short "e" and long "E" in Kannada orthography

[Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat]

>Can somebody tell me when short "e" and long "E" came to be differentiated
>orthographically in Kannada? Thanks in advance.
>
>Regards
>S. Palaniappan

Long "E" is marked in Kannada script with a separate sign, looking like an
left-right-inverted 9. This dIrgha sign appears for the first time, to mark
a long "A", in an incription from Hampi dated 19.5.1561 (see P.-S.
Filliozat and V. Filliozat, Hampi-Vijayanagar, The Temple of ViThala,Delhi,
1988: p.81). It is attested for "E" in manuscripts of 18th century, but
rarely. It became current with printing.
Vasundhara Filliozat

Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat