slide 34
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  • Slide 36
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  • Slide 40
  • Slide 41
  • Slide 42
  • Slide 43
  • Slide 44
  • Slide 45
  • Slide 46
  • Slide 47
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  • Slide 50
  • Slide 51
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  • Slide 54
  • Slide 55
  • Slide 56
  • Slide 57
  • Slide 58
  • Slide 59
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  • Slide 117
  • Slide 118
  • Slide 119
  • Slide 120
  • Slide 121
  • Slide 122
  • Slide 123
Page 111: Tamil Scripts

Possible issues for discussion in the future

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 112: Tamil Scripts

Mu Va (1972) says thatthe Tamils used a script of their own and

Tamil-Brahmi has developed under the influence of VaTTezhuttu

TN Subramanian (1957) KG Krishnan (1981)and a few others argue

that Brahmi was a Tamil creation andcame to be adapted all over Indiawith regional modifications

Mahadevan says Tamil-Brahmi is a derivative of Brahmi

IssuesWhich came first ndash Brahmi or Tamil-

Brahmi

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 113: Tamil Scripts

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says thatthere was one in which classical works were written andwas supplanted by Tamil-Brahmi

Mahadevan says that Tamil was not written before

Issues Was there a script for Tamil before

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 114: Tamil Scripts

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy (1981) says the inscriptions are full of errors engraved by people with inadequate knowledge of

Tamil

Issues What kind of Tamil

Mahadevan says it is Old Tamilnot very different from contemporary literary Tamil

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 115: Tamil Scripts

Mahadevan says thatTolkappiyam must have been composed

not earlier than 2nd century ADfor it describes the use of puLLi

to denote basic consonants andto denote short vowels e and o

Issues Dating Tolkappiyam

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 116: Tamil Scripts

Today we write murukan and read it as murugank is called unvoiced and g as voiced

The present use follows Caldwell law of convertibilityIt is K in the beginning (KaN) and

when doubled (makkaL) and it is G when it occurs in the middle (murugan) or

follows the nasal consonant (mangai)

There has been controversy whetherin the past also it was so in the past too

Issues Voicing in Tamil

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

  • Slide 1
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Page 117: Tamil Scripts

One view is Voicing existed from the beginning

from the pre-Tamil stage

It is present in all Dravidian languages

Hence must have existed in early Tamil alsobut not provided for in the spelling

Originators were awareof the principle of phoneme and did not feel necessary to borrow

voiced consonants from Brahmi

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 118: Tamil Scripts

Mahadevan says

There was no voicing in Tamil in early Tamil

If voicing was present the adaptors of the script for Tamil from Brahmi would have borrowed the corresponding letter

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 119: Tamil Scripts

Mahadevan continues

Even in the loanwords from Prakrit voicing has been systematically replaced by the corresponding unvoiced consonants like

kaNi (PKT gani) utayana (PKT udayana) nanta (PKT nanda) kiTumpikan (PKT kuTumbika) etc

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 120: Tamil Scripts

Mahadevan continues

There is negative evidence in Tolkappiyam which devotes a whole chapter to

articulatory phonetics (plusmnOslashograveதததகரotilde - ப1றocircப1யoslash)

would have dealt with voicing if the feature was present in the language

Issues Voicing in Tamil

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 121: Tamil Scripts

Mahadevan does not discuss

The origin of Brahmi

His research on the Indus script andthe possibility of Brahmi originating from it

Effect of writing medium and toolson the development of scripts

Reason for the disappearance of VaTTezhuttu

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 122: Tamil Scripts

Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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Page 123: Tamil Scripts

Thank you

S Swaminathan

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