TABLE OF CONVENTIONAL SYMBOLS

[ ] Letters read doubtfully.

[*] Letters not in the original; restored or supplied by the author.

[|*] A full stop not in the original; added by the author.

| Line divider occurring in the original.

$ Represents a symbol in the original (see Fig. 5.11 for illustrations).

. . . Three dots indicate a lost passage with one or more letters.

( )

  1. A letter not in the original added when the inscriptional words from the Corpus are cited elsewhere.
  2. Words added by way of elucidation (in translation).

(?) Meaning or interpretation of the preceding word is uncertain.

= Used to separate external sandhi (e.g. ariti + iṉ > ariti=ṉ).

- The hyphen is used

  1. before a full vowel in medial position (e.g., kuv-aṉ);
  2. to separate the paragogic suffixes i, iy, y, -yi and y-i from the stems (e.g., siri-y-i);
  3. to separate a doubled consonant or a glide before external sandhi (e.g., cel-l=irumpoṟai, kō-v=ātāṉ);
  4. to separate segments of some compounds (e.g., poṉ-vāṇikaṉ);
  5. to indicate an incomplete word at the end of a line.

The hyphen is not used in transcription of the texts in the Tamil script.

* Indicates a reconstructed linguistic form or one which is not attested.

< Derived from

> Becomes, changes into.

Notes on Reference Numbers

1. Reference Numbers for inscriptions (in bold) follow the order of inscriptions in the Corpus. Tamil-Brāhmī stone inscriptions are numbered 1 - 96. For further details, see Introduction to the Corpus.

2. Reference Numbers for inscriptional words follow the order of headwords in the Commentary. Each word is allotted a Reference Number comprising the inscription number and the word number separated by a dot. Minimal lexical segments of inscriptional words are indicated by alphabetical suffixes a, b, c, etc., for further analysis (e.g.) poṉ-vāṇikaṉ (69.2) has two segments, poṉ (69.2.a) and vāṇikaṉ (69.2.b). For further details, see ETE 2, Introduction to the Commentary.

SCHEME OF TRANSLITERATION AND DIACRITICAL MARKS

Tamil

Vowels : a ā i ī u ū e ē ai o ō au ḥ          
    அ ஆ இ ஈ உ ஊ எ ஏ ஐ ஒ ஓ ஔ ஃ          
                                       
Consonants : k ṅ c ñ ṭ ṇ t n p m y r l v ḻ ḷ ṟ ṉ
    க ங ச ஞ ட ண த ந ப ம ய ர ல வ ழ ள ற ன

Sanskrit

Vowels : a ā i ī u ū ṛi e ai o au ṁ ḥ          
    अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ऋ ए ऐ ओ औ अं अः          
                                       
Consonants : k kh g gh ṅ c ch j jh ñ ṭ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ      
    क ख ग घ ङ च छ ज झ ञ ट ठ ड ढ ण
    t th d dh n p ph b bh m y r l v ś sh s  
    त थ द ध न प फ ब भ म य र ल व श ष स  

Notes on transliteration

1. These are the two basic schemes of transliteration for the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan languages. See also Palaeographic Charts 1 (Brāhmī) and 2 (Tamil-Brāhmī). ē and ō are also employed in transliterating Indo-Aryan to be consistent with Dravidian.

2. The Brāhmī letters dh and s which occur marginally in Early Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions are represented by ϕ (bold) and [ respectively in transcription of the texts in the Tamil script.

3. The rare Asokan Brāhmī ḏ is referred to in the discussion on the origin of ḻ (see also Palaeographic Chart 3).

4. Diacritical marks are not added to modern place names and Indian words commonly used in English.

5. Capital letters are not used in transliterated words printed in italics except for bibliographical references.

ABBREVIATIONS

Tamil literary works in the Tamil alphabetical order

Aka. Akanāṉūṟu

Aruṅkala. Aruṅkalacceppu

Aṟaneṟi. Aṟaneṟiccāram

Āciriya. Āciriya Nikaṇṭu

Iraku. Irakuvammicam

Irāma. Irāmanāṭakakkīrttaṉai

Iṟai. Iṟaiyaṉār Akapporuḷ Urai

Iṉiya. Iṉiyavai Nāṟpatu

Aiṅk. Aiṅkuṟunūṟu

Kampa. Kamparāmāyaṇam

Kayā. Kayātara Nikaṇṭu

Kallāṭam

Kali. Kalittokai

Kuṟaḷ Tirukkuṟaḷ

Kuṟun. Kuṟuntokai

Kōṉēri. Upatēca. Upatēcakkāṇṭam (by Kōṉēriyappa Nāvalar)

Cilap. Cilappatikāram

Ciṟupāṇ. Ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaṭai

Cīvaka. Cīvakacintāmaṇi

Cūṭā. Cūṭāmaṇi Nikaṇṭu

Ñāṉa. Upatēca. Upatēcakkāṇṭam (by Ñāṉavarōtayar)

Tiruvā. Tiruvācakam

Tiru. ulā Tiruvārūr Ulā

Tivā. Cēntaṉ Tivākaram Nikaṇṭu

Tēvā. Tēvāram

Tol. Tolkāppiyam

(Eḻu., Col., Poruḷ.) (Eḻuttatikāram,Cōllatikāram, Poruḷatikāram)

Naṟṟ. Naṟṟiṇai

Naṉṉ. Naṉṉūl

Nālaṭi. Nālaṭiyār

Nālāyira. Nālāyira Tivviyappirapantam

Nīla. Nīlakēci

Nīli. Nīli Yatcakāṉam

Paṭṭiṉa. Paṭṭiṉappālai

Patiṟ. Patiṟṟuppattu

Pari. Paripāṭal

Pari. Ti. Paripāṭal Tiraṭṭu

Pāṇṭi. Pāṇṭikkōvai

Piṅkala. Piṅkala Nikaṇṭu

Puṟa. Puṟanāṉūṟu

Puṟa. Ti Puṟattiraṭṭu

Puṟapporuḷ. Puṟapporuḷ Veṇpāmālai

Periya. Periyapurāṇam

Peruṅ. Peruṅkatai

Perumpāṇ. Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai

Maṇi. Maṇimēkalai

Matu. Maturaikkāñci

Malai. Malaipaṭukaṭām

Mullai. Mullaippāṭṭu

Yāpp.Virutti Yāpparuṅkala Virutti

Vāla.Koṅkumaṇṭala. Koṅkumaṇṭala Catakam (by Vālacuntarakkaviñar)

Villi. Villi Pāratam

Vīra. Vīracōḻiyam

comm. commentary/commentator

Aṭiyār. Aṭiyārkkunallār

Iḷam. Iḷampūraṇar

Caṅkara. Caṅkaranamaccivāyar

Cēṉā. Cēṉāvaraiyar

Nacc. Nacciṉārkkiṉiyar

Mayilai. Mayilainātar

 

 

 

 

Reference Works

AMD An Illustrated Ardha-Magadhi Dictionary

ARE Annual Reports on South Indian/Indian Epigraphy

Bhārhut Inscrs. Brāhmī Inscriptions from Bhārhut (CII II. 2)

CDIAL A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages (R.L. Turner, 1966)

CII Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum (I - III. Listed by titles in Bibliography)

CIPK Caṅka Ilakkiya Poruṭ Kaḷañciyam

CNR C. Narayana Rao 1938-39

DEDR A Dravidian Etymological Dictionary. 2nd rev. edn. (D. prefixed to entries)

DPL A Dictionary of the Pāli Language (R.C. Childers)

EI Epigraphia Indica

Epi. Car. Epigraphia Carnatica

ETE Early Tamil Epigraphy. Iravatham Mahadevan 2003

ETE 2 Early Tamil Epigraphy Volume 2 (forthcoming)

EZ Epigraphia Zeylanica

HKS H. Krishna Sastri 1919

HTS History of Tamil Nadu: Sangam Age (Political)

IAR Indian Archaeology: A Review

IM I. Mahadevan 1968 (Corpus of the Tamil-Brāhmī Inscriptions 1966)

Ind. Epi. Gl. Indian Epigraphical Glossary

IPS Inscriptions (Texts) of the Pudukkottai State

IPS(E) Inscriptions in the Pudukkottai State (translated into English)

Kittel A Kannada-English Dictionary (ed. F. Kittel)

KVS K.V. Subrahmanya Aiyer 1924

KZ Kamil Zvelebil 1964 (1966)

Lüders List A List of Brāhmī inscriptions from the earliest times to about A.D. 400 with the exception of those of Asoka (Appendix to EI X)

Malala. A Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names (ed. G.P. Malalasekara)

MASI Memoirs of the Archaeological Society of India

MSV Mayilai Seeni Venkataswamy 1981

MW A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (ed. Monier Williams)

Pallava Inscrs. Inscriptions of the Pallavas 1988

Pallavar Ceppēṭukaḷ Pallavar Ceppēṭukaḷ muppatu

Pāṇṭiyar Ceppēṭukaḷ Pāṇṭiyar Ceppēṭukaḷ pattu

PED A Pāli-English Dictionary (Pāli Text Society)

Peru. Aka. Peruñcol Akarāti

PPTI Pre-Pallavan Tamil Index

PSM Pāia-Sadda-Mahaṇṇavo (A Comprehensive Prakrit-Hindi Dictionary)

Pulankurichi Inscrs. Y. Subbarayalu and M.R. Raghava Varier 1991 

RN R. Nagaswamy 1972

RPS R. Panneerselvam 1967

SII South Indian Inscriptions

SITI South Indian Temple Inscriptions

TAS Travancore Archaeological Series

TBK Tamiḻ-Pirāmi [Tamil-Brāhmī] Kalveṭṭukaḷ

TL Tamil Lexicon

TVM T.V. Mahalingam 1967

Periodicals

AI Ancient India

AJA American Journal of Archaeology

AO Acta Oriantalia

Āvaṇam Periodical of the Tamilnadu Archaeological Society

BDCRI Bulletin of the Deccan College (Postgraduate) Research Institute 

Bucherbesprechungen

CAJ Cambridge Archaeological Journal

Damilica Published by the Tamilnadu State Department of Archaeology
(No. 1: 1970; No. 2: 1973)

DLA News Newsletter of the Dravidian Linguistic Association

Dr. Studies Dravidian Studies

IA Indian Antiquary

IIA Indo-Iranian Journal

IJDL International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics

IL Indian Linguistics

JAAP Journal of Archaeology in Andhra Pradesh

JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society

JASB Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay

JCHS Journal of the Centre for Heritage Studies

JESI (SIE) Journal of the Epigraphical Society of India (Alternative title: Studies in Indian Epigraphy)

JIAS Journal of the Institute of Asian Studies

JIH Journal of Indian History

Jinamanjari Journal in Jaina Studies

JMU Journal of the Madras University

JOR Journal of Oriental Research

JRA Journal of Roman Archaeology

JTS Journal of Tamil Studies

Kalveṭṭu Periodical of the Tamilnadu State Department of Archaeology

Language

ME Man and Environment

MI Man in India

NC The Numismatic Chronicle

NIA New Indian Antiquary

OLZ Orientalistische Literatur Zeitung

PILC JDS Pondicherry Institute of Language and Culture, Journal of Dravidian Studies

Purātattva Periodical of the Indian Archaeological Society

QJMS Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society

SH Studies in History

SSIC Studies in South Indian Coins

Ta. Ci. Tamil Civilization

TASSI Transactions of the Archaeological Society of Southern India

TBR The Book Review

TC Tamil Culture

THES Times Higher Education Supplement

TS Tamil Studies

Varalāṟu Periodical of the Rajamanikkanar Centre for Historical Research

Other Abbreviations

Languages

AMg. Ardhamagadhi

Dr. Dravidian

Go. Gondi

IA Indo-Aryan

Ka. Kannada

LT Literary Tamil

Ma. Malayalam

MIA Middle Indo-Aryan

Pali

PDr. Proto-Dravidian

Pkt. Prakrit

Sinh. Sinhala

Skt. Sanskrit

Ta. Tamil

Te. Telugu

To. Toda

Tu. Tulu


Grammatical

adj. adjective

C consonant

CV syllable (consonant + vowel)

demonstr. demonstrative

fem. feminine

intj. interjection

masc. masculine

N. Personal name

n. noun

num. numerical, numeral

obl. oblique

P. Place name

pl. plural

PNG person-number-gender

ppl. participle, participial

pron. pronoun, pronominal

prox. proximate

sing. singular

SOV subject-object-verb

V vowel

v. verb 


Epigraphical

cent. century

inscr(s). inscription(s), inscriptional

L. Line

Ta.Br. Tamil-Brāhmī 

TB I & II Tamil-Brāhmī orthographic systems


Institutions

ASI Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi

CICT Central Institute of Classical Tamil, Chennai

CIIL Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore

CPPE Centre for Plants, People and Ecosystems, Chennai

DCPRI Deccan College (Postgraduate) Research Institute, Pune

DE Office of the Director of Epigraphy, ASI, Mysore

DLA Dravidian Linguistic Association, Thiruvananthapuram

ICHR Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi

IITS Internanational Institute of Tamil Studies, Chennai

ISDL International School of Dravidian Linguistics, Thiruvananthapuram

KSP Kannada Sahitya Parishat, Bangalore 

PILC Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture

TNSA Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology, Chennai