Tonal Notation of Indic scripts in Mainland Southeast Asia

2.3 Correspondence between modern and Mahathenapati Anandathura
Maunghnan Inscription’s spellings
The intricate tonal notation system of Burmese script shown above
is partly due to the diachronic change it has suffered since its birth. In
the earliest stage of the script, how were the tonal opposition reflected
in spellings?
The oldest Burmese inscriptions in existence are of the early 12th
century. Inscriptions of the period including famous Rajakumar (Myazedi)
Inscription (AD 1112) show spelling variance. It seems to be the late
12c or the early 13c when Burmese orthography was established for the
first time.
Nishi (1999b) refers as the best model of the standard OB (=Old
Burmese) orthography to the first pillar of Mahathenapati Anandathura
Maunghnan Inscription (Great General Anandathura and His Consort
Inscription) of four faces (585–7 ME/AD 1223–5), now in the inscription
shed of Lehmyethna Temple in Bagan. 6 Despite the length of 229
lines, the inscriptions show the striking consistency in spelling.
Below we show the spellings of non-checked rhymes of Mod.B and
the corresponding spellings of Anandathura Inscription.
(11) Mod.B Mod.B Anandathura
sounds spellings spellings 7
/-a(L)/ ßA {-aa}
/-a(H)/ ßA: {-aa:}
ßA {-aa}
/-a(C)/ ß {-a} ß {-a}
/-i(L)/ ߯ {-ii}
/-i(H)/ ߯: {-ii:}
߯ {-ii}
/-i(C)/ ߢ {-i} ߢ {-i}
/-u(L)/ ßU {-uu}
/-u(H)/ ßU: {-uu:}
ßU {-uu}
/-u(C)/ ßu {-u} ßu {-u}
/-E(L)/ ßy¸ {-ay’} ßy¸{-ay’} | ßAy¸{-ay’}
/-E(H)/ ߲ {-aY} ßy¸{-ay’}
/-E(C)/ ߲ä< {-aY.} ßy¸
a {-ay=@’}
6