Indian Antiquary Vol 58

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 41

FARBDARY, 1929)
PLOSIVES IN DRAVIDIAN
(6) Pure medice, where the muscular tension is at its minimum and the vooal chords do not cease to vibrate at all.
Dravidian plosives have hitherto been classified as belonging to the two broad varieties, namely tenues and mediæ only; but as a matter of fact, examples of all the above mentionod six varieties occur in Dravidian.
Class (1)4 is heard in the careful enunciation of doubled or long plosives occurring final. ly in base-forms and derivative forms, e.g.,
Tamil-potfru (mark); pattuu (ten); boppu (small case). Telugu-prakka (near); nippu (fire); natti (stammer). Malayalam-vitta (having left); chakka (jack-fruit); tatta (parrot).
Class (2) is found in the sounds of doubled or long plosives occurring initially in the socond components of samasas in Tamil and Malayalam, e.g.,
Tamil-kaffüppuli (tiger of forest); vitfuttandai (old man of the house). Malayalam-tippôi (ran away); mesakkal (leg of table).
Class (3) is the value of initial plosives in all the Dravidian dialects and in intervocal plosives in Malayalam and Telugu. The metallic clang, characteristic of the French sounds, is absent in the Dravidian, however, Initial. Tamil-kappel (ship).
Malayalam-katal (sea). Telugu-kani (but).
• Kanarese-tumbitu (filled). Intervocal. Telugu-paluku (word). Malayalam-chati (jumped).
Class (4) s.e., the voiceless mediæ are very common intervocally in Malayalam colloquial. Indeed carefal Malayalam speakers give this value to all intervocal plosives and often to nasal plosive combinations also, e.g., Malayalam : kudil (hut); vandi (cart); kunda (pit); panda (ball); panda (ago), eto.
Class (5) is a variety of sound often heard in Malayalam nasal plosive combinations, e.g., chanda (drum); engil (it), etc.
Class (6) is the value given to all Tamil intervocal plosives and to all Tamil plosives in combination with nasals (both being represented in spelling by the symbols for surds). Further, initial Telugu Burds assume this value when they are immediately preceded by words with final vowels of the druta class.
(1) A broad classification of the Dravidian plosives, according to the place of soundproduction and (2) the vocal organs coming into play would stand thus : Lip Teeth Upper gums
Palate. with with
with tip lip. blade.
of tongue. Front. Middle. Back. p, b t , d
,d
key, gw , k, g I shall briefly comment on the characteristics of these Dravidian sounds.
(1) 4 and d alveolar sounds with tip of tongue touching the upper gums. These are found in Tamil and Malayalam only, and even here only doubled or in combination. Tamil R+R$ gives rise to ttr or tR, as in the causatives of maRru, peRu eto.=mattRu, pettu, etc.
• Evidently, the final position being one of the most emphatic positions of a word, the surds occurring in this position (though followed by supporting vowels often irail in character) are brought out with the maximum tension. The exit of breath after the explosion is, in Dravidian, not so strong as in the typical Danish sounds given by Jespersen; nevertheless, a fairly noticeable breath does follow, partially depriving the immediately following enunciative vowel of its sonority.
* This variety can be conveniently diMorentiated from the rest, in representation, by placing, As Prof. Jespersen has done, a small circle below the sonant symbol.
• The origin of the alveolar t, d, in Tamil-Malayalam is due to (a) the trilling (what Marouseau calls tremblotement) of an older (which may have been cerebral or alveolar), resulting in the incorporation of the alveolar plosivo; and (6) the assimilative process whereby a dental i ord is converted into an alveolar by another alveolar sound ae in Tamil bendru (ool + tr); or an alveolar 1 or is converted into the alvoolar plosive as in nalpu, eto,