Re: Chandas
RAO@FCRFV1.NCIFCRF.GOV
Wed, 26 Feb 1997 14:02:27 -0500
Hi, The line dhvani-krama-pravartita-prachanDa-tAnDavashshivah
can be rewriteen as dhvaniH kramaH pravartitaH prachanDa-tAnDavaH shivaH.
In this case, with sandhi, even though the visargaas are not there,
it is buried and in pronunciation, there is always emphasis on the
previous syllable (ni, ma, ta and va) and therefore they are long
syllables. In the case of kaalivrELLapai, when we speak it out, I feel
there is no emphasis on li. It is uttered as kaali vrELLapai. As far as
the vowel R is considered, in three languages, Telugu, Oriya and Marathi,
it is pronounced as ru. In other languages like Hindi and Bengali, it is
pronounced as ri. But honestly, it is neither. It is always rr. In
vasanta Rtuvu, it is neither vasanta rutuvu nor vasanta rituvu. But it
is vasanta rrtuvu. This rr sound is similar to the rr part in guR^R^amu,
but not as harsh. It is the usage and difficulty in the usage that made
the vowel R sound as if it is a consonant. It is not. In fact,
chaandasulu (tongue in cheek) may remember another forgotten vowel in
sanskrit, namely L (not as in peLLi, but as in Lpta pronounced as lupta).
lupta means without as in lupta surya. But lu here is not a consonant, but
a vowel! I think in course of time, hundred or two hundred years, the
vowel R will vanish from languages like Telugu. By the way longer version
(deergha) of R comes only in sandhi such as pitRUNamu. Enough of rambling!
Good day! Regards! - J. K. Mohana Rao