Imatges de pàgina
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CHAPTER II.

SECT. I.-COMBINATION AND PERMUTATION OF LETTERS.

WE are accustomed in Greek and Latin to certain euphonic changes of letters. Thus in, combined with rogo, becomes irrogo; rego makes, in the perfect, not regsi but reksi, contracted into rexi; veho becomes veksi or vexi; συν with γνώμη becomes συγγνώμη; ἐν with λάμπω, ἐλλάμπω. These laws for the combination of letters are applied very extensively throughout the Sanscrit language; and that, too, not only in combining two parts of one word, but in combining all the words in the same sentence. Thus the sentence "Rara avis in terris" would require, by the laws of combination (called, in Sanscrit, Sandhi) to be written thus, Rarāvir ins terrih; and would, moreover, be written without separating the words, Rarāvirinsterrih, The learner must not be discouraged if he is not able thoroughly to understand all the numerous laws of combination at first. He is recommended, after reading them over with attention, to pass at once to the declension of nouns and conjugation of verbs: for to oblige him to learn by heart a number of rules, the use of which is not fully seen till he comes to read and construct sentences, must only lead to a waste of time and labour.

CHANGES OF VOWELS.

1. Nevertheless, there are some changes of letters which come into immediate application in the formation and declension of nouns, and the conjugation of verbs; and amongst these, the changes of vowels called Guna and Vriddhi should be impressed on the memory of the student, before he takes a single step in the study of the Grammar. When the vowels i and i are changed to e, this is called the Guna change, or a change in quality; when i and i are changed to ai, this is called the Vriddhi change, or an increase. Similarly, u and ū are often changed to their Guna o, and Vriddhi au; ri and ri to their Guna ar, and Vriddhi ār; and

Similarly,

a, though it have no corresponding Guna change, has a Vriddhi substitute in ā.

2. Let the Student, therefore, never forget the following rule, or he will be confused at every step. There is no Guna substitute for a, but ā is the Vriddhi substitute for a; e is the Guna, and ai the Vriddhi substitute for i and i; o is the Guna, and au the Vriddhi substitute for u and u; ar is the Guna, and ār the Vriddhi substitute for ri and rī.

*

Again, let him never forget that y is the semi-vowel of i and i; v is the semi-vowel of u and u; r is the semi-vowel of ri and ri. 3. Lastly let him bear in mind that the Guna dipthong e is supposed to be made up of a and i, and the Guna o, of a and u;' so that a and i may often coalesce into e, and a and u into o. He will now understand the reason for the arrangement of vowels and semi-vowels given in the first Table. This Table is here repeated in the Roman character.

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RULES FOR THE COMBINATION OF VOWELS.

4. If a word end with a or ā, when the next begins with a or ā, the two vowels are contracted into one long similar vowel. Thus na asti become nāsti.

A similar rule applies to the other vowels i, u, ri, short or long. Thus, adhi ishwara, adhishwara; kintu upāya, kintūpaya ; pitri riddhih (fuq afa:), pitrīddhih (faqfa:).

5. If a word end with a or ā, when the next begins with i, u, ri, short or long, then a and i coalesce into e; a and u into o;

* In the same way the Vriddhi diphthong ai is supposed to be made up of a or ā and e, and the Vriddhi au of a or ā and o.

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a and ri into ar. Thus, parama ishwara become parameshwara ; hita upadesha, hitopadesha; gangā udakam, gangodakam; tava riddhih (na af:), tavarddhih (afs:).

6. If a word end with a or ā, when the next begins with the Guna letters e, o, or the Vriddhi ai, au, then a or ā with e or ai, coalesce into the Vriddhi ai; a or a with o or au, into au: as, deva aishwaryam become devaishwaryam; vidyā eva become vidyaiva; alpa ojas, alpaujas; tatha aushadham, tathaushadham.

7. If a word end with i, u, ri, short or long, when the next begins with any other dissimilar vowel, i and è are changed to the corresponding semi-vowel y; u or u to v; ri or rī tor: as, prati uvācha become pratyuvācha; tu idānīm, twidānīm; matṛi ānanda (मातृ आनन्द) become mātrānanda ( मात्रानन्द).

8. If a word end with the diphthongs ai or au, when the next begins with any vowel, ai is changed to āy, and au to āv. Thus, tasmai uktah becomes tasmāyuktah; dadau annam, dadāvannam.

9. If a word end in e or o, when the next begins with a short, then e and o remain unchanged, and the initial a is cut off. Thus, te api are written te `pi (λ-fa); so api are written so 'pi (msfu).

10. If a word end in e, when the next begins with any other vowel except a short, then e is supposed to be first changed to ay ; but the y is usually dropped, leaving the a uninfluenced by the following vowel. Thus, te āgatāh becomes ta āgatāh, (♬ am:).

† It so happens that o, as the final of a complete word, is never likely to come in coalition with any initial vowel but short a. But in the case of e or o, as the finals of roots or crude forms, when the termination to be annexed begins with any vowel, whether a, a, i, or any other, then e is changed to ay, and o to av. Thus, je ati become jayati, bho ati become bhavati.

The following Table exhibits all the combinations of vowels at one view. Supposing a word to end in u, and the next word to begin with au, the student must carry his eye down the first column (headed "final vowels ") till he comes to ū, and then along the top horizontal line of “initial vowels," till he comes to au. At the junction of the perpendicular column under au and the horizontal line beginning u, will be the required combination, viz. v au.

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;

Observe, that in this table the final letter, in its changed state, has been printed, for greater clearness, separate from the initial except in those cases (in the second and third lines), where the blending of the two vowels made this impossible. But in a sentence they must be written without any separation, as already seen in the opposite page.

SECT. II.-COMBINATION OF CONSONANTS.

11. Before proceeding to the rules for the combination of consonants, let the alphabet be regarded attentively as divided into two grand classes, as exhibited in the following Table.

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12. If any surd letter end a word when any sonant begins the next, the hard is changed to its own unaspirated soft; thus, karmakrit bhavati becomes karmakrid bhavati; vāk asti, vāg asti; chitralikh asti, chitralig asti.

† It may be proper here to remark, that in writing a Sanscrit sentence, when the words have undergone those changes which the laws of combination demand, they may either be written separately, as in the examples just given, or often more correctly without any separation; as, karmakṛidbhavati (qafa); vāgasti (f). The student is therefore to observe, that although in the following examples, each word will, for greater clearness, be printed separately from the next, it would accord more with the practice of the natives of India to print them without any separation. There are two cases, however, in which there remains no option, but in which words must always be written together without separation. 1st, when a final and initial vowel blend together into one sound (see examples, r. 4-8); 2dly, when either crude forms or adverbs are joined with other words to form compounds (see Chap. IX. on Compound Words).

13. If any sonant letter end a word when any surd begins the next, the soft is changed to its own unaspirated hard.* Thus,

If the final be an aspirated sonant letter, and belong to a root whose initial is g, d, or b, the aspirate, which is suppressed in the final, is transferred back to the initial letter of the root. Thus, vedabudh asti becomes vedabhud asti.

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