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OCTOBER, 1895.]
ORIGIN OF THE KHAROSHTHI ALPHABET.
No. 7. Dr. Taylor alone derives ja (Col. III. a-b) from Zain, apparently relying on the similar Pehlevi letter. The form in Col. III. a, which is found repeatedly in the Mansehra version and survives in the legends of the Indo-Grecian and Saka coins, is, however, without doubt the oldest, and derived from a Zain, like those of the Teima inscription (Col. I. a-b), in which the upper bar has been turned into a bent stroke with a hook rising upwards at the left end. In the second ja (Col. III. b) the lower bar has been dropped in order to keep the foot of the sign free. The Pehlevi letter is no doubt an analogous development. The Zain of the Papyri (Col. II.) is again much more advanced and unfit to be considered the original of the Kharôshthi sign.
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No. 8. With respect to the representative of the Cheth I differ from all my predecessors. The Aramaic letter, such as it is found in the Saqqarah inscription (Col. I. a-c), in Teima and various other documents13 is exactly the same as the Kharôshthi palatal sibilant sa. The pronunciation of the Indian sa comes very close to the German ch in ich, lich, etc.,13 and hence the utilisation of the otherwise redundant Cheth for the expression of a appears to me perfectly regular and normal.
No. 9. The derivation of ya (Col. III.) from the Aramaic Yod has been generally assumed, and it has been noticed that the Kharôshthi sign is identical with the late Palmyrenian and Pehlevi forms (Euting, Cols. 21-25, 30-32, 35-39, 58), which of course are independent analogous developments, as well as that it resembles the Yod of the Papyri (Col. II. c, and Euting, Cols. 14-17), where, however, the centre of the letter is mostly filled in with ink. Still closer comes the first sign (Col. II. b) from the Stele Vaticana, and it may be that a form like the latter is the real prototype. But I think the possibility is not precluded, that the Kharûshthî ya may be an Indian modification of a form like the more ancient Assyrian Aramaic sign in Col. I. a, which differs only by the retention of the second bar at the right lower end. The rejection of this bar was necessary in accordance with the principles of the Kharoshthi, stated above, and may therefore be put down as an Indian modification. The height of the Kharoshthi ya seems to indicate that its prototype had not yet been reduced to the diminutive size, which it usually has in the Papyri, but which is not yet observable in the otherwise differing letters of the Teima and Saqqarah inscriptions.
No. 10. The connexion of ka (Col. III.) with the Aramaic Kaph is asserted by M. J. Halévy, but he compares the sign of the Papyri (Col. II.), which is very dissimilar. I think, there can be no doubt that the Kharôshthi letter is a modification of the Babylonian Kaph in Col. I. b, which was turned round in order to avoid a collision with la and further received the little bar at the top for the sake of clearer distinction from pa. The sign in Col. I. a, which likewise comes from Babylon, has been added in order to shew the development of Col. I. b. from the oldest form.
No. 11. Lamed, consisting of a vertical with an appendage at the foot, had, as stated above, to be turned topsy-turvy in order to yield the Kharôshthi la, with which Dr. Taylor and M. Halévy have identified it. Moreover, the curve, which then stood at the top, was converted into a broken linel and attached a little below the top of the vertical, in order to avoid a collision with 4. The signs of the Papyri, Col. II., are mostly far advanced and cursive, to that they cannot be considered the prototypes of the Kharôshthi la.
No. 12. The Kharôshthi ma (Col. III. a-c) is, as has been generally recognised, not mncl more than the head of the Aramaic Mem, Col. I. The first two forms, which are common in Aśoka's Edicts and the second of which occurs also on the Indo-Grecian coins, still shew rem
11 Edict III. 9 in raja, IV. 16 in raja, V. 19 in raja, V. 24 in praja, VIII, 35 in raja, XII. 1 in raja. 13 It occurs even in the Papyri, though these offer mostly more advanced, rounded forms.
13 Professor A. Kuhn long ago expressed his belief that etymologically sa is derived from ka through xa. 14 The la of the Edicts invariably shews the broken line in the left-hand limb. The later inscriptions off tead a curve open below.
