Indian Antiquary Vol 61

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

Page 410

$ 165 )
ON THE MODERN INDO-ARYAN VERNACULARS
[ August, 1932
In Kašmiri the vowels which epenthetically affect a preceding vowel are the mätravowels, 4, 5, *, and. Of these, it is useful to remember that ü-mätrā represents an original i. Unuer a-matra se included c-matrī and e-matrā. These epenthetic changes have been fully described in $ 126, ante, and it is unnecessary to explain them here. In K. all these changes are indicated in writing, both in the native character and in the system of transliteration employed in this work.
In the same language there are other cases of epenthesis not depending on the system of mātrā-vowels. These are the following :
A following i ori o'ten changes a preceding ā to a, pr. ö. Thus baki (böki), remaining ; sakši (svk8i), a witness. A preceding ai is liable to be changed to ü. Thus from kait-, how much? sg. dat. kütis. A preceding e is liable to be changed to i, as in bihith, seated, from v beh-, sit. A preceding é is liable to be changed to i, as in phirith, having been turned, from r phēr-; diler, brave, diliri, courage. Finally, as in the IAV. Assamese, a preceding o is liable to be changed to ü, as in büzith, having heard, from r bõz-.
A following u often changes a preceding a to o, and a preceding ā to å. Thus agun or ogun, fire ; thakur, an idol. A preceding ē or i is liable to be changed to yü, as in phyürus, I was turned, from r pēr-; lima, a policy of insurance, sg. gen. byūmuk".
For full partioulary of these changes, and for the principal exceptions, see Kť. Man. 21. They all occur in the processes of declension and conjugation, and will readily be recognized.
But there is another class of words in Kāšmiri in which, owing to the loss of mâtrā. vowels, the fact of epenthesis is dieguised. Such are for instance chana: (pr. chanöz) for chānazt, the condition of a carpenter (K. Gr., 143), and bray (Sk', badari) (pr. brüy) for brayü, the jujube tree. Specially interesting is the word paz, for pāza, a falcon (pr. poz), as compared with the Prs. bäz. P. Horn (Grundriss der Neupersischen Etymologie, No. 162) compares the latter with Skr, vajin, the i of which is represented by the Kš, ii-mātrī, the v being hardened to p under the well-known rule of Ps. Pr. But the most important group is that of a number of masculine nouns ending in a consonant preceded by u, such as uddur, a monkey; watul, a sweeper; and infinitives, such as marun, to strike. The bases of these nouns are wddar., wital., and manan, respectively. The dative singular in each case is formed by adding as, so that we get wldaras, watalas, and mananas. But the nominative singular was in old Kk, formed by adding t, thus widaru, watalu, māranu. In the modern language the final - is dropped after epenthetically changing the preceding a to u, so that the nominatives singular, and the nominative singular only, are soddur, wātul and marun.
165. Infiuence of the Dardic system of eperthesis on the IAV8. Lahndā closely follows Kašmiri in this system of disguised epenthesis. There are a number of masculine nouns ending in a coneonant preceded by u, exactly like uddur. These nouns, like roddur, change the u tu a in all the oblique cases of the singular, and in the plural. Thus:Nom. sing.
Obl. sing chöhur, a boy
chöhar. kukkur, a cock
kukkar. jangul, a forest
jangal. Simnilarly the old termination of many L. fem. nouns was i. Thus the fem, of chöhur was *chöhari, and of koukkur, lukkari. But, like the termination u of the masculine, in the modern language this i has become epenthetically transferred to before the final
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