Indian Antiquary Vol 20

Author(s): John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 61

SYSTEM OF TRANSLITERATION. The system of transliteration followed in this Journal for Sanskrit and Kanarese, (and, for the sake of uniformity, submitted for adoption, as far as possible, in the case of other languages),-- except in respect of modern Hindu personal names, in which absolute purism is undesirable, and in respect of a few Anglicised corruptions of names of places, sanctioned by long nage, - is this :Sanskrit. Kanarese. Transliteration. Sanskrit.
Kanarese. Transliteration.
ja jha
3 ad & 7 de
tha
dha
dha
ns
1 1 1 1 1 4 4 4 4 -
128
da
dha
na
3 3 63
pa
pha
Visarga
Visarga Jihvamaillya, or old
Visarga beforo
bha
and स्य
Upadh muinsya, or
old Visarga betore प् and p Anusvdra Anunciaika
81218 & 108a & d t Et uue
Anusvdra
1 1 1
tak B & B B
gba
na
gbs
ha
cha
& chha A single hyphen is used to separate words in composition, as far as it is desirable to divide them. It will readily be seen where the single hyphen is only used in the ordinary way, at the end of a line, as divided in the original Text, to indicate that the word runs on into the next line; intermediate divisions, rendered unavoidable here and there by printing necessities, are made only where absolutely necessary for neatness in the arrangement of the Texts.
A double hyphen is used to separate words in a sentence, which in the original are written as one word, being joined together by the euphonic rules of sandhi. Where this double hypben is used, it is to be understood that a final consonant, and the following initial vowel or consonant-and-vowel, are in the original expressed by one complex sign. Where it is not used, it is to be understood of the orthography of the original, that, according to the stage of the alphabet, the final consonant either has the modified broken form, which, in the oldest stages of the alphabet, was used to indicate a consonant with no vowel attached to it, or has the distinct sign of the viráma attached to it; and that the following initial vowel or consonant has its full initial form. In the transcription of ordinary texts, the double hyphen is probably unnecessary; except where there is the sandhi of final and initial vowels. But in the transcription of epigraphical records, the use of this sign is unavoidable, for the purpose of indicating exactly the paleographical standard of the original texts.
The avagraha, or sign which indicates the elision of an initial a, is but rarely to be met with in inscriptions. Where it does occnr, it is most conveniently represented by its own Dêranågarf sign.
So algo practice has shewn that it is more convenient to use the ordinary Dêvanêgari marks of punctuation than to substitute the English signs for them.
Ordinary brackets are used for corrections and doubtful points; and square brackets, for letters which are damaged and partially illegible in the original, or which, being wholly illegible, can be supplied with certainty. An asterisk attached to letters or marks of punctuntion in aquare brackets, indicates that those letters or marks of punctuation were omitted altogether in the original. As a rule, it is more convenient to use the brackets than to have recourse to footnotes; as the points to whioh attention is to be drawn attract notice far more readily. But notes are given instead, when there would be so many brackets, close together, as to encumber the text and render it inconvenient to read. When any letters in the original are wholly illegible and cannot be supplied, they are, represented, in metrical passages, by the sign for a long or & short syllable, as the case may be ; and in prose passages, by points, at the rate, usually, of two for each akshar or ayllable.