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. 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, karmakridbhavati (gafa); vāgasti (amfa). 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. tad karoti becomes tat karoti; vāg patih, vāk patih; kshudh pipāsā, kshut pipāsā. But as very few words in Sanscrit end in any other consonants than t and d, the nasals, Visargah, the dental sibilant s, and r, it will be sufficient for all practical purposes that the attention be confined to the changes of these To begin, therefore, with and d. consonants. CHANGES OF FINAL AND d. General rule. 14. T becomes d before g, gh, d, dh, b, bh, h, y, r, v, and all vowels. See example, rule 12. * D becomes t before k, kh, t, th, p, ph, s. rule 13. See example, Before the nasals, palatals, and the letter 1, final t and d undergo a change in form as well as quality, as in the following special rules. Change of t or d to n, before n or m. 15. If t or d end a word when the next begins with a nasal, the tord is usually changed to its own nasal. Thus, tasmat na becomes tasmān na; tasmāt mūrkha, tasmān mūrkha. † A final k is subject to a similar rnle. Thus, vāk mama ( become vān mama (tega). (वाङ्मम). Assimilation of t or d with ch, j, l. मम) would 16. If t or d end a word when the next begins with ch, j, or l, the tor d assimilates with these letters. Thus, bhayut lobhūt cha becomes bhayāl lobhāch cha; tad jīvanam, taj jīvanam. Combination of t or d with sh. 17. If t or d end a word when the next begins with श् Before the vowels of terminations t remains unchanged; thus, the accusative case of Harit is Haritam, not Haridam; and the third person singular of the verb yat is yatate, not yadate. t or d are changed to ch, and the initial sh to chh. Thus, tat shrutvā (तत् श्रुत्वा) becomes tach chhrutvā ( तच्छ्रुत्वा). Combination of t or d with h. 18. If a word end in t or d when the next begins with h, the final is changed to d (by rule 12), and the initial to ч dh. ध् Thus, tad harati (f) is written tad dharati (fr). † By a similar rule, and on the same principle, are written words ending in k followed by initial; as vāk harati (a zifa), vāg gharati (aacfa). CHANGES OF THE NASALS. Changes of final n before vowels and before t, ch, sh, l. 19. If the lettern, preceded by a short vowel, end a word when the next begins with any vowel, the n is doubled. asan atra becomes āsann atra; tasmin eva, tasminn eva. Thus, 20. If n end a word when the next begins with t, ch, or their aspirates, a sibilant is inserted between the two words, according to the class of these last initial letters; and then is then expressed by Anuswara, according to rule (p. 5, †). Thus, asmin tu becomes asminstu (f); kasmin chit becomes kasminshchit (कस्मिंश्चित्). † If an end a word when the next begins with sh, they may either remain unchanged, or they may be combined in either one of the two following ways. 1st, the final न् may be changed to i; as, भवान् शूरः is written भवान्शूरः. written. 2dly, the may also be changed to; as, If end a word when the next begins with 1, the n assimilates with the 7, and the mark is placed over the preceding vowel. As, pakshān lunāti is written qargaifa. If the crude form of a word end in n, this n is rejected in forming a compound word, or before any affix. Thus, rājan purusha is compounded into rājapurusha; and ; and dhanin, with the affix twa, becomes dhanitwa. into Change ofn, not final, to ■n, after ri, r, sh, preceding in the same 21. The letters to the cerebral r. word. r, a șh, are cerebrals, and the vowel ri is allied Hence, if the letter n (not final) should follow * ri, r, or sh, in the same word, the nasal must be written in the cerebral form, even though k, g, p, b (or their aspirates), h, y, v, or m, should intervene. Thus, the English word carbonic would be written in the Sanscrit character thus, fu; and the accusative case of ब्रह्महन् is ब्रह्महणं ; and the nominative plural of वर्मन् is वर्माणि ; and the imperative mood of क्षिप, क्षिपाणि. But the intervention of a dental, palatal, or cerebral, or of any letter whatever, if compounded with the nasal, prevents the operation of this rule, and requires the dental n to follow. Thus, the instrumental case of शृगाल is शृगालेन ; the nominative plural of वर्त्मन्, f; and in further illustration of the same law, may be taken the words सर्जनं, क्रीडनं प्राप्नोति, राज्ञा. Changes of final m. 22. If the letter m end a word when the next begins with any consonant, it may be represented by Anuswāra ('); or it may, optionally, before those consonants which have a corresponding nasal, be changed to this corresponding nasal. Thus, griham gachchhati is written either गृहं गच्छति or गृहङ्गच्छति . 23. When the next word begins with a vowel, the letter म् is always written. Thus, griham apnoti, CHANGES OF VISARGAH OR FINAL h. Almost every nominative case, and nearly half the remaining cases of nouns in Sanscrit, besides many persons of the verb, end in Visargah (:), or the symbol used to denote the aspirate when final. And this final h is liable to remain unchanged, to be changed to s, to sh, to o, to r, or to be dropped altogether, according to the nature of the initial letter following. At every step, therefore, these changes will meet the student's eye. Therefore let him master the following five rules before he attempts to read a single sentence of Sanscrit, or he can never hope to make any real progress in the acquirement of this language. प् *The letter is, properly, a compound of k and sh; although, in this Grammar, it is considered as a simple letter, and represented by ksh. 24. a. RULE A.—WHEN IS VISARGAH OR FINAL h UNCHANGED? Before k, p (and their aspirates), and before the sibilants स् 8, श् 87. b. Before a pause, i.e. at the end of a sentence, or when a word stands by itself. RULE B.-WHEN IS VISARGAH CHANGED TO म् S AND श् sh? Before (and its aspirate) it is changed to the dental sibi- * b. Also in some books, before the sibilants,, Visargah is allowed to assimilate with these letters. RULE C.-WHEN IS VISARGAH CHANGED TO O? 26. a. Final ah is changed to o before all sonant consonants. b. Also before short a (this a being then cut off). 27. a. RULE D. WHEN IS VISARGAH CHANGED TO r? Ih, ih, uh, uh, eh, aih, oh, auh, before any sonant (consonant or vowel), change the final h to r; b. Unless r itself be the sonant following, in which case, to avoid the coalition of two r's, final h is dropped, and the vowel preceding it (if short) is lengthened. RULE E. WHEN IS VISARGAH DROPPED ALTOGETHER? 28. a. Final ah, before any other vowel except short a, drops the Visargah, and leaves the remaining a opening on the initial vowel of the next word without coalition.† b. Final ah, before any sonant (consonant or vowel), drops the Visargah; and, if the initial letter of the next word be a vowel, the remaining a is allowed to open upon it without coalition. * So, also, before 7, 7, Visargah is changed to the cerebral sibilant ; as, रविष् टीकते. By a special rule :, "he," and :, "this," the nominative cases of the pronouns तद् and एतद्, drop their Visargah before any consonant. |