Editing Brahmi script (section)

===Punctuation===
[[File:Vidisha ivory carvers inscription in Sanchi.jpg|thumb|upright=2|A 1st century BCE/CE inscription from [[Sanchi]]: ''"Vedisakehi daṃtakārehi rupakaṃmaṃ kataṃ"'' ({{Script|Brah|𑀯𑁂𑀤𑀺𑀲𑀓𑁂𑀳𑀺 𑀤𑀁𑀢𑀓𑀸𑀭𑁂𑀳𑀺 𑀭𑀼𑀧𑀓𑀁𑀫𑀁 𑀓𑀢𑀁}}, "Ivory workers from [[Vidisha]] have done the carving").<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chakrabarti |first1=Manika |title=Mālwa in Post-Maurya Period: A Critical Study with Special Emphasis on Numismatic Evidences |date=1981 |publisher=Punthi Pustak |page=100 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jba1AAAAIAAJ |language=en |access-date=2018-10-01 |archive-date=2021-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210708070125/https://books.google.com/books?id=jba1AAAAIAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>]] Punctuation<ref>Ram Sharma, ''Brāhmī Script: Development in North-Western India and Central Asia'', 2002</ref> can be perceived as more of an exception than as a general rule in Asokan Brahmi. For instance, distinct spaces in between the words appear frequently in the pillar edicts but not so much in others. ("Pillar edicts" refers to the texts that are inscribed on the stone pillars oftentimes with the intention of making them public.)  The idea of writing each word separately was not consistently used.

In the early Brahmi period, the existence of punctuation marks is not very well shown. Each letter has been written independently with some occasional space between words and longer sections.

In the middle period, the system seems to be developing. The use of a dash and a curved horizontal line is found. A lotus (flower) mark seems to mark the end, and a circular mark appears to indicate the full stop. There seem to be varieties of full stop.

In the late period, the system of interpunctuation marks gets more complicated. For instance, there are four different forms of vertically slanted double dashes that resemble " //" to mark the completion of the composition. Despite all the decorative signs that were available during the late period, the signs remained fairly simple in the inscriptions. One of the possible reasons may be that engraving is restricted while writing is not.

Baums identifies seven different punctuation marks needed for computer representation of Brahmi:<ref>{{cite book|author1=Stefan Baums|chapter=Towards a computer encoding for Brahmi|editor1-last=Gail|editor1-first=A.J.|editor2-last=Mevissen|editor2-first=G.J.R.|editor3-last=Saloman|editor3-first=R.|title=Script and Image: Papers on Art and Epigraphy|date=2006|publisher=Shri Jainendra Press|location=New Delhi|pages=111–143}}</ref>
* single (𑁇) and double (𑁈) vertical bar ([[danda]]) – delimiting clauses and verses
* dot (𑁉), double dot (𑁊), and horizontal line (𑁋) – delimiting shorter textual units
* crescent (𑁌) and lotus (𑁍) – delimiting larger textual units