Indian Antiquary Vol 61

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

Page 399

JUNE, 1932 ]
CLAUSE STRESS-ACCENT
[ $
146.147
Skr.
146. The shortening and elision of the vowel following the accented syllable, as in déval(a) for dèvála and dúbala, has had one very important result. It follows that when a word ends in a short vowel, thrt vowel, under the influence of the stress or the secondary accent on the penultimate, has a tendency to disappear.
Taking Tadbhava words first. These come to the JAVs. through the Apabhramsa, and nouns pass into the LAVs. in the form of the nominative singular. Nearly every Ap. word, and the nominative of every noun in that language ended in a, i, or u, or in one of these vowels nasalized. If one of these final vowels be preceded by a consonant, under the influence of the accent, it disappears in the modern tongues. ThusSkr. Nom. Sg. Pr. Nom. Sg. Ap. Nom. Sg.
IAV. ghotah, horse ghódo
ghodu
ghod (ghor). párkati, fig tree pákkadi
pákàdi * pákad (pákar). báhuḥ, arm báhū
báhu
bah. The same applies to the cases in which a verbal form ends in a short vowel. Thus
Ap. pathasi, thou readest.
pádhàsi
M. pádhas (or padhes). It will be seen that under the influence of the accent there has been a regular weakening of the final vowel at each of the last two stages. Prakrit has ghódo with the final o long, Apabhramsa weakens it to 1, and the IAVs. omit it altogether. There is a tendency in some dialects to preserve the final vowel. It is especially the case in Bengali, Oriya, and Sindhi.! On the other hand, some languages are fond of shortening and eliding a final long vowel of a Ts. Thus in Bihāri the word for 'woman'is indifferently nuri (purist), núri, or nár (poetical and vulgar). In Sindhi and Kašmiri the final short vowel of Tadbhavas, though. preserved, is only very faintly pronounced. We meet the process, in fact, at an older stage, and can watch the vowel in the very act of disappearing.
In Tatsamas the result is the same. The noun is also used in its nominative form, and a final visarga or anusvāra is omitted, as these letters have ceased to exist in the LAVs. We thus getSkr. Intermediate Stage,
IAV. bálah, strength
bála
bal or bála. mátih, mind
máti
mat or mati. vástu, thing
bástu
bast or bástu. The above remarks only refer to prose pronunciation. In prose these vowels, though they have disappeared, are not elided, for they are still there, and again reappear in poetry (see 8 125), which always preserves the older forms of the language. ThusIAV. Is pronounced in Prose.
Is pronounced in Poetry. घोड़ ghör
ghóra. पाकड़ pákar
pákara or påkari. बाह bah
baha or bahu. पठस pádhas
pádhàsa. बल bal
bála. मति mat
máti. bast
bástu. 1 Central and Eastern Pahari not only elido original short final vowels, but exhibit a strong tendency to shorten final long vowels. In this way, many words in these languages now end in audible short vowels of socondary origin. Seo Turner in IA., L. 99. So also in Kašmiri.
Clause Stress-Accent. The Stress-Accent in Bengali. 147. Besides the stress-accent of each word, the IAVs., as in all languages, lay special stress on the accented syllable of some particular word in each clause. The ordinary rules of emphasis and of logical connexion will here generally be a safe guide, but in Bengali and Assamese the matter is complicated by the old influence of Tibeto-Burman languages still