Dear list members,

in the Tamil, Tamilian Grantha and Malayalam scripts, numbers are traditionally written using the figures representing the units 1 to 9, as well as additional symbols for three decimal powers: 10, 100, and 1000. In Tamil and Tamilian Grantha figures for the multiples of 10 and 100 (i.e. 20, 30, 40, etc., and 200, 300, 400, etc, respectively) are also met with, tipically under the form of ligatures combining the figure of the multiplier unit with that of the decimal power. Do you know whether the multiples of 10 and 100 have ever been represented by a single figure (be it a ligature or a distinct character) in Malayalam script as well? (Letter-numerals are out of the scope of my inquiry).

Thank you very much for your help.

Best wishes,

Marco Franceschini
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Fixed-term Researcher
University of Bologna
Department of History and Cultures
via Zamboni 33 - 40126 Bologna - Italy
marco.franceschini3@unibo.it
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