[INDOLOGY] Northern and southern Devanagari

[Tyler Williams]

Dear Martin,

It's a very interesting question. Vernacular manuscripts from the Gangetic
plain, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, from the late sixteenth through the
eighteenth centuries, also exhibit inconsistencies in the use of graphemes
like these (more so in the latter two regions). In those cases, I've
wondered if it was due to itinerant scribes (known to work in the region)
with little familiarity or investment in the texts, but in the end I don't
think this sufficiently explains the phenomenon. I have not been able to
discern any consistent orthographic logic in the instances that I have
seen. Am curious to hear what others have to say.

Best,
Tyler



On Sun, Oct 22, 2017 at 10:15 PM, Martin Gansten via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Apologies for what is perhaps a very basic question:
>
> I have always unreflectingly accepted the common distinction between
> northern ('Calcutta-style') and southern ('Bombay-style') Devanagari.
> Recently, though, I noticed that some manuscripts mix the two -- for
> instance, using a 'northern' *ṇa *but a 'southern' *a*, or even
> alternating between the two kinds of *ṇa *(in the same copyist's hand).
> Is there any special significance to this -- for example, particular
> regions and/or historical periods in which the two styles were less
> distinct? Or should it just be seen as a personal quirk of the scribe
> (perhaps an itinerant one)?
>
> Thanks in advance for any light on this,
> Martin Gansten
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> indology-owner at list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing
> committee)
> http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list options or
> unsubscribe)
>


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20171023/40f7f33a/attachment.htm>