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Development of Nāgarī Script
from those of the earlier developmental stages of Brāhmi. A tentative outline may be given as follows:
Head-line
The main characteristic of Nāgarī is the entire breadthed top-stroke or head-line while in earlier developmental stages it was in triangular or short-line form. Straight vertical line
Nāgarī script shows the use of straight vertical line. But in precursor stages it was in crooked shape. Simplification
Nāgarī prefers simple forms, while predecessor writings were represented by elaborately twisted and elongated shapes of the letters and medial signs. Uniformity in Medial Sign
In Nāgarī one sign is used for one medial instead of earlier practice of giving more signs for simple and ornamental styles. Halanta Sign
The halanta sign was represented by making the letter small, or placing a stroke above the letter in earlier inscriptions. However, a stroke below the letter was also used for a halanta sign which was later adopted in the Nāgarī.
Compendious Consonant in Ligatures
Nāgarī ligatures are formed by mutilating the first consonant and conjuncting side by side, while in earlier developmental stages usually the complete shape was placed one upon the other.
Final Observations
The factors that were responsible for the development of the Brāhmi
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