Indian Antiquary Vol 61

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

Page 417

OCTOBER, 1932 ]
CHANGE OF QUANTITY
($ 173
contracted from two syllables, so that the antepenultimate was originally one syllable further back, or three syllables from the end), the vowel à in the antepenultimate syllable is always shortened. In a similar position, the vowels i and ū are shortened if they are followed by a consonant which is not euphonic y or u. Thus B. răm"vi, lg.fm. of rám, N.P.; from v khä-, eat, kháčbo or kháib8, I shall eat; from gidh, a vulture, lg.fm. gidh"wà ; from r sül-, sleep, sútalài, he slept ; from béţi, a son, lg.fm. béțawi; from ghorà, a horse, lg.fm. ghóra wà ; from v mar., kill, mărat, I killed. But from pi-, drink, piyalo, I drank, in which the i is followed by euphonic y, and chtial8, I touched, from y chu-, in which the ū is followed by a vowel. It will be observed that the final syllable must be long. If it is short, the long vowel in the antepenultimate must be retained. E.g., B. & esu (<ādēšah), a command. As an example of a vowel long by position, we may quote Skr. ápsarā, a fairy ; Ap. ácchara; OEH. ácchar, in which the first á is long by position. The plural of this word in OEH. is formed by adding e, and this a, being now in the antepenultimate, must be shortened. The nominative plural is therefore áchart, not ácchare,
It is probable that in all LA Vs. every vowel further back than the antepenultimate must be shortened, but the occurrence in a Tadbhava word of a long vowel in that position is so extremely rare that no general rule can be framed. We come across instances, however, in colloquial and dialectic forms of speech with some frequency, as in H.Bn. (Banāphari) khiliyai, sport ye, from r khel-; manihau, I shall heed, from y mān.. So also G. custvũ (Skr. r cūş-), to suck ; upan vũ (Skr. utpunāti), to winnow (through upp-, up-) and many others given in G.Ph. $ 20. Compound words form common examples of such a case, and in them the rule for shortening the vowels earlier than the antepenultimate is universal. Thus
From H. ádhi, half, and pákká, ripe we get adhapákkū, half ripe. ... Ske, dà válayah, a temple, Ap. dèválau , P. dèválà, a temple. . M.H., &o., lakh, a lakh, and pati, lord , la khepáti or là khapát, a millionaire. . M.H., &o., phúl, a flower, and tél, oil
phaléi, scented oil. , M. dhúp, ingense, āgára, charcoal , dhù på garā, live coal with incense. , G. páni, water, ghát, a landing stage.
pàn ghát, a watering-place. Skr. Sitakálakah, Ap. siárdu
S. siro, the cold season. So also words like M. dhúil, dust, but dhulavárane, to scatter dust; müt, urine, můt khádi, urinary calculus.
Again, as in Prakrit, no vowel can remain long before a compound consonant. So H. baghámbar, N.P. for vyāghrámbara. In Tbh. words, since they have come through the Prakrit, no such long vowels are possible, but they are met with in Tss. In such cases, though under the influence of the teaching of the purist schools, usually written long, they are pronounced short, or else the compound consonant is pronounced as if it were a single one, and the vowel preserves its length. Thus, the word óráddha, an oblation, is written as a Ts. rg or 1 , but is pronounced sråddh, or srådh. For the purposes of this rule, mh and nh, are, de usual, considered to be not compound, but simple aspirated consonants, so that long letters can stand before them. Thus Mth. dekhalethánh', they saw.
In Assamese, the only long vowels are ā, ū, and au (not a diphthong in Assamese). ā is written as a, but the written character also represents a. i is never pronounced or written, i only being used. u does not exist as representing u, being always lengthened to ū, but ū is never written and u is written in its place. e is always short. Ő is written 7, but is pronounced u. ai is pronounced oi, and au is pronounced 7. The above is a truly remarkable instance of vowel interchange. Only two vowels are pronounced as they are written.
173. In colloquial Gujarāti there is a tendency for à to become a, when it precedes i. Thus bhái, a brother, is pronounced bhái, and khälnē, having eaten, becomes khainë (LSI.
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