Editing Brahmi script (section)

===Vowels===
[[File:Brahmi diacritic vowels.jpg|thumb|Brahmi diacritic vowels.]]
[[Image:Brahmika.svg|thumb|The Brahmi symbol for /ka/, modified to represent different vowels]]
Vowels following a consonant are inherent or written by diacritics, but initial vowels have dedicated letters. There are three "primary" vowels in Ashokan Brahmi, which each occur in length-contrasted forms: /a/, /i/, /u/; [[vowel length|long vowels]] are derived from the letters for short vowels. There are also four "secondary" vowels that do not have the long-short contrast, /e:/, /ai/, /o:/, /au/.{{sfn|Salomon|1996|pp=373–4}} Note though that the grapheme for /ai/ is derivative from /e/ in a way that parallels the short-long contrast of the primary vowels (historically they were /ai/ and /a:i/). However, there are only nine distinct vowel diacritics, as short {{IPA|/a/}} is understood if no vowel is written. The initial vowel symbol for /au/ is also apparently lacking in the earliest attested phases, even though it has a diacritic. Ancient sources suggest that there were either 11 or 12 vowels enumerated at the beginning of the character list around the Ashokan era, probably adding either ''aṃ'' or ''aḥ''.{{sfn|Bühler|1898|p=32}} Later versions of Brahmi add vowels for four syllabic liquids, short and long /ṛ/ and /ḷ/. Chinese sources indicate that these were later inventions by either [[Nagarjuna]] or Śarvavarman, a minister of King [[Hāla]].{{sfn|Bühler|1898|p=33}}

It has been noted that the basic system of vowel marking common to Brahmi and Kharosthī, in which every consonant is understood to be followed by a vowel, was well suited to Prakrit,<ref name="Daniels 2008">{{cite book |chapter=Writing systems of major and minor languages |title=Language in South Asia |year=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |last=Daniels |first=Peter T. |page=287}}</ref> but as Brahmi was adapted to other languages, a special notation called the ''[[virāma]]'' was introduced to indicate the omission of the final vowel. Kharoṣṭhī also differs in that the initial vowel representation has a single generic vowel symbol that is differentiated by diacritics, and long vowels are not distinguished.

The [[collation]] order of Brahmi is believed to have been the same as most of its descendant scripts, one based on [[Shiksha]], the traditional Vedic theory of Sanskrit phonology. This begins the list of characters with the initial vowels (starting with ''a''), then lists a subset of the consonants in five phonetically related groups of five called ''vargas'', and ends with four liquids, three sibilants, and a spirant. [[Thomas Trautmann]] attributes much of the popularity of the Brahmic script family to this "splendidly reasoned" system of arrangement.{{sfn|Trautmann|2006|p=62–64}}
{{Brahmi vowel compounds}}