184 Report on Writing Indian Words [No. 8, New Series, 



execution by means of an ordinary fount of Roman type in 

 any press ; and this prelimary condition, if maintained, is 

 fatal to the employment of compound diacritical points. The 

 objection applies with still greater force to their use in cursive 

 writing. Single accentual signs and dots are of comparatively 

 easy addition by the pen, but more than these tend to 

 create obscurity and blots. 



It has appeared to the Sub-Committee that a combina- 

 ti on of both s} T stems will be found to afford the best means 

 of securing perspicuity of notation with easy application. 



The class of letters in the Nagari alphabet commonly 

 denominated cerebral,* are now generally defined by a single 

 diacritical point below each letter. Let this be taken as the 

 distinguishing sign of this class and its congeners in other 

 tongues, as well as of all letters of a peculiarly harsh or hard 

 sound. 



The expedient adopted by Sir W. Jones to indicate 

 aspirated consonants by the apostrophe used to signify the 

 soft breathing of the Greek alphabet, and to some extent 

 recognized in the Roman, must be allowed to be peculiarly 

 appropriate. It was first devised by Halhed, who placed it 

 at the bottom of the line, in which he was followed by Gil- 

 christ. Sir W. Jones removed it to the top. Klaproth and 

 Bopp applied it to the same purpose, omitting the h and re- 

 versing the comma. But this, as will appear in the sequel, has 

 been reserved for another purpose. Although the Jonesian 

 application has not been so generally employed as it seems to 

 deserve, the majority f of the Committee recommend its 

 adoption on the grounds of fitness, perspicuity, and easy appli- 

 cation. It sets free the similar characters used to represent 



£ and ^with the addition of diacritical marks, and obviates 



* This rendering of the Sanscrit grammatical term murddh'anya, from 

 vuirddlian, " the head,"' has been objected to, and the word u lingual'" proposed 

 instead. One writer suggests 11 cacuminal/ ' as the most appropriate term, 



t Mr. Norman dissents. 



