Oct. 1858. — Mar. 1859.] In Roman Characters. 



185 



the possibility of mistaking the sound of the aspirates them- 

 selves, especially in the familiar English pronunciation of th, 

 ph, ch, &c. 



The strong aspirate at the close of syllables in Sanscrit 

 words, called visarga, may be represented by a similar device, 

 or the spiritus asper may be substituted, as °h. This can 

 never occasion confusion as the visarga always follows a 

 vowel. 



In dealing with the Devanagari alphabet, the only 

 remaining letters to be discriminated are those expressing 

 the sibilants and the nasals. 



The Committee will complete their examination of this 

 alphabet first, because it is the basis of all Hindu alphabetic 

 writing, and has been more or less completely adopted by all 

 the rest, and then proceed to notice such letters as are peculiar 

 to the Arabic and Dravidian phonetic systems. 



Of the Nagari sibilants, the only one calling for consi- 

 deration is the first — or ST, which is " often very inaccurately 

 " confounded with the second, or and even with the third, 

 " or ¥i. It belongs to that class of consonants which, in the 

 " notation here proposed, are expressed by acute accents above 

 " them, to denote an aversion of the tongue towards the palate, 

 " whence this letter is called the palatine sa. In the same 

 " manner may be noted the sad of the Arabs and Hebrews, 

 " which last it resembles in shape, and probably resembled, in 

 " sound."* 



The majority of the Committee resolve to recommend 

 this sign.f 



The nasals are five in number. 



1. The anuswara, signified by a ■ above the line, and 

 therefore most fitly represented by a Koman h with a similar 

 mark. 



2. For the guttural n, or that pertaining to the first 

 class of Nagari letters, a compound or double sjonbol, might 



* Sir W. Jones, 



t Mr, Norman dissents 



