Indian Antiquary Vol 62

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

Page 326

§ 291 ]
ON THE MODERN INDO-ARYAN VERNACULARS
(4) The conjuncts ks, š.
Regarding ks in Prakrit, see Pr. Gr. §§ 317 ff. It sometimes becomes cch and sometimes kkh. Pischel believed that when ks goes back to original és, Av. 8, it generally becomes cch, and that when it is an original ke, Av. xš, it generally becomes kkh, but he admitted that there are many exceptions to these rules. I believe that there is also a cross division, according to which in all Prakrit semi-tatsamas every ks is pronounced cch, irrespective of its derivation. This is certainly the case in the modern Indo-Aryan vernaculars.
In Dardic, Av. x does not become (k)kh, but ch, 8, i.e., exactly contrary to Pischel's rule. As regards ks, so far as I have noted in Dardic, it always follows the example of xs. I have met only one certain instance of ke>(k)kh, viz. Kš. pakhi, a bird. This rests solely on the authority of Elmslie's vocabulary, and I have never met it elsewhere. If it is used in Kašmir, the long a shows that it is a word borrowed from India. Two other words are proper names, Lakhimi for Lakṣmi, and Lakhiman for Laksmana. These both occur in the Kāšmiri Rāmāyaṇa, which was originally written in the Persian character, and really represent transliterations of the words Laxmi and Layman as they are there spelt. The words Lakhimi and Lakhiman occur only in Nagari MSS. transliterated from the original.
Skr. pakṣin-; Kl. pachiyek, Gwr. pici-n, Grw. pasi-n; but Kš. pakhi (see above), a bird. Skr. aksi-, Av. aši; S. açi, (dial.) atshe, Kš. achi, Bš. Wai. ace, Aš. aci, Kl. Kh. ec, Gwr. itsi-n, Paš. anc (§ 282), My. ainch (§ 282), V. iii, Trw. asi, Grw. ith, an eye.
Skr. kṣudhā; Kš. chod, Kh. chui, hunger.
Skr. bubhuksā; Trw. bus, My. bucha, Grw. buthō (bubhuksu-), hunger, hungry. Skr. rksa-; Kh. orts, Aš. Bă. its, Wai. ōts, §. iç, a bear.
Av. xšvaš, Waxi, šād, Skr. şaş-; Kh. choi, S. sã, Kš. šah, Kl. šōh, Gwr. My. šoh, Grw. šo, B. šo, Wai. šu, Paš. 8, xe, V. ušu, six.
Skr. kṣira-, Av. ? xšira- (GNPE. 802), milk; Kh. chir, milk-white; Trw. chi, milk; Bš. ka šir (with anaptyxis), white. This last is a truly interesting survival of a very old form.
It will be observed that, in the case of Av. xšvaš, Skr. sas-, the Av. x8, Skr. s is represented in Șină by §. In all other cases, Skr. ks becomes e in Sina. Other Ṣiņā examples (taken from $. Ph. § 65) are çeç (kṣetra-, see also § 287), a field; çon (kṣaṇa-), leisure; dacino (daksina-), right (hand); maçi (maksika-), a fly; taçon (takṣan-), a carpenter. To this Lorimer adds that some people pronounce a final e like t, and with this we may compare Grw. ith (aksi-) and buthō (bubhuksu-), given above.
Skr. or Av. kk (282)
kt (282)
jj (282)
tt (282)
[AUGUST, 1933
1 Cf. the doubtful sign for this conjunct, a modification of that for ch, in N.W. Prakrit (Konow, cx). 291. To sum up.-The following table shows in a convenient form the results of the preceding investigation into conjunct consonants in Dardic. It shows how widely Dardic differs from the literary Prakrits of India Proper in this respect. Especial notice may be taken of the treatment of v (which tends to become p), of r (which is either preserved or becomes a palatal), and of sibilants (in which the conjunct is preserved), when each is a member of a conjunct. Nothing of this sort is observed in Prakrit or in the modern Indo-Aryan Vernaculars.
Prakrit. kk
tt
jj
tt
140
Dardic.
k, (once) g
t
(Kš.) nz t