Tamil-brahmi

The Tamil Brahmi script, unlike standard Asokan Brahmi, distinguished between pure consonants and consonants with an inherent vowel marker

Tamil-Brahmi was an early script used to write Tamil characters. It is also known as the Tamili script. It is not evolved from the Brahmi script of north India^{[citation needed]}. The best known examples of the Tamil-Brahmi scripts are the Asokan inscription found in South India and the earliest surviving inscriptions in Tamil found at Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu. It has recently been tentatively suggested by archaeologists from the Archaeological Survey of India that graffiti etched into a potsherd tentatively dated to the 5th century BC is an example of a very rudimentary form of Tamil writing.The Hindu, Feb 17, 2005 Early Tamil Brahmi, unlike Asokan Brahmi, had a system to distinguish between pure consonants and consonants with an inherent vowel. In addition, early Tamil-Brahmi used slightly different vowel markers, and had extra characters to represent letters not found in Sanskrit.

Tamil-Brahmi eventually evolved into the Vatteluttu script.

Tamil Brahmi may predate Asoka Brahmi

The recent archeological findings at Adichanallur, Tamil Nadu by Archaeological Survey of India[1] have indicated that the Tamil-Brahmi inscription may have dated from as far back as 7th-8th century BC[2], earlier than the Sangham period, but a final verdict on the age of the stone age burial awaits radiocarbon dating.

If the inscription pre-dates the Ashokan edicts, it may indicate that either the Brahmi script originated in Tamil Nadu and subsequently spread to the reast of India, or that it arrived in Tamil Nadu at an earlier age than previously thought from elsewhere in India, pushing the age of the Brahmi script further back, and possibly eliminating the Aramaic script as an origin (Brahmi was previously thought to be most likely decended from an Aramaic script that reached India via Persia).

Tamil Brahmi findings

• A broken storage jar with inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi script in Egypt."Tamil Brahmi script in Egypt", The Hindu, November 21, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-06. (English) 
• An urn at the Iron Age burial site at Adichanallur.T.S., Subramanian. "`Rudimentary Tamil-Brahmi script\' unearthed at Adichanallur", The Hindu, February 17, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-12-06. (English) 
• Tamil-Brahmi inscription on pottery found in Thailand."Tamil-Brahmi inscription on pottery found in Thailand", The Hindu, July 16, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-12-06. (English) 

See also

• Indian inscriptions

References

• Champakalakshmi, R. A magnum opus on Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions, [3]
• Mahadevan, Iravatham, Orality to literacy: Transition in Early Tamil Society , Frontline, Volume 20 - Issue 07, March 29 - April 11, 2003

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