Indian Antiquary Vol 58

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

Page 42

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[ FEBRUARY, 1929
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(2) t and d have much the same value ordinarily in Dravidian as in Sanskrit. Inter. vocally, they tend, often in rapid speaking, to assume the values of fricatives, e.g., Mal. vátil is pronounced often vagil. In Sanskrit words like atman, patmanabhan, t is adopted with the value of 1 in Malayalam, as almdva, palpanabhan.
This has been ascribed to the influence of the Vedic pronunciation of final Indo-Aryant as I, which was popularised in Malayalam-speaking areas by the Nambûdiris. See post.
In Telugu and Kanarese by a process of regressive assimilation, initial surds have assumed the values of sonante, e.g.,
Telugu. (hump) gúnu. (bunch) gola. Tamil.
kunu. kolai. (3) t and d: These cerebral plosives, along with other linguals are very characteristic of Dravidian. It has been postulated by Grierson and Sten Konow that the IndoAryan borrowed these sounds from Dravidian. In native Dravidian words, these sounds never occur initially.
(4) k and g': These are very unstable sounds, except initially or when doubled, in all the four Dravidian languages. Intervocally, they tend to become fricatives in Malayalam and Tamil. Their instability is evident in changes like the following illustrated from Malayalam. E.g., makan > mahən> musən > mon.
(5) p and b are not unstable usually, but, in the colloquial, b has turned into v and m occasionally, as in Tamil pávam (from pabam), kóvam (from kobam ) and as illustrated by Tamil påmbu appearing in Kanarese as påvu, and as in Malayalam alternative forms kanbán, kanman, kánuvan.
(6) l and gi: Palatal varieties of k and g, i.e., the values given to these latter in the proximity of palatal vowels, e.g., Tamil vd.səkkidy (plantain); vaigiai (river Vaigai).
(7) ch and j : These are not plosives, as their classification in vernacular grammars would lead us to think, but are really affricates. The theory of the affricates has only been recently propounded.
We shall next consider a peculiar law regarding plosives described by Caldwell as specially Dravidian and prominently seen in Tamil. This law styled by Caldwell as “The convertibility of Surds and Sonants" is stated by him thus on page 138 of his work : k, t, t, p, the first unaspirated consonants of the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th vargas are always pronounced as surds (i.e., ask, t, t, p,) at the beginnings of words and whenever they are doubled. The same consonants are always pronounced as medials or sonants (i.e., as g,d, d, b) when single in the middle of words. ... and so imperative is this law, and so strictly is it ad hered to, that when words are borrowed from languages in which a different principle prevails, As Sanskrit or English, the consonants of those words change from surds to sonants or vice versa according to their position, e.g., Sans. danta, a tooth, becomes in Tamil, tandam. Caldwell further says that "there are distinct traces of the existence of this law in all Dravidian dialects; but it is found most systematically and most fully developed in Tamil and Malayalam."
The law is certainly true of Tamil in all its aspects as shown by the following instanoes :kadu (cage); vidu (house); sddom (cooked rice); gôbdlon (Gopalan); sangaran (Sankaran), eto.
We have, however, to examine if the law is in any way so characteristic of all the other Dra. vidian dialects as to be described as distinctively Dravidian, as Caldwell seems to suggest.
It is true that in the representation of the inter-vocal plosives of many words in Telugu and Kanarege which have corresponding forms in Tamil, the spelling shows the sonant variety, as for instance in Telugu idi (this), pádu (ruin), poga (smoke) corresponding to similar Tamil forms with surd symbols to represent sonants, but at the same time there is a sufficiently large number of forms in Telugu and Kanarese where the inter-vocal surds, as shown by
7 An ancient k has changed into ch, and h in various dislocts : Brahui ka, to die represents an ancient type. The form is found in Tamil, Telugu, Kanarese, Kui ete, goes back to ka! ia, to die
ya sya < < a ka; Kui has an alternative ha: ha < x < ka.