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ESSAYS ON KASMIRI GRAMMAR.
DECEMBER, 1895.]
from the works of Elmslie, Bühler, and Wade, and checked by the writer himself in Kasmir may be found of use to students.
8. Vowel sounds. a, a, i, i, u, ú, é, ô are pronounced nearly as in other Indian languages. E and o are the corresponding short vowels of é and ô respectively. They are pronounced like the e in 'met,' and the o in 'cot' respectively. The short e is represented in the Persian character by, the same sign as that used for i, and the short o by, the same as that used for . In my transliteration I shall endeavour to distinguish between these two pairs of sounds although there is no difference in the Persian method of representing each member of each. Similarly, the Persian 4, is often used to represent the sound é, and, to represent 6. When this is the case, I shall represent the pronunciation in transliteration.
7. Kâśmiri also possesses three broken vowels, viz., a, i, and . The first of these is represented in the Persian character by, as if it were a simple a, no distinction being made between the two letters. It is sounded something like a German ü, and hence Dr. Bühler represents it in transliteration by that character. As, however, Elmslie represents this sound in his Vocabulary, by à, and Wade uses a in his grammar, I have, after consideration, adopted the form myself. This will prevent confusion in looking up words containing this vowel in the Vocabulary. Owing to the doubtful nature of this sound, it is as often represented in the Persian character by i as bya. Thus or zath, a rag. This sound has been mentioned by the author in § 4, 1 supra. It is developed from the influence of a following i or e, which has been elided, and left its influence behind, or, sometimes directly from i. Thus kara-m (Bühler, karü-m), feminine of koru-m, she was done by me, for "kari-me. Again pachi, she went, but pachi (in which the i is not elided, but is fully pronounced), they (fem.) went.
8. The letter is merely the long sound of g. Bühler represents it by , which has the merits of consistency. To be consistent, I should have adopted a. As, however, both Wade and Elmslie represent this sound by a sign based on the letter u, (riz., Wade , Elmslie ), I have from practical motives adopted . This sound is of rare occurrence. An example of it is in the word tur, cold. It is represented in Persian by the sign, i. e., the same as that for a.
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9. The sound (cf. § 4, 3 supra), which is pronounced like the German vowel ", is also due to the influence of a following i which has disappeared. It is usually represented in the Persian character by T, the same as that used for a, but we often find, used for the same purpose. Thus, bror, a tom-cat, fom. or (incorrectly), brår, for *brôrli).
10. A final i or u (vide supra, § 4, 2) is sometimes pronounced so slightly as to be almost inaudible; this is represented by a small or above the line. Thus guru, a horse, guri, horses, tami, by him; but guri, mares, tami, by her, in which the final i is fully pronounced. In the Persian character, when these final vowels are fully pronounced, the Persian silent (a) is used, thus,
tami, by her. When the i is almost inaudible, the word is
written without the h, thus, tami, by him. The ", specially, is barely audible, and is usually omitted in writing. Except when necessary for some particular reason, I shall also usually omit it in transliteration.
11. The following is, therefore, the complete vowel system of Kaśmiri :
a, á, ? ú
i
i,
16,
e,
0,
î,
û,
é
ô,
น
Ô
