Indian Antiquary Vol 62

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

Page 309

APRIL, 1933]
[§§ 255-258
255. ou. In Pr.u>o before a compound consonant. In IAV.u occasionally becomes o or ō, whether a compound consonant follows or not. Thus :
Skr.
múkham, face
cáñcuḥ, a beak
cáksuḥ, an eye pásuḥ, a beast émáśruh, a moustache
IAV. O
G. moh du, face; M. mohare, in front; P. mohar, H. mohara, vanguard. H. sōhar.
sùhaáru
chúrdu
Bg. chora, a dagger.
sùkhakáraḥ, pleasing ksúrákaḥ, a razor An interesting case is Skr. dváram, a door, Ap. duáru, Bg. dwar, written döyär, for an original dovär. In Bg. oya is pronounced wa; so that the word has returned to its original Skr. form (§ 134).
256. oo. This is by far the commonest origin of o. Cf. §§ 170 ff. As explained in those sections, the shortened form of ō is generally written u, except in EH. and B. where it is written ō, but the sound of o extends further westwards, and at least covers the whole Hindi and Gujarati area (§ 294), where we hear words like parosiya, a neighbour, here written parōsiya (H.Gr. 71). The sound probably exists in P. for it occurs in L., as in gohīrā, a lizard (L.Gr. 1).
When o in Bengali represents the shortening of ō, it is written as ō, not as a. Thus from kho-, khōyäila, pr. khowailo, he caused to lose.
The Central Pahari rule under which ō preceding a short vowel becomes o must be remembered (§ 173).
257. In Dardic the vowel o certainly exists in Bašgali, Ṣiņa, and Kašmiri. Its existence in other languages is uncertain, owing to extremely lax systems of transliteration employed in their grammars. In Bš, it is common, sometimes representing an original a, as in tapak bar odsi (Vats-), the gun went off, (odsi is possibly fem. of masc. adsä, which also occurs); and sometimes representing an original ava, as in v ošt- or ušt-, rise (0. Prs. *ava+rstā-). In $ its origin is uncertain. It occurs in bodo, a sacrifice, as compared with bodo, much, and is interchangeable with u, as in joto or juto, a chicken (S.Ph. §§ 16, 24). In K. o is always derived from a epenthetically affected by a following u or u-mäträ, and is then in this work transliterated as a. Thus agun, fire, pr. ogun; kar" done, pr. kor", See §§ 126, 164. Moreover in Kš. o and u are quite interchangeable. Many Kašmiris, e.g., spell kar", kur" or kur.
258. IAV. ō. This usually represents a P. ō, or a Pr. o preceding a compound consonant simplified in the IAVs. (see § 190), as in Ap boru, the jujube-tree, M. bor; Ap. kóttḥu, leprosy, G.H.B.O. kōdh.
<d. The change of a>ō chiefly occurs from epenthesis of u, as in :
Skr.
Ap. methadone
prabalaḥ, a sprout, coral
Ap. cân cũ cákkhủ
*páhu.
(mámail,
H.B.M. cöc, Bg.O. cot, L. cög. Bg. cokh.
H. põhě, cattle.
B.Bg.O. moch, A. moc (pr. mus), but G.H. müc, P.L. mucch, S. múcha.
mássu)
Sometimes the neighbourhood of a labial consonant causes the change as in:
Skr.
Ap. bákkaru
várkaraḥ, a goat
pavālu
M. bókar, B. bókara, others bakkar, bakarā, &c.
Bg.E.H., &c., poal, straw; M. povlt, coral.
M. (Kōn.) boin, a sister, others bahin, &c. mor-, for mar-, to die. The Thus, in Bg. and O, a final soto; Bg. chila, he was, pr. chilo
bhágini, a sister
Similarly B. (Nagpuria Bh.) sob, for sab, ail; change sometimes occurs without apparent reason. a, when sounded, is pr. as ō, as in Bg. chota, small, pr.
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