Indian Antiquary Vol 62

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

Page 311

APRIL, 1933
1AV. O
[§§ 263-267
263. IAV. 8. This vowel has the sound of Ŏ in hot. Its nearest long sound is å, and hence, whereas in Standard Rengali nearly every a is pr. as o, in EBg. it is lengthened, and pr. as a (§ 205). In Assamese a is also generally pr. as o, but, especially before i and u, it is sometimes sounded more like a (§ 205). In Oriya (LSI. V, ii, 378) a is said by purists to be sounded like the u in nut,' but this is really not the case. The sound is practically the same as in Bg. So also, in both Bg. and O. a final a is pr. not as o, but as ō (§ 258). In a few Bg. words, a is pronounced as o (§ 254), but, as a broad general rule we may say that, except when final or when followed by i, a is pr. as ŏ in Bg. A. and O. In Eastern Bihari it also has a sound something like o, but tending towards the ordinary IAV. a, and in WB. the sound of a is firmly established.
The same sound also occurs in Rajasthani (Mārwäṛi), but as representing au, not a. In the same dialect ai is pr. ä or a (§ 209). Similarly au is pr. o, though written au. Thus (LSI. IX, ii, 20), maur, a stool, pr. mor, and paur, last year, pr. por.
In Central Pahari (Km.) when e and o precede o they become yo and wo respectively. Thus měro>myoro, and bojo>bwojo, but this pronunciation is considered vulgar (LSI. IX, iv, 115). I am informed the a is often pronounced as o in the dialect of the country at the foot of the Kumaun hills, which is continued north-westwards into the Jaunsar territory. Here we first meet Western Pahārī, in the form of Jaunsarī, in which a is always pr. as o, and is written ad libitum either ō or a. In the Jaunsari translation of St. Matthew's Gospel, it is everywhere written Ŏ in the Roman character, as in oso for uso, I am. The same pronunciation prevails over the whole WPh. area except in the NW. Thus Kth. osso, I am; Kl. ghor, for ghar, a house; but Cm. (NW) ghar, In the NW. we are approaching the border of Kašmir. If, however, we continue westwards along the lower slope of the Himalaya we come to the Punchi form of Northern Lahnda. Here again a>o, as in kond, for kand, the upper part of the back; jangut or jongut, a boy.
Turning new to the extreme SW. of the IAV. tract, we find that in M. (Kōn.) a is pr. o, as in võtsù, for vatsu, to go (LSI. VII, 21, 167).
264. In Dardic we find the vowel o common in Kašmiri, where it is written wa, as o is written in EH. and elsewhere (§ 254). Thus, doh, a day, written dwah. It is interchangeable with u, and most Kašmiris are unable to distinguish between the two sounds, so that doh is, as often as not, written and pr. duh. In fact, in Kš., o generally represents an original u, as in dod (Skr. dugdha-), milk; dokh (Skr. duḥkha-), pain. It only occurs as a medial sound, immediately following a consonant. Wa when initial, or following a vowel, has its proper sound. Thus sõbḥāva (Skr. svabhāvasya).
The sound probably occurs in other Dardic languages, but, owing to the imperfect systems of transliteration employed in the only grammars available, no certain statements can be made regarding them. It is rare in șina (S.Ph. § 15).
265. Dardic. This. is the Kš. Ŏ when epenthetically affected by a following vowel. See §§ 126, 164.
266. Dardic ö. This has been certainly noted only in Kašmiri. The methods of spelling adopted in the accounts of the other languages are too indefinite to allow the sound to be elsewhere identified with certainty. In Ks. it is usually the sound which a takes when epenthetically affected by a following i, i-mātrā or ü-mātrī. See §§ 126, 164. The diphthong ai is also commonly pronounced as ö, the two sounds being, in fact, interchangeable in K. When followed by u-mātru, ö becomes u, and when followed by a fresh ü-mātrā, it becomes . Thus, K. V dut, hate, past participle m. ditu, f. dut. I have not come across this sound in IAV.
267. IAV. au. Regarding this diphthong, which represents a + u, not a +u (§§ 110, 112), see §§ 178 ft. As in the case of ai (§ 251), in Bihāri, Eastern Hindi, Hindi, Panjabi, and Sindhi, it is almost a matter of the personal equation of the speaker as to whether it is
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