Devanagari Ligature Research (fwd)

[Dominik Wujastyk]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 13:26:34 +0100
From: Ulrich.Stiehl <Ulrich.Stiehl at t-online.de>
Subject: Devanagari Ligature Research


Devanagari Ligature Research
============================

Greetings,

I would like to get into contact with an Indologist who is fully
acquainted with Devanagari and especially with Sanskrit ligatures.

In this direction I have statistically evaluated the complete texts
of Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavata and Brahma-Purana, Rig-Veda etc.
etc. and the entire Monier-Williams dictionary, and thereafter I have
checked my own ligature collection against the Agenbroad collection
"Difficult characters: A collection of Devanagari conjunct consonants..."
by James E. Agenbroad, Internation Association of Orientalist Librarians,
Bulletin 38, 1991.

I discovered that 187 ligatures, among them many often used ligatures,
are missing in the Agenbroad collection, whereas 381 ligatures are
contained in the Agenbroad collection, but are NOT found in any of
the many large Sanskrit texts and dictionaries I have evaluated.

For details see

  http://home.t-online.de/home/ulrich.stiehl/agenbroad.pdf

Therefore I would like to get into contact with a Sanskritist who is
acquainted with Devanagari and who knows which of the 381 ligatures
in the Agenbroad collection have ever been used in any Sanskrit text.

Best wishes,

ulrich.stiehl at t-online.de