Indian Antiquary Vol 61

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

Page 411

AUOUST, 1932 ]
EPENTHESIS OR UMLAUT
[ 9 166
consonant. As the old final i remained unchanged throughout declension, so does this epenthetic i. Thus:Nom. sing.
Obl. sing. chöhir, a girl
chöhir. Icukkir, a ben
kukkir. In L. this epenthetic change is carried even further back, and when the vowel of the penultimate syllable is ā, this is again epenthetically affected by the following % (becoming å) or i (becoming a). When the u disappears in declension, the å again becomes a. Thus - Old form.
Modern nom. sing. Modern obl. sing. gäharu, a city
śåhur
sähar. vāhasu, a young bull
rå hur
vāhar. *pāharu, a watch
påhur
pahar *vāhari, a heifer
vähir
vähir Lahdä lies immediately to the south of the Dardic languages. To their south-east Jies Western Pahāri, and here also we eee traces of the same system of epenthesis. Thus the WPh. (Kth.) word for sister is bühn (for an older *baihni), with an oblique singular bauhņē. Here the occurrences are too sporadic to enable us to lay down any general rule. But in the north-western forms of WPh,, especially in the Curähi and Pangwali forms of Cameāli, we find the Dardic system of eperithesis firmly established, although as yet we know too little about those wild forms of speech to enable us to formulate rules. In Curāhi, we come across epenthetic i in feminines, as in khătă, eating, fem, khaiti; khänā, edendus, fem. khaini. With the latter compare B. khaini, (tobacco) for chewing (not for smoking). In Pangwāļi and allied dialects, all of which lie close to the borders of Kašmir, epenthesis is still more common. This kõi, a boy
bui, a girl ināral, I shail strike
fem, writ Bhadarwah : 1.shērő, a he-goat
fem. tshailla. ko, a boy
kui, a girl. bateli, a cow
obl. sg. bütshē. häthi, an elephant kutalo, I shall strike
fem. kutailai. Pādarí ghori, a mare
gen. ghürer. bhēn, a sister
nom. pl. bhin. hun, he is
hin', she is. gii, gone
fem. gēi. dzhārā, fallen
, dzhairi. özul, he came
azil, she came. and many others. 166. East of Western Pahāri lies Central Pahāri, and here we find many interesting cases of epentbesis. They have been thoroughly investigated only in Km. Here the rules are as follows (LSI, IX, iv, 114 ff.) -
1. When a is followed by å it becomes . Thus baro, greet, pl. bără.
haithe.
R5