Indian Antiquary Vol 60

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

Page 367

DECEMBER, 1931)
NWIAV. AND EIAV.
($8 96-97
96. In all OuIAV. there is a strong tendency to omit aspiration. In Dardic (with a few special exceptions) all sonant aspirates are disaspirated (cf. 352). So Dērāwāl Lahndā giddā for ghiddā, taken, as if from *grddhah in the sense of Orhitah ; (vyāghrah) S. vagh" or bāg", a tiger. This change occurs sporadically in all TAV.
Jh becomes jor in Assamese, as in Bg. jhi, A. ji (ži), a daughter. So H. ihal. pungency, but A. jāl (tāl); H. bujh-, extinguish, but Bg. M. G. R. buj.; Bg. M. G. så jh or edi, evening. We thus see that the disaspiration of this sonant occurs only in OuIAV. and IIAV.
Similarly for dh(rh). H. parh., Bg. par., read ; H. cash-, Bg. R. car., mount; H. kórh, Bg. kur, M. G. kör, leprosy ; H. dārhi, O. dādi, Bg. dārī, a beard.
Dh is often disas pirated in R., as bid-, bind : ādo, half; lād-, get; dūd, milk. So Kš. död, Bg. dud, milk; M. G.gid, a vulture; S. dlho, smoke.
For bh we have s. bilch, alms; bukha, hunger ; R. bhi or bi, also; Dorāwāl L. bai, a brother; H. jibh, but A. jibā, the tongue.
Turning to the surd aspirates, lh is usually preserved, except in M., and occasionally in the other OuIAV. Thus, M. sik-, learn; bhuk, hunger, and others. So Bg. pukur, a pond; A. xukan, M. sukā, S. suko, L. sukeā dry.
As for ch, in A. it always becomes c (pronounced s), as in māc (mās), a fish. So also 0. kācim, a tortoise ; R. cip, for chip., conceal. Elsewhere the aspiration is generally preserved.
Th is disaspirated in Bg. pif, the back.
T'h is disaspirated only in a few words, the most important of which is R. M. Bg. A. O. hait, others hath, a hand.
Ph is also rarely disaspirated. We have Bg. A. O. (also H.) bhāp (for bāph, with trans. ferred aspiration), vapour ; A. pelitë, Bg. phelite, to throw.
From the above we see that disaspiration is confined to OuIAV. and IIAV. That of surd consonants is chiefly confined to the South and East, while that of sonants is also com. mon in the North-West.1
1 According to 8. K. Chatterji (Bg. Gr. Ch., 159), the disnspiration in Bg.is & modern development. This may be the case, although we know ancient Bg. only in its literary romains which would naturally be conservative in spelling. But the real point is that the disaspiration has occurred in the East, while it is much raror in Hindi. The seeds of the development are there in the one CAO, and not there in the other.
97. Sindhi, Lahnda and Dardio avoid doubling a consonant, and where Pr. has a double consonant they have a single one, without compensatory lengthening of the preceding vowel. This is also common in the other OuIAVs, and in IIAV. but does not ooour in MIAV. Thus, S. cak", 0. cak, a wheel. Elsewhere cakk, cak, etc. There are hundreds of other examples. To quote only a few.-H. mag., S. man-, ask; H. sülha, Ks. hokh , M. suka, Bg. O. fukā, dry; H. tilhā, A. tikha, sharp; H. edc or acce, S. aac", A. adca, true; H. sijh-, 8. sijh, M. tij, G. Bg. O. A. sij., be stewed ; H. jūjh., M. jhujh, be killed in battle; H. müthi, Kg. möth, 8. muth, A. muthi, a fist ; H. kan, L. Kx, ban, 8. kan", an ear; H. pan, L. pand, Kg. pan, S. pan", a leaf ; H. bhät, L. bhat, 8. bharu, Kg. bata, boiled rioe; H. nosi, . G. Bg. 0. rasi, a cord; H. säs, K. had, L. was, S. aas", O. sadu, a mother-in-law, and many others. See $5 175, 274, especially the latter, in which it is shown that in such cases not only is there no compensatory lengthening, but that the length of the vowel (whether long or short) is always that of the vowel in the original from which the modern word is derived. Thus, while Skr, cakra- becomes S. cake, with a short a, Skr. vyāghna. becomes S. vñgh with a long à. As explained in $274, this has an important bearing on the question of the phonetics of the ancient Prakrit of the North-West. In that Prakrit, we must have had forms like cakaand vägha-, not (as in Midland India) cakli and raggha-.