1834.] with those of Allahabad and Delhi. 485 



is made, with the addition of one of the vowel marks, J5 for |>X- In 

 the eleventh line £ occurs for /X : in the thirteenth, 1 for IX : 

 in the 28th, we find <£ taking the place of ^,4 : and the same con- 

 tracted form occurs also in the Allahabad version (vide scheme of Al- 

 phabet, Plate V.) The commonest double letter however in both these 

 two texts is j£, which corresponds with XX of the original or Delhi 

 column. 



Other contractions of less certainty may be remarked in the body 

 of the inscriptions : for instance, »H- for L+ ; 0€ for fl© ; i; for + +. 

 It is probable also that £ and \i , are contractions of £A an d \fX, 

 though this is not borne out, like the others, by actual example of the 

 separated letters. 



2. From the frequent and almost exclusive occurrence of X as the 

 secondary consonant in the above enumeration of double letters, as 

 well as from its resemblance in form to the corresponding letter of 

 the Gya alphabet (No. 2, see Plate VI.), I think a strong probability 

 is established that this letter is equivalent to y or ^ of the Deva 

 Nagari alphabet. 



The other subjoined letter has a great analogy to the Sanscrit ^. 

 The letter, with which these two are most frequently united, may with 

 equal probability, be set down as equivalent to the Deva Nagari s, ^ ; 

 whence the compounds may be pronounced to be ^f and ^, the two 

 perhaps of most common occurrence in the Sanscrit language. 



3. The letters £ and <J> are found to be frequently interchange- 

 able in the inscriptions ; corresponding in this respect to the «r and ^ of 

 the Nagari alphabet, and strengthening the assumption just made, b 

 and \r are also very commonly confounded, and it is most pro- 

 bable that they are the same letter. The triangle (No. 28 of the 

 alphabet in Plate V.) of the Delhi inscription, is invariably repre- 

 sented by the half-moon letter D (No. 13) in the Bettiah Lath, and 

 therefore the former may be erased from the alphabet : the anomaly 

 of the same character, shaped like the letter V, proves on comparison 

 to be the same letter as the foregoing. 



4. The letter » (No. 14 of the alphabet) is very commonly omitted 

 in the Lath of Bettiah, especially when it occurs before No. 24. This 

 character also is subject to no vowel inflections ; its variations of form 

 though numerous prove to be merely accidental. 



5. In the Delhi text as printed in the Asiatic Researches the words 

 are separated from each other, according to the European fashion. 

 This circumstance is of great consequence, (especially as it is not ob- 

 servable in the other two transcripts,) because it enables us to form 



