Page:The Origin of the Bengali Script.djvu/121

 The Final Development of the Alphabet.

I. Vowels:―

(1) Ā :―

(a) In the Māndā inscription, the line joining the comma shaped curve to the top stroke, is still intact; and that joining it to the right vertical still horizontal. There is also a long narrow wedge at the bottom. ''Cf. Artha'' (L. 8).

(b) In the Kamauli grant the top stroke has given place to a wedge, at the line joining it to the curve being suppressed. The wedge at the bottom has opened at the top.

(c) In the Gadādhara temple inscription, which has been very slovenly executed the comma-shaped curve touches the right vertical but the line joining it to the top stroke has not yet been suppressed. ''Cf. Anākāri'' (L. 6).

(d) In the Cambridge Manuscripts the wedge at the bottom and the line joining the comma-shaped curve are still present.

These two were not dropped until the present time. In a Sanskrit inscription written in Bengali characters of Śaka 1666—1744 A.D, found at Kāmākhyā in the Gauhati District, Assam, we find that though the wedge at the bottom has disappeared, the line between the curve and the top stroke is still present. ''Cf. Āmrātakeśvarasya'' (L. 14).