DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36954#0179
Khotanese script in "Manuscript Remains of Eastern Turkestan"
(1916/1970: XVIf.). There is a remarkable change of style com-
pared with the "South Turkestan Brahmi". The Indian shaped 7V. 207
and -%?' are now exclusively used. It has sometimes a very
elegant flow , different from the more knotted forms in
the earlier mss., but it is also different from that of the cursive
script, which retained the Central Asian form. Still more striking
are the different forms of some a^sams. There is a tendency to
divide aAsaras into two separately written parts: note especially
sa and ma (Pi- 207 Fol. 5 r2 sawyasaw7a&/7aya, Fol. 6
r2 sva7a). This tendency is certainly due to the influence of the
cursive script (Fol. 7 r2 aparaw/rrayas^rrm, rl $pa7a). Also the
looped diacritic sign for (Fol. 5 rl aparayrnYfaya) is bor-
rowed from the cursive script. It already occurs in the ms. Z^ of
the "Book of Zambasta", where it is used only for the special
purpose of setting off si in sh7<77a??7. In some other, perhaps
younger mss., written in the "South Turkestan Brahmi", the
use of this form of is also attested in connection with other
^t^s. Another influence of the cursive script that is still more
striking is the habit of writing initial vowels, except 7/, as A plus
the diacritic sign. A.F.R. HOERNLE^ emphasized it as typical
for Khotanese mss. as opposed to Sanskrit ones, but that is hard-
ly correct since it is confined to this type of script. The beginning
of this development can already be observed in the ms. Z\ which
has the long initial vowel 7 quite frequently written as A plus the
diacritic sign for -f ^, and even in the Suvarnabhasa ms. this
type of 7 is frequently attested. It is used in both mss. side by
side with the inherited Brahmi form, consisting of three dots or
hooks developing to lozenges plus diacritic -f Another dif-
ference from the alphabet of the ms. Z^ is the use of nearly iden-
tically shaped pa ^^andwa^y^Pl. 207 Fol. 5 rl aparawifray%).
In the late mss. from Dun-huang the same development of wa
took place as in India during the early Gupta period. y??a and pa in
the Proto-Sarada mss. are also hardly to be distinguished. An
adaptation from the cursive script is not possible because the
11 A.F.R. HOERNLE's idea that the cursive script of Khotan may have
been influenced by the Kharosthi seems to be plausible, at least con-
cerning the use of A plus diacritics; cf. HOERNLE 1911: 448f.
117
(1916/1970: XVIf.). There is a remarkable change of style com-
pared with the "South Turkestan Brahmi". The Indian shaped 7V. 207
and -%?' are now exclusively used. It has sometimes a very
elegant flow , different from the more knotted forms in
the earlier mss., but it is also different from that of the cursive
script, which retained the Central Asian form. Still more striking
are the different forms of some a^sams. There is a tendency to
divide aAsaras into two separately written parts: note especially
sa and ma (Pi- 207 Fol. 5 r2 sawyasaw7a&/7aya, Fol. 6
r2 sva7a). This tendency is certainly due to the influence of the
cursive script (Fol. 7 r2 aparaw/rrayas^rrm, rl $pa7a). Also the
looped diacritic sign for (Fol. 5 rl aparayrnYfaya) is bor-
rowed from the cursive script. It already occurs in the ms. Z^ of
the "Book of Zambasta", where it is used only for the special
purpose of setting off si in sh7<77a??7. In some other, perhaps
younger mss., written in the "South Turkestan Brahmi", the
use of this form of is also attested in connection with other
^t^s. Another influence of the cursive script that is still more
striking is the habit of writing initial vowels, except 7/, as A plus
the diacritic sign. A.F.R. HOERNLE^ emphasized it as typical
for Khotanese mss. as opposed to Sanskrit ones, but that is hard-
ly correct since it is confined to this type of script. The beginning
of this development can already be observed in the ms. Z\ which
has the long initial vowel 7 quite frequently written as A plus the
diacritic sign for -f ^, and even in the Suvarnabhasa ms. this
type of 7 is frequently attested. It is used in both mss. side by
side with the inherited Brahmi form, consisting of three dots or
hooks developing to lozenges plus diacritic -f Another dif-
ference from the alphabet of the ms. Z^ is the use of nearly iden-
tically shaped pa ^^andwa^y^Pl. 207 Fol. 5 rl aparawifray%).
In the late mss. from Dun-huang the same development of wa
took place as in India during the early Gupta period. y??a and pa in
the Proto-Sarada mss. are also hardly to be distinguished. An
adaptation from the cursive script is not possible because the
11 A.F.R. HOERNLE's idea that the cursive script of Khotan may have
been influenced by the Kharosthi seems to be plausible, at least con-
cerning the use of A plus diacritics; cf. HOERNLE 1911: 448f.
117