unknown syllable

[Marco Franceschini]

Dear Members,

in the two pictures below you can see the colophon of a Devīmāhātmya manuscript. Line 3 and 4 read:

[46v3] kollaṃ 1083 āṣāḍhamāsaṃ - 10 - āṃ ti[ya?]ti āraṃbhiccu - 21 - āṃ ti[ya?]ti devī[46v4]mahātmyaṃ mukiñcutu |

That is: Kollam year 1083, Āṣāḍha month, from the 10th to 21st day (= CE 1908, from July 25th to August 5th).

All clear, but... I can’t understand what the syllable/symbol the occurs twice in the same context (“tiXti”) is. The word should be “tīyati”, “day”, but the syllable between the two “ti” is not an usual “ya”.

I’ll be grateful for any hint or suggestion.

Best wishes,

Marco Franceschini

[Shriramana Sharma]

On Fri, Nov 22, 2013 at 4:51 AM, Marco Franceschini
<marco.fra...@gmail.com> wrote:
> All clear, but... I can’t understand what the syllable/symbol the occurs
> twice in the same context (“tiXti”) is. The word should be “tīyati”, “day”,
> but the syllable between the two “ti” is not an usual “ya”.

This looks like a ligature of Y_YA: compare the modern Malayalam യ്യ.
Apparently "tiyyati" and "tīyati" are alternate spellings for the word
for "day" in Malayalam. (And probably this manuscript though in
Grantha script comes from the Kerala region.)

--
Shriramana Sharma ஶ்ரீரமணஶர்மா श्रीरमणशर्मा

[Marco Franceschini]

Dear Shriramana Sharma,

thank you very much for your explanation! I think you're right about the fact that this manuscript comes from Kerala, especially because tamil words are written in Grantha and not in Tamil script: "araṃbhicca" (line 3) and "mukiñcatu" (line 4); moreover, the latter word seems to be written as "mukiñct", with two virāmas written in Malayalam script (above the "c" and the "t").

By the way: in the same manuscript there is a symbol for "om" written on the margin of the first folio of each text ("hariḥ om" in the first picture, "śrī - om hariḥ" in the second picture): in your experience, do you think this symbol also is typical of Kerala or is it found in manuscripts from Tamil Nadu as well?

Thank you very much for your help!

Marco Franceschini
---

[Shriramana Sharma]

On Sat, Nov 23, 2013 at 4:12 AM, Marco Franceschini
<marco.fra...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I think you're right about the fact that this manuscript comes from Kerala,
> especially because tamil words are written in Grantha and not in Tamil
> script: "araṃbhicca" (line 3) and "mukiñcatu" (line 4);

These are not Tamil words exactly. They seem to be Malayalam or
possibly Tulu. In strict Tamil it would be ārambhittu and muṭintatu.
In Kannada I have heard "muki" for "finish".

> moreover, the latter
> word seems to be written as "mukiñct", with two virāmas written in Malayalam
> script (above the "c" and the "t").

Well these are actually not virama-s here although they are
glyphically identical to the currently used virama in the Malayalam
script. Recently a Malayali friend of mine told me that the
"candrakalā" i.e. ് currently used for this was originally introduced
by Europeans to represent the central vowel produced by lenition of
non-initial Dravidian "u" -- what is called in Tamil as kuṟṟiyalukaram
and in Malayalam as saṁvr̥tōkāram. Here the reading is hence
mukiñcŭtŭ.

> By the way: in the same manuscript there is a symbol for "om" written on the
> margin of the first folio of each text ("hariḥ om" in the first picture,
> "śrī - om hariḥ" in the second picture): in your experience, do you think
> this symbol also is typical of Kerala or is it found in manuscripts from
> Tamil Nadu as well?

Hmm -- This is the first time I'm seeing ௳ in an ms from Kerala but
it's not as if I have examined 100s of manuscripts! It seems to be the
same as the use of ௳ in Tamil as a sign of auspiciousness called (in
Tamil) piḷḷaiyār cuḻi or "the whorl of Ganesha". Like you, Gruenendahl
reads it as "om" but AFAIK we in Tamil Nadu only use it as a graphic
symbol invoking auspiciousness and I am not aware of it actually
having any pronunciation. What is the basis for you reading it as
"om"? Is it only the proximinty to hariḥ?

[Ramakrishnan]

Pillayar suzhi of the Tamils may be a symbol for the pranava akshara or om.

The fact that the manuscript mentions the kollavarsham or the kollam era (which supposedly was started by the Kollam maharaja to commemorate adi shankara's videha mukti) also indicates this manuscript's Kerala origin.

Ram

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[N. Ganesan]

Dear Marco Franceschini,

You are correct that this is written by Tamil person. In Central Kerala, where the Western Ghats breaks

into Palghat gap, there is lot of Tamils living & writing Tamil language's words in Grantha script.

This is one such manuscript. In all Tamil mss, there could be a million extant in TN & outside, 

aarambhicca & mukizccathu occur.

My relatives' family is involved in Chithoor Bhagavathi Amman festivals. It is a Govt. holiday

in these districts. You can search Konganpadai to understand the Tamil interaction in the area.

Do you make fonts for computers? 

best wishes,

N. Ganesan

http://nganesan.blogspot.com

[Marco Franceschini]

Thank you very much to all of you who replied to my questions.

With regard to Shriramana's question about the pillayar suzhi/piḷḷaiyār cuḻi: yes, you're right, I call the symbol "om symbol" just because it comes after hariḥ. Ram's reply seems to confirm that it stands for om; however, what you says about the fact that (as a rule) it has not any pronunciation is quite interesting.

By the way: do you call pillayar suzhi/piḷḷaiyār cuḻi the signs in pictures 1 and 2 as well? And is it true that the variant of this sign in picture 3 and 4, with a kind of Grantha kha in the end, is used only by Vaiṣṇava devotees?

Best wishes to you all,

Marco

---

[Shriramana Sharma]

On Thu, Nov 28, 2013 at 4:08 AM, Marco Franceschini <marco.fra...@gmail.com> wrote:

By the way: do you call pillayar suzhi/piḷḷaiyār cuḻi the signs in pictures 1 and 2 as well?

Hmm. This rather seems like a pillaiyar suzhi reused as a gap-filler. Much like the ꣸ sign seen in Devanagari.

 

And is it true that the variant of this sign in picture 3 and 4, with a kind of Grantha kha in the end, is used only by Vaiṣṇava devotees?

I do not have sufficient evidence to make such an assertion. Do you? And why would it be so?

At first glance, I simply think it is a stylistic variant but seeing as the KHA-like sign is repeated separately in the sample 4, this warrants further study.