Au (Indic)

Comparison of Au in different scripts

Aramaic
-

Kharoṣṭhī
-

Ashoka Brahmi
𑀒 /

Kushana Brahmi^[a]

/

Tocharian^[b]
[[File:|20px|alt=Au]] / [[File:|20px|alt=Au]]

Gupta Brahmi

/

Pallava
-

Kadamba
-

Bhaiksuki
𑰍 / 𑰻

Siddhaṃ

/

Grantha
𑌔 / 𑍌

Cham
ꨱ

Sinhala
ඖ / ෞ

Pyu /
Old Mon^[c]
-

Tibetan
-

Newa
𑐍 / 𑑁

Ahom
-

Malayalam
ഔ / ൌ

Telugu
ఔ / ౌ

Burmese
ဪ

Lepcha
-

Ranjana
-

Saurashtra
ꢑ / ꣃ

Dives Akuru
-

Kannada
ಔ / ೌ

Kayah Li
-

Limbu
ᤦ

Soyombo^[d]
- / 𑩘

Khmer
ឳ / ៅ

Tamil

/ ௌ

Chakma
𑄯

Tai Tham
-

Meitei Mayek
ꫮ

Gaudi
-

Thai
-

Lao
-

Tai Le
ᥬ

Marchen
-

Tirhuta
𑒎 / 𑒾

New Tai Lue
-

Tai Viet
ꪻ

Aksara Kawi
-

'Phags-pa
-

Odia
ଔ / ୌ

Sharada
𑆐 / 𑆿

Rejang
ꥌ

Batak
-

Buginese
-

Zanabazar Square
𑨈

Bengali-Assamese

/ ৌ

Takri
𑚉 / 𑚵

Javanese
-

Balinese
ᬒ / ᭁ

Makasar
-

Hangul^[e]
-

Northern Nagari
-

Dogri
𑠉 / 𑠶

Laṇḍā
-

Sundanese
-

Baybayin
-

Modi
𑘍 / 𑘼

Gujarati
ઔ / ૌ

Khojki
𑈇 / 𑈳

Khudabadi
𑊹 / 𑋨

Mahajani
-

Tagbanwa
-

Devanagari

/

Nandinagari
𑦭 / 𑧝

Kaithi
𑂌 / 𑂸

Gurmukhi
ਔ / ੌ

Multani
-

Buhid
-

Canadian Syllabics^[f]
-

Soyombo^[g]
- / 𑩘

Sylheti Nagari
-

Gunjala Gondi
𑵫 / 𑶔

Masaram Gondi^[h]
𑴋 / 𑴿

Hanuno'o
-

Notes

^ The middle "Kushana" form of Brahmi is a later style that emerged as Brahmi scripts were beginning to proliferate. Gupta Brahmi was definitely a stylistic descendant from Kushana, but other Brahmi-derived scripts may have descended from earlier forms.
^ Tocharian is probably derived from the middle period "Kushana" form of Brahmi, although artifacts from that time are not plentiful enough to establish a definite succession.
^ Pyu and Old Mon are probably the precursors of the Burmese script, and may be derived from either the Pallava or Kadamba script
^ May also be derived from Devangari (see bottom left of table)
^ The Origin of Hangul from 'Phags-pa is one of limited influence, inspiring at most a few basic letter shapes. Hangul does not function as an Indic abugida.
^ Although the basic letter forms of the Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics were derived from handwritten Devanagari letters, this abugida indicates vowel sounds by rotations of the letter form, rather than the use of vowel diacritics as is standard in Indic abugidas.
^ May also be derived from Ranjana (see above)
^ Masaram Gondi acts as an Indic abugida, but its letterforms were not derived from any single precursor script.

Au is a vowel of Indic abugidas. In modern Indic scripts, Au is derived from the middle "Kushana" Brahmi letter , and the Gupta letter . As an Indic vowel, Au comes in two normally distinct forms: 1) as an independent letter, and 2) as a vowel sign for modifying a base consonant. Bare consonants without a modifying vowel sign have the inherent "A" vowel.

Āryabhaṭa numeration

Aryabhata used Devanagari letters for numbers, very similar to the Greek numerals, even after the invention of Indian numerals. The ौ sign was used to modify a consonant's value ×10¹⁶, but the vowel letter औ did not have an inherent value by itself.^[1]

Historic Au

There are three different general early historic scripts - Brahmi and its variants, Kharoṣṭhī, and Tocharian, the so-called slanting Brahmi. Au was not found in the earliest forms of Brahmi, but was found in the more flowing forms the Kushana and Gupta . Like all Brahmic scripts, Tocharian Au has an accompanying vowel mark for modifying a base consonant. In Kharoṣṭhī, the only independent vowel letter is for the inherent A. All other independent vowels, including Au are indicated with vowel marks added to the letter A.

Brahmi Au

The Brahmi letter Au, is based on the letter O which was probably derived from the Aramaic Waw . That would make it related to the modern Latin F, V, U, W, Y and Greek Upsilon.^[2] Several identifiable styles of writing the Brahmi Au can be found, most associated with a specific set of inscriptions from an artifact or diverse records from an historic period.^[3] As the earliest and most geometric style of Brahmi, the letters found on the Edicts of Ashoka and other records from around that time are normally the reference form for Brahmi letters, but only being found in later styles, the reference form of Brahmi Au is back-formed from later styles to match the geometric writing style.

Brahmi Au historic forms
Ashoka (3rd-1st c. BCE)	Girnar (~150 BCE)	Kushana (~150-250 CE)	Gujarat (~250 CE)	Gupta (~350 CE)

Tocharian Au

The Tocharian letter is derived from the Brahmi . Unlike some of the consonants, Tocharian vowels do not have a Fremdzeichen form.

Tocharian consonants with Au vowel marks
Kau	Khau	Gau	Ghau	Cau	Chau	Jau	Jhau	Nyau	Ṭau	Ṭhau	Ḍau	Ḍhau	Ṇau

Tau	Thau	Dau	Dhau	Nau	Pau	Phau	Bau	Bhau	Mau	Yau	Rau	Lau	Vau

Śau	Ṣau	Sau	Hau

Kharoṣṭhī Au

The Kharoṣṭhī letter Au is indicated with the O vowel mark plus the vowel length mark . As an independent vowel, Au is indicated by adding the vowel marks to the independent vowel letter A .

Devanagari Au

Bengali Au

Javanese Au

References

^ Ifrah, Georges (2000). The Universal History of Numbers. From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 447–450. ISBN 0-471-39340-1.
^ Bühler, Georg. "On the Origin of the Indian Brahmi Alphabet". archive.org. Karl J. Trübner. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
^ Evolutionary chart, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, 1838 [1]

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[1] The middle "Kushana" form of Brahmi is a later style that emerged as Brahmi scripts were beginning to proliferate. Gupta Brahmi was definitely a stylistic descendant from Kushana, but other Brahmi-derived scripts may have descended from earlier forms.

[2] Tocharian is probably derived from the middle period "Kushana" form of Brahmi, although artifacts from that time are not plentiful enough to establish a definite succession.

[3] Pyu and Old Mon are probably the precursors of the Burmese script, and may be derived from either the Pallava or Kadamba script

[4] May also be derived from Devangari (see bottom left of table)

[5] The Origin of Hangul from 'Phags-pa is one of limited influence, inspiring at most a few basic letter shapes. Hangul does not function as an Indic abugida.

[6] Although the basic letter forms of the Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics were derived from handwritten Devanagari letters, this abugida indicates vowel sounds by rotations of the letter form, rather than the use of vowel diacritics as is standard in Indic abugidas.

[7] May also be derived from Ranjana (see above)

[8] Masaram Gondi acts as an Indic abugida, but its letterforms were not derived from any single precursor script.

[Ifrah-9] Ifrah, Georges (2000). The Universal History of Numbers. From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer. New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 447–450. ISBN 0-471-39340-1.

[Buhler-10] Bühler, Georg. "On the Origin of the Indian Brahmi Alphabet". archive.org. Karl J. Trübner. Retrieved 10 June 2020.

[11] Evolutionary chart, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 7, 1838 [1]

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[d]

[e]

[f]

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[h]

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