Indian Antiquary Vol 61

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

Page 401

JUNE, 1932 ]
INTONATION
I $152.153
monotone, with a slightly plaintive inflexion, to indicate pity; or we may say 'dead ? a simple query; or dead ?' an incredulous query long drawn out; or dead,' a sharp and decisive answer, 1 Such modulations probably occur in every language, and the interrogative tone is especially prominent in the IAVs. owing to the fact that the order of words in a sentence is the same whether the sentence is a direct sentence or an interrogative. But we very rarely come across cases in which the meaning of a word varies according to the musical note in which it is uttered. If a differentiation has to be made, it is done by means of alteration of the stress-accent. Thus the H. bárhā, increased, has the stress-accent on the first syllable, but bashá, drive on ! (imperative), has the accent on the last.
1 Examplos taken from Encyclopædia Britannica, Ilth Ed., vi, 218.
152. We do however find a musical tone taking an important part in Northern Panjābi,1 in which the accented syllable of a word is pronounced in a raised tone, i.e., in a higher musical pitch, if it is followed by the letter h or by an aspirated letter. In such cases the h or the aspiration is not pronounced, and its exact position with regard to the following unaccented syllable is immaterial. Thus dádhā or dándā, severe ; wendhā or wéhndi, looking, are pronounced dadā and wéndā, respectively, with the dá and we pronounced in a high tone. This tonic h must be carefully distinguished from the h or aspiration which is written at the beginning of an accented syllable in the same dialect. This h or aspiration is sounded something like the Arabic 'ain, and can only be enunciated on a low tone. Thus lahái, descent, is pronounced l'ái, something like sleJ and walhétņā, to wrap up, is pronounced wal'étnā. When an aspirated letter is sonant it is usually, but not always, pronounced in this case as a surd. Thus bhrā, brother, is pronounced prā: and dhái, two and a half, is pronounced trái. The h or the aspiration may even be in a syllable preceding the accented syllable and have the same effect. Thus, hanérni, giddiness, is pronounced n'érni; ghatáņā, to lessen, is pronounced kat'anā; and bhaleái, goodness, paletai. It thus follows that two distinct words, differently spelt, may have the same sound. Thus, kahani, a story, and ghuni, mud, are both pronounced käri.
We also, as already pointed out ($ 150), see a high tone employed in Bengali. It falls on the syllable in a clause which has the peculiar Bengali clause-stress-accent. Here it is probably due to Tibeto-Burman influence.
1 These tones probably extend into Northern Lahnda, but they have not been described as yet by trustworthy observers.
3 For further particulars, and also for the cases in which sonant aspirates do not become eurds, see NP. Gr., xvii ff., also T. G. Bailey, A brief Grammar of Panjābi as spoken in the Wazirābād District, Lahore, 1904, p. 2. According to Bailey, the same changes aleo occur in Standard Panjabi and in several of the WPh. dialects.
Intonation 153. Languages differ widely in the method employed by speakers in placing or focussing the tone of voice. It may be focussed on the back of the mouth, on the hard palate, or even on the teeth, or it may be nasalized. It is this focussing of the tone which is one of the most characteristic features of a language, and the method of focussing employed in one cannot be applied to another without risk of unintelligibility. This is often observed in India, when an Englishman speaks in the vernacular to an uneducated peasant. If, as he often does, he speaks the language with the palatal focus customary in English, the peasant will grasp that fact first of all, and will not attempt to understand what is said to him. He will recognize the English intonation and will therefore assume that the words are English, although the speaker may really be uttering excellently grammatical Hindöstāni. There are few officials in India who have not, when new to India, had their self-conceit diminished, when speaking to a peasant in that peasant's own vernacular, by the latter replying, 'Sahib, I do not understand English.'
Romarka based on NP. Gr., 19 ff., 22.
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