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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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 27
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- Slide 30
- Slide 31
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- Slide 33
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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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 117
- Slide 118
- Slide 119
- Slide 120
- Slide 121
- Slide 122
- Slide 123
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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 113
- Slide 114
- Slide 115
- Slide 116
- Slide 117
- Slide 118
- Slide 119
- Slide 120
- Slide 121
- Slide 122
- Slide 123
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
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- Slide 24
- Slide 25
- Slide 26
- Slide 27
- Slide 28
- Slide 29
- Slide 30
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- 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
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- Slide 51
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- Slide 53
- Slide 54
- Slide 55
- Slide 56
- Slide 57
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- Slide 109
- Slide 110
- Slide 111
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- Slide 113
- Slide 114
- Slide 115
- Slide 116
- Slide 117
- Slide 118
- Slide 119
- Slide 120
- Slide 121
- Slide 122
- Slide 123
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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 123
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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 13
- Slide 14
- Slide 15
- Slide 16
- Slide 17
- Slide 18
- Slide 19
- Slide 20
- Slide 21
- Slide 22
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-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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- Slide 117
- Slide 118
- Slide 119
- Slide 120
- Slide 121
- Slide 122
- Slide 123
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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 20
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- Slide 66
- Slide 67
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- Slide 95
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- Slide 114
- Slide 115
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- Slide 117
- Slide 118
- Slide 119
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- Slide 121
- Slide 122
- Slide 123
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
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- 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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
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- Slide 37
- Slide 38
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- Slide 41
- Slide 42
- Slide 43
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- Slide 46
- Slide 47
- Slide 48
- Slide 49
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- Slide 51
- Slide 52
- Slide 53
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- Slide 55
- Slide 56
- Slide 57
- Slide 58
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- Slide 61
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- Slide 66
- Slide 67
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- Slide 79
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- Slide 81
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- Slide 83
- Slide 84
- Slide 85
- Slide 86
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- Slide 88
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- 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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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 37
- Slide 38
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- Slide 40
- Slide 41
- Slide 42
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- Slide 51
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- Slide 53
- Slide 54
- Slide 55
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- Slide 113
- Slide 114
- Slide 115
- Slide 116
- Slide 117
- Slide 118
- Slide 119
- Slide 120
- Slide 121
- Slide 122
- Slide 123
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
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- Slide 65
- Slide 66
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- Slide 85
- Slide 86
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- Slide 94
- Slide 95
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- 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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
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- Slide 33
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- Slide 35
- Slide 36
- Slide 37
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- Slide 40
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- Slide 111
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- Slide 113
- Slide 114
- Slide 115
- Slide 116
- Slide 117
- Slide 118
- Slide 119
- Slide 120
- Slide 121
- Slide 122
- Slide 123
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
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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
- 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
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- Slide 61
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- Slide 65
- Slide 66
- Slide 67
- Slide 68
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- Slide 70
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- Slide 73
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- Slide 76
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- Slide 79
- Slide 80
- Slide 81
- Slide 82
- Slide 83
- Slide 84
- Slide 85
- Slide 86
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- Slide 88
- Slide 89
- Slide 90
- Slide 91
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- Slide 93
- Slide 94
- Slide 95
- Slide 96
- Slide 97
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- 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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
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- 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
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- Slide 49
- Slide 50
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- Slide 53
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- Slide 55
- Slide 56
- Slide 57
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- Slide 78
- Slide 79
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- Slide 81
- Slide 82
- Slide 83
- Slide 84
- Slide 85
- Slide 86
- Slide 87
- Slide 88
- Slide 89
- Slide 90
- Slide 91
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- 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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
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- 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
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- 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 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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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 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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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 13
- Slide 14
- Slide 15
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- Slide 114
- Slide 115
- Slide 116
- Slide 117
- Slide 118
- Slide 119
- Slide 120
- Slide 121
- Slide 122
- Slide 123
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
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- Slide 71
- Slide 72
- Slide 73
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- Slide 76
- Slide 77
- Slide 78
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- Slide 85
- Slide 86
- Slide 87
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- 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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
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- Slide 24
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- Slide 37
- Slide 38
- Slide 39
- Slide 40
- Slide 41
- Slide 42
- Slide 43
- Slide 44
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- Slide 51
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- Slide 53
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- Slide 85
- Slide 86
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- Slide 88
- Slide 89
- Slide 90
- Slide 91
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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
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- Slide 116
- Slide 117
- Slide 118
- Slide 119
- Slide 120
- Slide 121
- Slide 122
- Slide 123
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
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
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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
-
ழ
ளி
ற
ன
ड
ल
ट
न
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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-
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 41
- Slide 42
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- Slide 47
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- Slide 56
- Slide 57
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- Slide 76
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- 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
-
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 117
- Slide 118
- Slide 119
- Slide 120
- Slide 121
- Slide 122
- Slide 123
-
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 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
-
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 33
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- Slide 117
- Slide 118
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- Slide 120
- Slide 121
- Slide 122
- Slide 123
-
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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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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-
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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-
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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-
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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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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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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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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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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Now the stage is set for a serious studyof the development of Tamil scripts
Thank you
S Swaminathan
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Thank you
S Swaminathan
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