sounds would be represented by distinct letters; thus,, fa, इच्, अण्डर, प्रिन्स्, इम्य्. Compare 6.

a. It should be observed, however, that the guttural nasal 3, which is rarely found by itself at the end of a word in Sanskrit, never at the beginning, probably has, when standing alone, the sound of ng in sing, where the sound of g is almost imperceptible. So that the English sing might be written f. This may be inferred from the fact that words like (r. 176) make in the nominative case not

or, but. The palatal is only found in conjunction with palatal consonants, as inné, ♬ nj, I én, and I jñ. This last may be pronounced like ny, or like gn in the French campagne. In Bengal, however, it always has the sound of gy: thus is pronounced rágyá. The cerebral nasal n is found at the beginning of words and before vowels, as well as in conjunction with cerebral consonants. It is then pronounced, as the other cerebrals, by turning the tip of the tongue rather upwards. The dental and labial nasals na andma are pronounced with the same organs as the class of letters to which they belong. (See 21.)

16. ■ ya, I ra, la, va (antaḥstha, see r. 22) are pronounced as in English. Their relationship to and interchangeableness with (samprasarana) the vowels i, ri, Iri, u, respectively, should never be forgotten. See rule 22. a. When is the last member of a conjunct consonant it is pronounced like w, as is pronounced dwára; but not after r, as a sarva. To prevent confusion, however, will in all cases be represented by v, thus π dvára.

a. The character Ira (represented by 7) is peculiar to the Vedas. It appears to be a mixture of the land r, representing a liquid sound formed like the cerebrals by turning the tip of the tongue upwards; and it is often in the Veda a substitute for the cerebral when between two vowels, as is for T.

b. The semivowels are so soft and vowel-like in their nature that they readily flow into each other. Hence and r are sometimes exchangeable.

17. ₪ śa, a sha, ♬ sa, ₹ ha (called in native grammars úshmáṇas). Of these, sa is a palatal sibilant, and is pronounced like sh or like s in sure; (compounded with r it is sounded more like s in sun, but the pronunciation of έ varies in different provinces and different words.) sha is a cerebral, rather softer than our sh, but that its pronunciation is hardly to be distinguished from that of the palatal is proved by the number of words written indiscriminately with or ; as, a or a. The dental sa is pronounced as the common English 8. The same three sibilants exist in English, though represented by one character, as in the words sure, session, sun. nounced as in English, and is guttural.

ha is pro

a. The guttural origin of ha is proved by its passing into k at the end of Sanskrit words, and answering to X, K, and c, in Greek and Latin; as, TTU, kapdía, cor. It is probably not an original letter in Sanskrit, but arose out of the soft aspirates ,, ; thus in the Veda is used for, and in classical Sanskrit the rules of euphony frequently require the change of to a soft aspirated consonant.

b. Note that I sa, although a palatal, might be called half a guttural. It is certainly guttural in its origin, as all the palatals are. This is well illustrated by its constantly answering to K and c in Greek and Latin words. Compare equus, kúwv. It is moreover interchanged with k in Sanskrit

dákρv,

words.

c. According to Professor Benfey, the following are the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, which are probably original, the others being either derived from them, in the development of the phonetic system, or introduced from other languages,-, इ, उ; क, ख, ग, घ; त, थ, द, ध; प, फ, ब, भ; न, म ; य, र, व; स.

OF THE CLASSIFICATION OF LETTERS.

18. In the first arrangement of the alphabet all the consonants, excepting the semivowels, sibilants, and h, were distributed under the five heads of gutturals, palatals, cerebrals, dentals, and labials. We are now to show that all the forty-seven letters, vowels, semivowels, and consonants, may be referred to one or other of these five grand classes, according to the organ principally concerned in their pronunciation, whether the throat, the palate, the upper part of the palate, the teeth, or the lips.

a. We are, moreover, to point out that all the letters may be regarded according to another principle of division, and may be all arranged under the head of either HARD or SOFT, according as the effort of utterance is attended with expansion (vivára), or contraction (samvára), of the throat.

b. The following tables exhibit this twofold classification, the comprehension of which is of the utmost importance to the study of Sanskrit grammar.

The first two consonants in each of the above five classes and the sibilants are hard; all the other letters are soft, as in the following table:

Note - Hindú grammarians begin with the letters pronounced by the organ furthest from the mouth, and so take the other organs in order, ending with the lips. This as a technical arrangement is perhaps the best, but the order of creation would be that of the Hebrew alphabet; 1st, the labials; 2d, the gutturals; 3d, the dentals.

c. Observe, that although e, with the palatal class, and o, au, with the labial, these letters are really diphthongal, being made up of a + i, á + í, a + u, á +ú, respectively. Their first element is therefore guttural.

ai, are more conveniently connected

d. Note also, that it is most important to observe which hard letters have kindred soft letters, and vice versa. The kindred hard and soft are those in the same line marked with a star in the above table; thus g, gh, are the corresponding soft letters to k, kh; j, jh, to ć, ćh, and so with the others.

In order that the foregoing classification may be clearly understood, it is necessary to remind the student of the proper meaning of the term vowel and consonant, and of the relationship which the nasals, semivowels, and sibilants, bear to the other letters.

19. A vowel is defined to be a vocal emission of breath from the lungs, modified or modulated by the play of one or other of five organs, viz. the throat, the palate, the tongue, the teeth, or the lips †, but not interrupted or stopped by the actual contact of any of these organs.

a. Hence a, i, ◄ u, ■ ri, ☎ ri, with their respective long forms, are simple vowels, belonging to the guttural, palatal, labial,

† See Proposals for a Missionary Alphabet, by Prof. Max Müller.

ऐ

cerebral, and dental classes respectively, according to the organ principally concerned in their modulation. Bute, ai, o, au, are diphthongal or compound vowels, as explained above at 18. c.* So that e and ai are half guttural, half palatal; o and au half guttural, half labial.

b. The vowels are of course considered to be soft letters.

20. A consonant is not the modulation, but the actual stoppage, of the vocal stream of breath by the contact of one or other of the five organs, and cannot be enunciated excepting in conjunction with a vowel.

a. All the consonants, therefore, are arranged under the five heads of gutturals, palatals, cerebrals, dentals, and labials, according to the organ concerned in stopping the vocal sound.

b. Again, the first two consonants in each of the five classes, and the sibilants, are called hard or surd, because the vocal stream is abruptly and completely interrupted, and no murmuring sound (aghosha) allowed to escape: while all the other letters are called soft or sonant, because the vocal sound is less suddenly and completely arrested, the effect of stopping it being attended with a low murmur (ghosha).

c. Observe, that as the palatal stop is only a modification of the guttural, the point of contact being moved a little more forward from the throat towards the palate; so the cerebral (múrdhanya) stop is a modification of the dental, the difference being, that whereas in the dental consonantal sound the tip of the tongue is brought into direct contact with the back of the front teeth; in the cerebral it is kept inore back in the mouth and curled slightly upwards, so as to strike the gums or palate above the teeth, thus producing a more obtuse sound.

d. The name cerebral is retained in deference to established usage. Perhaps a more correct translation of múrdhanya would be supernal, as múrdhan here denotes the upper part of the palate, and not the head or brain, which is certainly

* If the two vowels a and i are pronounced rapidly they naturally form the sound e pronounced as in prey, or as a and i in sail; and so with the other diphthongs. The sound of ai in aisle may readily be resolved into á and i, and the sound of ou in out into á and u.

†The relationship of the palatal to the guttural letters is proved by their frequent interchangeableness in Sanskrit and in other languages. See 17. b. and 176, and compare church with kirk, Sanskrit catvár with Latin quatuor, Sanskrit ća with Latin que and Greek κaí, Sanskrit jánu with English knee, Greek yovv, Latin genu. Some German scholars represent the palatals and by k' and g

not the organ of enunciation of any letter. But the inaccuracy involved in the word cerebral hardly justifies a change of name. As these letters are pronounced chiefly with the help of the tongue, they are more appropriately called linguals.

21. A nasal or narisonant letter is a soft letter, in the utterance of which the vocal stream of breath incompletely arrested, as in all soft letters, is forced through the nose instead of the lips. As the soft letters are of five kinds, according to the organ which interrupts the vocal breathing, so the nasal letters are five, guttural, palatal, cerebral, dental, and labial. See 15.

22. The semivowels y, r, l, v (called antaḥstha because in the first arrangement of the alphabet they stand between the other consonants and the sibilants) are formed by a vocal breathing, which is only half interrupted, the several organs being only slightly touched by the tongue. They are, therefore, soft or sonant consonants, approaching nearly to the character of vowels; in fact, half vowels, half consonants.

a. Each class of soft letters (excepting the guttural) has its own corresponding semivowel to which it is related. Thus the palatal soft lettersi, í, e e, è ai, ♬ j, have y for their kindred semivowel. (Compare Sanskrit yuvan with Latin juvenis &c.) Similarly r is the kindred semivowel of the cerebral soft letters ri, and ḍ;l of the dentals ṛi, a lṛí, and ɛ d*; and a v of ◄ u, Fú, đìo, đau, and b. The guttural soft letters have no semivowel in Sanskrit, unless the aspirate be so regarded.

rí,

23. The sibilants or hissing sounds (called winds by the native grammarians) are hard letters, which, nevertheless, strictly speaking, have something the character of vowels. The organs of speech in uttering them, although not closed, are more contracted than in vowels, and the vocal stream of breath in passing through the teeth experiences a friction which causes sibilation.

a. Sanskrit does not recognise any guttural sibilation, though the palatal sibilant is really half a guttural. See 17. a. The aspirateh might perhaps be regarded as a guttural flatus or wind without sibilating sound. The labial sibilation denoted by the letter f, and the soft sibilation denoted by z, are unknown in Sanskrit.

b. In the Sira-sútras of native grammars the letters are arranged in fourteen

That is a dental, and kindred to d, is proved by its interchangeableness with d in cognate languages. Thus lacryma, dáкpupa. Compare also a with λαμπ.