Editing Indus script (section)

===Number and frequency===
The number of principal signs is over 400, which is considered too large a number for each character to be a [[phonogram (linguistics)|phonogram]], and so the script is generally believed to be [[logogram|logo-syllabic]].{{sfnp|Stiebing|Helft|2018|pp=104–105}}{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XVgeAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA132 132]}}{{sfnp|Robinson|2015}} The precise total number of signs is uncertain, as there is disagreement concerning whether particular signs are distinct or variants of the same sign.{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XVgeAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA132 132]}}{{sfnp|Robinson|2015}} In the 1970s, the [[early Indian epigraphy|Indian epigrapher]] [[Iravatham Mahadevan]] published a [[text corpus|corpus]] and [[concordance (publishing)|concordance]] of Indus inscriptions listing 419 distinct signs in specific patterns.{{sfnp|Mahadevan|1977|pp=14–15, 24–25, 32–35}}{{efn|Mahadevan's 1977 sign list originally included 417 signs but in a late addendum to the list, he added 2 additional signs, identified in then recently discovered inscriptions, which he had not been able to include in the sign list before publishing.}} However, in 2015, the archaeologist and epigrapher Bryan Wells estimated that were around 694 distinct signs.{{sfnp|Wells|2015|p=13}}
[[File:Alfabeto Harappa o Vallindo.jpg|thumb|A complete list of the Indus Script or Harappa]]
Of the signs identified by Mahadevan, 113 occur only once (are [[hapax legomenon|hapax legomena]]), 47 occur only twice, and 59 occur fewer than five times.{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XVgeAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA132 132]}} Just 67 signs account for 80 percent of usage across the corpus of Indus symbols.{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=133}} The most frequently used sign is the "jar" sign,{{sfnp|Possehl|2002|p=133}} identified by Parpola as 'sign 311'.<ref name="Parpola numbering"/>