Large One Dot Over Two Dots Punctuation

It marks a sentence ending in Avestan texts. Within Avestan punctuation, a small dot can divide words, while larger groups of dots mark stronger boundaries. This one-over-two pattern is an attested sentence-ending alternative to 𐬼, the two-over-one form in Geldner’s 1880 edition of Avestan texts; that edition left the turned form out.

Why does the arrangement point the other way?

The two layouts belong to different editorial traditions. Descriptions of Avestan manuscripts show larger stops for divisions such as chapters or verses, while scholarly editions assign marks to different levels of ending.

The Avestan script developed during the Sasanian period from Pahlavi, an older Iranian script written in joined, flowing strokes. It was made to record Avestan, a religious language whose texts had long been passed on orally. The oldest surviving Avestan manuscript dates to A.D. 1288; that dates the manuscript, not necessarily the first use of 𐬽.

Is 𐬽 a normal full stop?

Only in Avestan-focused writing. Use 𐬽 in an Avestan transcription or a discussion of its punctuation. In an ordinary message it reads as a specialist script sample, not a modern period; it points to that historical context.

Typefaces and editions can shift or resize the dots. Compare the one-over-two arrangement, not the exact outline.