Anderson, James M.Hitch, Doug2005-07-212005-07-211981NL Number: 55358http://hdl.handle.net/1880/22218Bibliography: p. 154-159.It has been assumed that Tocharian and Khotanese Brahmi writing were not related and that both systems arose through Indian missionary activity. But since the Central Asians had been Buddhist for at least 500 years, it is here maintained that the introduction and transmission of the Brahmi were strictly indigenous developments. It is suggested that two cultural events happening in India influenced the Khotanese to relinquish Kharosthi script and the Gandhari Prakrit .. as the media of administration and religion: the supercedence of the Kharo??ihI by the Brahmi, and the evolution of a hybrid form of Sanskrit as the lingua franca of Buddhism. In order to prove and illustrate the relationships among the Central Asian Brahmi scripts, use is made not only of character morphology but also of orthographic principles. An examination of the Turkic Brahmi reveals it to have been the intermediary between the Khotanese Formal and the Tocharian Slanting Gupta.. The dual function of the diaeresis in Tocharian as vowel and virama marking is shown to be the result of immitation of the Turks. Similarly, the parallel dual function of the Tocharian 'doublets' as vowel and virama indicators is also demonstrated as having had a Turkic (and Khotanese) origin.xii, 159 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.PK 119 H56 1981 FicheIndo-Aryan languages - WritingBrahmi alphabetTokarian languageKhotanese languagemaster thesis10.11575/PRISM/16185PK 119 H56 1981 Fiche