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AUGUST, 1909.)
A PRIMER OF DRAVIDIAN PHONOLOGY
201
A PRIMER OF DRAVIDIAN PHONOLOGY.
BY K. V. SUBBAIYA, M.A., L.T.,
Lecturer, Rajahmundry College.
(Continued from p. 200.)
d (medial).
(a) This is rare in pure Dravidian words. It is generally preserved in all the languages without change, as kadir .ear of corn,' ludi.heel,' vidai. seed,' etc.
(b) dir in the language of children in Tamil. There is one instance in which the change has become literary -vidaiseed is also virai.
(c) d big'
s: this is very common in Tamil. This takes place after front vowels; e. 9., peridu perišu ; palayadu "old thing' palašu.
(a) nd n dz: this is also after front vowels. This change is mostly new Tamil and colloquial. Aindu 'five' is andzu. This is a literary form. Kdyndadu (dried) kdndzadu.
The history of this nasal is very interesting. In Primitive Dravidian it was pronounced as a pure point-dental when it was initial, but as as a post-dental mostly resembling the English », bat formed a little higher at the gum, when it was medial and final.
In Tamil, n is point-dental as an initial, but post-dental as a medial and final consonant. That, is to say, the Prim. Drav. pronunciation is preserved faithfully. Hence nd develops into nru in Tamil, as r is nearer to medial , than d.
In Canarese, and Tuļu, all the n's initial, medial and final, have become point-dentals ; sothat corresponding to nd of. Can. we have np of Tamil. Bat in Taļu the old pronunciation is seen in some cases, as nd I ndg. (See developments of r).
In Telugu, while the medial n became a pure point-dental, the final continued to be pronounc ed as a post-dental. Hence, later on, a d was added to it for the sake of easy pronunciation Subsequently, the nasal dropped, leaving only d, but after having lengthened the preceding vowel. For example: Tam. avan he was in Old Tamil avandu vandu s od(n)du, New Telugu vádu.
The other North Dravidian dialects added either d or dz. Tam, avan 'he' is in Goņdbi avandzů. Tam, iran he is in Gondhi iandzů. In Kui Tam.. ivan.he' is ebandzin In Kurukh it is as; i. e., & dental spirant is added and the nasal has dropped. In Korvi and Kaikadi it is dua and du, showing only the loss of the nasal without the dentalisation or cerebralisation.
