[INDOLOGY] Devanagari v and b in manuscripts from Kashmir

[Harry Spier]

Dear all,
In transcribing (not making an edition) of  a manuscript like this with व
written for both व and ब is it best practice to have the transcription also
follow the practice of the original manuscript and also just use the letter व
. And leave any interpretation about both word breaks and whats a *v* or a
*b* to any users of the transcription.
Thanks,
Harry Spier


On Sun, Feb 26, 2023 at 5:49 AM Witzel, Michael <witzel at fas.harvard.edu>
wrote:

>
> Dear Harry,
>
> the matter is more complex:
>
> 1st, your MS,  obviously a copy of a Śāradā MS,  is written in the typical
> Kashmiri style Devanagari of the mid-late 19th century; it has many North
> Indian peculiarities, besides the v/b case, such as the abundance of
> Anusvāra dots, not typical for Kashmiri Śāradā MSS that write homorganic
> nasals.
>
> 2nd, Śāradā MSS distinguish between v (looks like Nāgarī v) and b, where
> the more squarish, circle-like part is set lower, at the bottom of the line.
> Good Vedic Devanāgarī MSS also distinguish between v and b:  v is
> indicated by writing Nāgarī v with underdot.
>
> 3rd “standard" North Indian practice (as described in earlier posts) is
> another matter.
>
> Best,
>
> Michael
>
> Michael Witzel
> Wales Research Prof. of Sanskrit (=Emeritus)
> Dept. of South Asian Studies, Harvard University
> witzel at fas.harvard.edu
> www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/mwpage.htm
> Residence: Yokohama, Japan
>
>
>
> On Feb 26, 2023, at 1:04 PM, Harry Spier via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
> Thank you to Howard Resnick, Charles DiSimone, and Tom Cahill who
> confirmed off-list that he has seen the same thing in N. Indian manuscripts.
> Harry Spier
>
>
> On Sat, Feb 25, 2023 at 11:31 AM Howard Resnick <hr at ivs.edu> wrote:
>
>> In Bengali, and even in the standard Bengali-English Samsad dictionary, b
>> and v are given as the same letter.
>>
>>
>> On Feb 25, 2023, at 9:14 AM, Charles DiSimone via INDOLOGY <
>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Harry Spier,
>>
>> I'm not sure when ba became a dedicated akṣara within the Devanāgarī
>> script, but what you describe has been the norm for Brahmic script
>> manuscript transmissions over history.
>>
>> All my best,
>> Charles
>>
>> Dr. Charles DiSimone
>> Department of Languages and Cultures
>> Ghent University
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Feb 25, 2023 at 2:57 PM Harry Spier via INDOLOGY <
>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear list members,
>>> I'm looking at a manuscript from the Ragunath Temple Sanskrit Manuscript
>>> Library, Jammu, j&K. The text is  ajñānadvāntadīpikā by somanātha
>>> The link to the pdf on archive.org
>>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__archive.org_&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=tFXzIbyKS2C0TpVqKsMrj46qwsAermBN5wzaDe51So0&m=nBrjyL62xDuQCVJuuz9EqUwjRZAmOoO3cxq514GT0xMUUB2Xz5UdD2EqtSrQ4dfr&s=XxATidz8sYLwi_fC0C5uWkKsxGlNDIZoubvQxQZF5MY&e=>
>>> is:
>>>
>>> https://archive.org/download/AgyanDhvantaDeepikaShriSomnath4966Alm22Shlf4DevanagariTantra/Agyan%20Dhvanta%20Deepika%20-%20Shri%20Somnath_4966_Alm_22_Shlf_4_Devanagari-%20Tantra.pdf
>>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__archive.org_download_AgyanDhvantaDeepikaShriSomnath4966Alm22Shlf4DevanagariTantra_Agyan-2520Dhvanta-2520Deepika-2520-2D-2520Shri-2520Somnath-5F4966-5FAlm-5F22-5FShlf-5F4-5FDevanagari-2D-2520Tantra.pdf&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=tFXzIbyKS2C0TpVqKsMrj46qwsAermBN5wzaDe51So0&m=nBrjyL62xDuQCVJuuz9EqUwjRZAmOoO3cxq514GT0xMUUB2Xz5UdD2EqtSrQ4dfr&s=zX0YtmSUh2CfOrdyKVdf7rjyHwX6IEqjwlWIWsQncrQ&e=>
>>>
>>> Looking at the first few lines it looks to me like the scribe is using
>>> the devanagari letter  व for both व and ब.  Is that common practice in
>>> devanagari manuscripts from kashmir?
>>> Thanks,
>>> Harry Spier
>>>
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>>>
>>
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