262 Lassen on the History traced [No. 99. 



FIRST PART. 



DECIPHERING. 



Fundamentals of Deciphering. 



I first put together a number of letters, about which there 

 cannot be any doubt, and which have been read in the same 

 way by Messrs. Prinsep and Grotefend; to these I shall add 

 some others, concerning which I differ in opinion from one or 

 the other, and I shall state my reasons. In connection with this, 

 I shall make some previous inferences, as well on the character 

 of the alphabet, as of the language. 



1 . 9, A. This is established from the names Apollodotos, 

 Antialkides, Antimachos, Azes, and Amyntas, in which it is the 

 first symbol. Mr. Prinsep observes this letter to be written as 

 only initial.* This is so far to be limited, that it is only written 

 when the syllable commences with A, just as ^ j in the Indian 

 alphabets; for in the name Antialkides, we find 9 in the 

 middle of a word, according to Mr. Prinsep's own latter remark. f 

 Mr. Grotefend, according to the coins, has stated four varieties 

 of the shape, but they are all really the same, and well pre- 

 served copies represent only the foregoing character. 



After a consonant which has the vowel, A 9 is never met 

 with, from which we infer, that the sound A is accounted inhe- 

 rent in the consonant, and is not represented by an express 

 symbol. On the other hand, we shall find proper symbols of 

 vowels, whenever a consonant is followed by any other letter 

 than A ; it appears here, therefore, the same system of ortho- 

 graphy as in the Indian alphabets, and in the arrow-headed 

 writing. For the omission of A, when the syllable has a final 

 consonant, and for which the Indian alphabet has adopted the 

 symbol of pause fVirdmaJ, there is not found any symbol in our 

 legends, as it does not occur in the arrow-headed writing. 



2. T, O. This symbol occupies always, (with the excep- 



* As. Jour. No. v. p. 722. f As. Jour. No. iv. p. 329. 



