Study of Var峁嘺s or Letters [Part 2]

Some Important Shiksha Vedangas (study)

by Mala Laha | 2021 | 31,647 words

This page relates 鈥楽tudy of Varnas or Letters鈥� of the study dealing with Shiksha Vedangas鈥攁 crucial component of Vedic literature focusing on phonetics and pronunciation in ancient texts. The researched texts include the Paniniya, Yajnavalkya and Naradi Shiksas, among others. The study also investigates historical phonological transformations between Sanskrit and Pali, exploring the evolution of sounds and pronunciation.

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Part 2 - Study of Var峁嘺s or Letters

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The 艢颈办峁Ｄ� of 笔腻峁噄苍颈 mentions 63 or 64 letter鈥�

啶む啶班た啶粪し啷嵿啶苦 啶氞い啷佮啶粪し啷嵿啶苦ぐ啷嵿さ啶� 啶掂ぐ啷嵿ぃ啶距 啶多ぎ啷嵿き啷佮ぎ啶む 啶い啶距啷�

tri峁峁ａ弓i岣� catu岣メ梗a峁ａ弓irv腻 var峁嚹遽弗艣ambhumate mat腻岣�|

(笔腻峁噄苍墨测补艢颈办峁Ｄ�,3)

According to the 笔腻峁噄苍墨测补艢颈办峁Ｄ� the number of vowels is twenty one which is summarized in the table 3.

SHORT	LONG	PROTRACTED
a	腻	腻3
i	墨	墨3
u	奴	奴3
峁�	峁�	峁�
岣�
	e	e3
	ai	ai3
	o	o3
	au	au3
05	08	08

Table: 3 -The number of vowels According to the 笔腻峁噄苍墨测补艢颈办峁Ｄ�

Consonants are traditionally classified according to the degree of closure. If closure in the mouth or throat is complete then the sound is called 鈥�蝉辫补谤艣补鈥� (Stops)

.The total number of stops is twenty-five according to 笔腻峁噄苍墨测补艢颈办峁Ｄ�鈥�

啶膏啶掂ぐ啶� 啶掂た啶傕ざ啶むた啶班啶曕ざ啷嵿 啶膏啶ぐ啷嵿ざ啶距え啶距 啶啷嵿啶掂た啶傕ざ啶むた啶冟イ

svar腻 vi峁兣沘tireka艣ca spar艣腻n腻峁� pa帽cavi峁兣沘ti岣

(艢颈办峁Ｄ錺rak腻艣a-3).

This Classification of 厂辫补谤艣补惫补谤峁嘺 (Stops) is summarized in the help of a table.

厂辫补谤艣补惫补谤峁嘺 (Stops)		Total
kavarga (Velar)	办,办丑,驳,驳丑,峁�	05
cavarga (Palatal)	肠,肠丑,箩,箩丑,帽	05
峁璦惫补谤驳补 (Cerebral)	峁�,峁环,岣�,岣峢,峁�	05
tavarga (Dental)	t,th,d,dh,n	05
pavarga (Labial)	p,ph,b,bh,m	05
Total No. of Stops		25

Table: 4鈥揅lassification of 厂辫补谤艣补惫补谤峁嘺 (Stops)

At the same time, when closure in the mouth or throat is incomplete the produced consonants are called 鈥�补苍迟补岣迟丑补鈥� (Semi-Vowels). Semi-vowels are defined as independent vowel glides in which the speech organs start by forming a weakly articulated closed or fairly closed vowel and immediately move to another sound of equal or greater prominence; the initial vowel position is not held on for any appreciable time. The Semi-vowels are four in numbers as follows:-

i) 鈥�Y鈥� is by its physical character a palatal utterance and it stands in the closest relationship with the vowel 鈥�i' (Short or long). It possessed the properties 鈥�sa峁僾峁泃atva鈥�, `n腻da鈥�, `驳丑辞峁鈥� and 鈥�anun腻sikatva鈥� in addition. According to the pronunciation of Taittir墨yapr腻ti艣腻khya, contact is made on the palate by the edges of the middle of the tongue鈥斺赌�t腻laujihv腻madhy腻nt腻bhy腻峁� yak腻re鈥� (2.40). The 鈥渆dges鈥� are mentioned as being the parts which form contact with the palate while the central part remaining open.

ii) 鈥淩鈥� is the second letter of the 测补峁� class or semi-vowels. It has got the properties 鈥�n腻dabh腻gitva鈥�, `驳丑辞峁vatva鈥�, `sa峁僾峁泃atva鈥� and `alpapr腻峁嘺t腻鈥�. It is uttered with the tip of the tongue turned up into the dome of the palate. Regarding its 鈥�sth腻na鈥� or place of production there is a difference of opinion. According to 笔腻峁噄苍墨测补艢颈办峁Ｄ�, the Semi-Vowel 鈥渞鈥� is looked upon as a cerebral^[1]. On the other hand it is also called by 鈥�dantya鈥� (dental) or 鈥�诲补苍迟测补尘奴濒墨测补鈥� (alveolar)^[2].

iii) 鈥淟鈥� is the third letter of the 鈥�测补峁団€� class (SemiVowels). It is generally treated as the Semi-Vowel associated with the dental class and most of the treatises prescribe a dental realization- 鈥渄anty腻 l峁泃ulas腻岣� sm峁泃腻岣モ€�(笔腻峁噄苍墨测补艢颈办峁Ｄ�,17). It is uttered with liquid contact in the mouth, and it has got the properties 鈥渘腻dabh腻gitva鈥�, 鈥渄ho峁vatta鈥�, 鈥渟a峁僾峁泃atva鈥� and 鈥渁lpapr腻峁嘺t腻鈥�.

iv) 鈥淰鈥� is the fourth and the last letter of the 鈥�测补峁団€� class and place of its production is dentolabial^[3].

Sibilants (弄峁补惫补谤峁嘺)

The sibilants or 耻峁补苍蝉 means those letter of sounds which are produced with uninitiated breath through an open position of mouth鈥�

啶掂た啶掂啶むぎ啷傕し啷嵿ぎ啶｀ぞ啶

viv峁泃am奴峁补峁嚹錷

(A峁ａ弓腻dhy腻y墨, I.1.10.)

According to 笔腻峁噄苍墨测补艢颈办峁Ｄ�, the sibilants are four in number. Such as 艣,蝉,峁� and 丑鈥�

(i) 鈥�艢鈥� -It is the first of the four sibilant letters and it is related to the palatal pronunciation. It possessed the properties and 艣v腻s腻nuprad腻na, a驳丑辞峁 and 办补峁囜弓丑补惫颈惫峁泃颈.

(ii) 鈥淪鈥� is a sibilant letter of the cerebral class^[4] and it possesses in the cerebral position or with the tip of tongue reverted into the dome of the palate. In its audible quality, it is a 鈥�艣鈥� sound rather than a鈥渟鈥� sound.

(iii) 鈥溼梗鈥� is the third letter of the sibilants having associated with the dental class of consonants^[5]. It possessed the properties 艣v腻sa, a驳丑辞峁 and 办补峁囜弓丑补惫颈惫峁泃颈. It is describe as formed at the teeth by the tip of the tongue.

(iv) 鈥渉鈥� is the last of the spirant consonant which is a glottal and voiced or the spirant of a patial contact. It possessed the properties 办补峁囜弓测补, n腻d腻nuprad腻na, 奴峁补,驳丑辞峁. Generally the lungs are treated as the place of articulation for the voiced 鈥渉鈥� and the voiceless 鈥�visarga鈥�. This treatment, however, is optional, hence most of the treatises also allow these sounds to be classed as glottal鈥揳 term with is still commonly accepted today. This classification is accepted by the 笔腻峁噄苍颈^[6] while the 峁欢惫别诲补pr腻ti艣腻khya^[7] and the 峁歬迟补苍迟谤补^[8] lay statements illustrating the alternative prescriptions.

笔腻峁噄苍墨测补艢颈办峁Ｄ� is in favor of allowing the pulmonic alternative only in the case of 鈥渉鈥� followed by nasals or semivowels鈥�

啶灌啶距ぐ啶� 啶啷嵿啶啶班啶啶曕啶むぎ啶ㄠ啶む啶膏啶ムぞ啶た啶多啶� 啶膏啶啶むぎ啷嵿イ啶斷ぐ啶膏啶 啶む 啶掂た啶溹ぞ啶ㄠ啶ぞ啶む 啶曕ぃ啷嵿啷嵿く啶ぞ啶灌啶班じ啶傕く啷佮い啶啷�

hak腻ra峁� pa帽camairyuktamanta岣th腻bhi艣ca sa峁儁utam| aurasya峁� ta峁� vij腻n墨y腻t ka峁囜弓hyam腻hurasa峁儁utam||

(笔腻峁噄苍墨测补艢颈办峁Ｄ�,16)

鈥�Yama鈥� is a transitional sound intervening between a non-nasal and the following nasal as a counterpart of the non-nasal^[9]. If it is a twin letter available in pronunciation before a nasal letter and similar to it, then the nasal consonant is preceded by any one of the four consonants of the five classes. The number of distinct yamas is given by the 笔腻峁噄苍墨测补艢颈办峁Ｄ�^[10].

The examples of the Yamas are explained in the Veda. Like 鈥�

palikkn墨 (峁欢惫别诲补,5/2/4),
mumuccamahe (峁欢惫别诲补,1/29/5)
nicakkhnu岣� (Atharvaveda,5/31/8)
amtthn腻n (峁欢惫别诲补,1/93/4)
aggnim (峁欢惫别诲补,1/1/1)
parijjm腻nam (峁欢惫别诲补,1/127/2)
daddhn腻 (峁欢惫别诲补, 8/2/1)

鈥�Anusv腻ra鈥� is a nasal sound. It is written as a dot above the vowel or consonant preceding it. 鈥�Anusv腻ra鈥� literally means 鈥渁fter sound鈥� and is pronounced after a vowel as immersed in it. P饾憥 峁噄苍颈 clearly speaks of the 鈥�anusv腻ra鈥� as a sound into which 鈥渕鈥� is changed before a consonant, while his expounder 叠丑补峁弓辞箩颈顿墨办峁迟补 speaks of it as a pure nasal sound arising from the nose^[11]. All the pr腻ti艣腻khya except the `峁歬迟补苍迟谤补鈥� have recognized one 鈥渁nusv腻ra鈥� only. The pa帽jik腻 as well as the prak腻艣a commentaries on the 笔腻峁噄苍墨测补艢颈办峁Ｄ� recognize a reading according to which two 鈥�anusv腻ras鈥� should be available.

鈥�痴颈蝉补谤驳补鈥� means aspiration or leaning of the breath. Generally it is used at the completion of the utterance of a word when there is a pause. It is a glottal sound^[12] while the 峁欢惫别诲补pr腻ti艣腻khya and the 峁歬迟补苍迟谤补 have described it as a chest sound^[13].

鈥�Jihv腻m奴l墨ya鈥� is the sound produced at the root of the tongue^[14]. This sound is referred to that phonetic element into which a visarga is changed when followed by 鈥�办鈥� or 鈥渒丑鈥�. The 鈥�jihv腻m奴l墨ya鈥� is a voiceless breath following the utterance of a vowel and preceding the utterance of the guttural letter 鈥�办鈥� and 鈥渒丑鈥�.

鈥�Up腻dm腻n墨ya鈥� is a voiceless breath following the utterance of a vowel and preceding the utterance of the labial letter 鈥减鈥� and 鈥减丑鈥�. It is looked upon as a letter, but depends upon the following consonant. It is the bilabial spirant and always produced by the sound of 鈥�惫颈蝉补谤驳补鈥� before 鈥减鈥� and 鈥减丑鈥�. `顿耻岣辫峁涐梗峁璦鈥� according to the 笔腻峁噄苍墨测补艢颈办峁Ｄ�^[15] pluta 鈥溼阜鈥� is called 鈥�诲耻岣辫峁涐梗峁璦鈥� or touched with difficulty. This may be one of the reasons why some Pr腻ti艣腻khya did not recognize pluta 缚岣封赌�. But the 笔腻峁噄苍墨测补艣ik峁Ｄ� being meant for all the Vedas had to take notice of it. Weber^[16] is inclined to understand 鈥�诲耻岣辫峁涐梗峁璦鈥� as a 鈥�n腻sikya鈥�. In this situation if we admit 鈥�诲耻岣辫峁涐梗峁璦鈥� as a letter, then the total number of letters according to 笔腻峁噄苍墨测补艢颈办峁Ｄ� is Sixty four. But if we did not admit 鈥�诲耻岣辫峁涐梗峁璦鈥� as a letter then the total number of letters will be sixty three.