Book Title: Indian Antiquary Vol 61
Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications
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§ 139-141]
ON THE MODERN INDO-ARYAN VERNACULARS
3 Pischel (Pr. Gr., § 46) accepts these rules for Sauraseni and Magadhi, but considers that the stresssccent of Maharastri, Ardhamägadhi, and poetic Apabhramsa is, on the other hand, a development of the Vedic tones.
Skr. bhágini, sister
139. A tendency is observable from the earliest times to elide a short vowel following the accented syllable (cf. Pr. Gr., § 80); thus, Skr. bhágini or bhágni; Skr. pùgaphála, Ap. *púgphala, pópphala; Skr. súrabhi, Ap. *súrbhi, súbbhi; Skr. lávana, Ap. *lávṇa, *láüna, lona; Skr. jfvita, Ap. *jia, jia. In the LAVs. the process is still carried on, but the neutral vowel is substituted for a, i, or u, instead of that vowel being altogether elided. Thus, M. kár vat, a saw; B. ghórawa, a horse; Skr. dùrbálakaḥ, weak, Ap. dúbbalai, H. dúbalā.1
The elision of i and a is more rare in the IAVs., and is restricted to special cases. Examples are:
bádhirakaḥ, deaf práthamaḥ, first
pippalah, a pipal tree
viralakaḥ, rare
pánjarakam, a cage
Ap. báhini
ágniḥ, fire
sálmali, a silk-cotton tree
báhirai padhaillal
vidyut, lightning
bijjulā
H. bijali, but other IAV. bijuli.
Cases sometimes occur of the a being weakened to i or u instead of the neutral vowel (cf. Pr. Gr., §§ 101, 108). The i change is most common in Sindhi, and the u in Bengāli. Examples:
I APRIL, 1932
pippala viralai pajaril
IAV. HI. báh ni, báhan, or báhin.
Other dialects báhin, but M. and B., to preserve the i, throw the accent on
it and lengthen it, bahin.
H. báh ra or báhira.
H. páhala, but M. páhila, G. páhelö and so on.
8. pipir".
S. virilo or virlo.
S. pijirō.
T., Bg gun(). Bg. simul.
simbali
1 Jacobi gives as parallel from the Romance languages-Latin, verecundia; French, vèrgógne; Italian, vergógna; Spanish, vergüenza.
140. In compound words, except in Bengali and Assamese (see below), the first member retains its own stress-accent as a secondary accent, the stress-accent of the second member being the stress-accent of the word; thus, H. pàn sála, a watering place; M. phùl máli, a florist; B. d-sujh(a) or à-sújhava, invisible. This secondary accent I mark when necessary with the sign of a grave accent, but shall generally omit it.
70
This rule about compound words explains such apparently anomalous forms as the B. dekh láhu, I saw, and the many similar verbal forms in that language, in which the accent falls on the penultimate or final syllable of the word. They are really compounds of the past participle [dekhal(a)], and old pronominal suffixes.
The tendency to drop the final vowel of the first member of the compound [as in dekhal(a) +úhu] dates from the earliest times. Thus, Skr. kumbha-káraḥ, a potter, Ap. kumbha-áru or kumbháru (against the usual custom, Ho., 1, 8), LAV. kumhőr(a); Skr. nàvumāļiki, jasmine, Ap. *ndumália, ndumális, nðmálid; 8kr. pratista, a neighbour, Ap. palou or phdiefou, H. parós(a). A long vowel in such a position is first shortened and then elided; thus, Skr. decatorimat, forty-two, Ap. blydyällu, bäyälleu; H. (a).
141. If the accent falls on a short vowel there is a tendency to lengthen it (cf. § 168); thus, Skr. ápaga or apagã, a river; músala or músala, a club; so alsc
Ap.
Skr. prátipad, first day of a fortnight
pádivayā or M. padevi, but H. páribà, B. párab. pádivayd
