05 Chapter I ALPHABET

CHAPTER I.

ALPHABET.

1. The natives of India write their ancient and sacred language in a variety of alphabets — generally, in each part of the country, in the same alphabet which they use for their own vernacular. The mode of writing, however, which is employed throughout the heart of Aryan India, or in Hindustan proper, is alone adopted by European scholars: it is called the devanāgarī.

a. This name is of doubtful origin and value. A more comprehensive name is nāgarī (perhaps, of the city); and deva-nāgarī is nāgarī of the gods, or of the Brahmans.

2. Much that relates to the history of the Indian alphabets is still obscure. The earliest written monuments of known date in the country are the inscriptions containing the edicts of Aśoka or Piyadasi, of about the middle of the third century B.C. They are in two different systems of characters, of which one shows distinct signs of derivation from a Semitic source, while the other is also probably, though much less evidently, of the same origin. From the latter, the Laṭh, or Southern Aśoka character (of Girnar), come the later Indian alphabets, both those of the northern Aryan languages and those of the southern Dravidian languages. The nāgarī, devanāgarī, Bengālī, Guzerātī, and others, are varieties of its northern derivatives; and with them are related some of the alphabets of peoples outside of India — as in Tibet and Farther India — who have adopted Hindu culture or religion.

a. There is reason to believe that writing was first employed in India for practical purposes — for correspondence and business and the like — and only by degrees came to be applied to literary use. The literature, to a great extent, and the most fully in proportion to its claimed sanctity and authority, ignores all written record, and assumes to be kept in existence by oral tradition alone.

3. Of the devanāgarī itself there are minor varieties, depending on differences of locality or of period, as also of individual hand (see examples in Weber’s catalogue of the Berlin Sanskrit MSS., in Rājendralāla Mitra’s notices of MSS. in Indian libraries, in the published fac-similes of inscriptions, and so on); and these are in some measure reflected in the type prepared for printing, both in India and in Europe. But a student who makes himself familiar with the one style of printed characters will have little difficulty with the others, and will soon learn, by practice, to read the manuscripts. A few specimens of types other than those used in this work are given in Appendix A.

a. On account of the difficulty of combining them with the smaller sizes of our Roman and Italic type, the devanāgarī characters are used below only in connection with the first or largest size. And, in accordance with the laudable usage of recent grammars, they are, wherever given, also transliterated, in Clarendon letters; while the latter alone are used in the other sizes.

4. The student may be advised to try to familiarize himself from the start with the devanāgarī mode of writing. At the same time, it is not indispensable that he should do so until, having learned the principal paradigms, he comes to begin reading and analysing the parsing; and many will find the latter the more practical, and in the end equally or more effective, way.

5. The characters of the devanāgarī alphabet, and the European letters which will be used in transliterating them, are as follows:

Vowels

short

long

simple

1 अ a

2 आ ā

palatal

3 इ i

4 ई ī

labial

5 उ u

6 ऊ ū

lingual

7 ऋ ṛ

8 ॠ ṝ

dental

9 ऌ ḷ

[10 ॡ [ḹ]

diphthongs

palatal

11 ए e

12 ऐ āi

labial

13 ओ o

14 औ āu

Visarga

15 ः ḥ

Anusvāra

16 ं, ँ ṅ or ṁ (see 73c).

surd

surd asp.

sonant

son.asp.

nasal

Mutes

guttural’

17 क k

18 ख kh

19 ग g

20 घ gh

21 ङ n̄

palatal

22 च c

23 छ ch

24 ज j

25 झ jh

26 ञ ñ

lingual

27 ट ṭ

28 ठ ṭh

29 ड ḍ

30 ढ ḍh

31 ण ṇ

dental

32 त t

33 थ th

34 द d

35 ध dh

36 न n

labial

37 प p

38 फ ph

39 ब b

40 भ bh

41 म m

Semivowels

palatal

42 य y

lingual

43 र r

dental

44 ल l

labial

45 व v

Sibilants

palatal

46 श ś

lingual

47 ष ṣ

dental

48 स s

Aspiration

49 ह h

a. To these may be added a lingual ḻ ळ, which in some of the Vedic texts takes the place of ड ḍ when occurring between two vowels (54).

6. A few other sounds, recognized by the theories of the Hindu grammarians, but either having no separate characters to represent them or only very rarely and exceptionally written, will be noticed below (71 b, c, 230). Such are the guttural and labial breathings, the nasal semivowels, and others.

7. The order of arrangement given above is that in which the sounds are catalogued and described by the native grammarians; and it has been adopted by the European scholars as the alphabetic order, for indexes, dictionaries, etc.: to the Hindus, the idea of an alphabetic arrangement for such practical uses is wanting.

a. In some works (as the Petersburg lexicon), a visarga which is regarded as equivalent to and exchangeable with a sibilant (172) is, though written as a visarga, given the alphabetic place of the sibilant.

8. The theory of the devanāgarī, as of the other Indian modes of writing, is syllabic and consonantal. That is to say, it regards as the written unit, not the simple sound, but the syllable (akṣara); and further, as the substantial part of the syllable, the consonant or the consonants which precede the vowel — this latter being merely implied, or, if written, being written by a subordinate sign attached to the consonant.

9. Hence follow these two principles:

A. The forms of the vowel-characters given in the alphabetical scheme above are used only when the vowel forms a syllable by itself, or is not combined with a preceding consonant; that is, when it is either initial or preceded by another vowel. In combinations with a consonant, other modes of representation are used.

B. If more consonants than one precede the vowel, forming with it a single syllable, their characters must be combined into a single compound character.

a. Native Hindu usage, in manuscripts and inscriptions, treats the whole material of a sentence alike, not separating its words from one another, any more than the syllables of the same word: a final consonant is combined into one written syllable with the initial vowel or consonant or consonants of the following word. It never occurred to the Hindus to space their words in any way, even where the mode of writing admitted such treatment; nor to begin a paragraph on a new line; nor to write one line of verse under another: everything, without exception, is written solid by them, filling the whole page.

b. Thus, the sentence and verse-line ahaṁ rudrebhir vasubhiś carāmy aham ādityāir uta viśvadevāiḥ (Rig-Veda X, 125. 1: see Appendix B) I wander with the Vasus, the Rudras, I with the Ādityas and the All-Gods is thus syllabized: a haṁ ru dre bhi rva su bhi śca rā mya ha mā di tyāi ru ta vi śva de vāiḥ, with each syllable ending with a vowel (or a vowel modified by the nasal-sign anusvāra, or having the sign of a final breathing, visarga, added: these being the only elements that can follow a vowel in the same syllable); and it is (together with the next line) written in the manuscripts after this fashion:

अहँरुद्रेभिर्वसुभिश्चराम्यहमादित्यै

रुतविश्वदेवैः।अहंमित्रावरुणोभा

बिभर्म्यहमिन्द्राग्नीहमश्विनोभा॥

Each syllable is written separately, and by many scribes the successive syllables are parted a little from one another: thus,

अ हँ रु द्रे भि र्व सु भि श्च रा म्य ह मा दि त्यै

and so on.

c. In Western practice, however, it is almost universally customary to divide paragraphs, to make the lines of verse follow one another, and also to separate the words so far as this can be done without changing the mode of writing them. See Appendix B, where the verse here given so treated.

d. Further, in works prepared for beginners in the language, it is not uncommon to make a more complete separation of words by a free use of the **virāma-**sign (11) under final consonants: thus, for example,

अहँ रुद्रेभिर् वसुभिश् चराम्य् अहम् आदित्यैर् उत विश्वदेवैः।

or even by indicating also the combinations of initial and final vowels (126, 127): for example,

अहं मित्रावरुणो भा बिभर्म्य् अहम् इन्द्राग्नी अहम् अश्विनो भा॥

e. In transliterating, Western methods of separation of words are of course to be followed; to do otherwise would be simple pedantry.

10. Under A, it is to be noticed that the modes of indicating a vowel combined with a preceding consonant are as follows:

a. The short अ a has no written sign at all; the consonant-sign itself implies a following अ a, unless some other vowel-sign is attached to it (or else the virāma: 11). Thus, the consonant-signs as given above in the alphabetic scheme are really the signs of the syllables ka, kha, etc. etc. (to ha).

b. The long आ ā is written by a perpendicular stroke after the consonant: thus, का kā, धा dā, हा hā.

c. Short इ i and long ई ī are written by a similar stroke, which for short i is placed before the consonant and for long ī is placed after it, and in either case is connected with the consonant by a hook above the upper line: thus, कि ki>, की kī; भि bhi, भी bhī; नि ni, नी nī.

The hook above, turning to the left or to the right, is historically the essential part of the character, having been originally the whole of it; the hooks were only later prolonged, so as to reach all the way down beside the consonant. In the MSS., they almost never have the horizontal stroke drawn across them above, though this is added in the printed characters: thus, originally ki, kī; in the MSS. , ; in print कि, की.

d. The **u-**sounds, short and long, are written by hooks attached to the lower end of the consonant-sign: thus कु ku, कू kū; डु ḍu, डू ḍū. On account of the necessities of combination, ḍu and ḍū are somewhat disguised: thus, , ; and the forms with र r and ह h are still more irregular: thus, रु ru, रू rū; हु hu, हू hū. e. The **ṛ-**vowels, short and long, are written by a subjoined hook, single or double, opening toward the right: thus, कृ kṛ, कॄ kṝ; दृ dṛ, दॄ dṝ. In the **h-**sign, the hooks are usually attached to the middle, thus: हृ hṛ, हॄ hṝ.

As to the combination of ṛ with preceding r, see below, 14d.

f. The **ḷ-**vowel is written with a reduced form of its full initial character: thus, कॢ kḷ; the corresponding long has no real occurrence (23a), but would be written with a similar reduced sign.

g. The diphthongs are written by strokes, single or double, above the upper line, combined, for ओ o and औ āu, with the **ā-**sign after the consonant: thus, के ke, कै kāi; को ko, कौ kāu.

h. In some devanāgarī manuscripts (as the Bengālī alphabet), the single stroke above, or one of the double ones, is replaced by a sign like the āsign before the consonant, thus: ke, kāi; ko, kāu.

11. A consonant-sign, however, is capable of being made to signify the consonant-sound alone, without an added vowel, by having written beneath it a stroke called the virāma (rest, stop): thus, क् k, द् d, ह् h.

a. Since, as was pointed out above, the Hindus write the words of a sentence continuously like one word (9a, 9b), the virāma is in general called for only when a final consonant occurs before a pause. But it is also occasionally resorted to by scribes, or in print, in order to avoid an awkward or difficult combination of consonant-signs: thus,

लिड्भिः liḍbhiḥ, लिट्सु liṭsu, अङ्‌क्ष्व an̄kṣva;

and it is used to make a separation of words in texts prepared for beginners (9d).

12. Under B, it is to be noticed that the consonant combinations are for the most part not at all difficult to make or to recognize for one who is familiar with the simple signs. The characteristic part of a consonant-sign that is to be added to another is taken (to the exclusion of the horizontal or of the perpendicular framing-line, or of both), and they are put together according to convenience, either side by side, or one above the other; in a few combinations either arrangement is allowed. The consonant that is to be pronounced first is set before the other in the one order, and above it in the other order.

a. Examples of side-by-side arrangement are: ग्ग gga, ज्ज jja, प्य pya, न्म nma, त्थ ttha, भ्य bhya, स्क ska, ष्ण ṣṇa, त्क tka.

b. Examples of the above-and-below arrangement are: क्क kka, क्व kva, च्च cca, ञ्ज ñja, द्द dda, प्त pta, त्न tna, त्व tva.

13. In some cases, however, there is more or less abbreviation or disguise of the independent form of a consonant-sign in combination. Thus,

a. Of क k in क्त kta, क्ल kla; and in क्ण kṇa etc.

b. Of त t in त्त tta;

c. Of द d in द्ग dga, द्न dna, etc;

d. Of म m and य y, when following other consonants: thus, क्य kya, क्म kma, ङ्य ñya, द्म dma, द्य dya, ह्म hma, ह्य hya, छ्य chya, ड्य ḍhya.

e. Of श ś, which generally becomes when followed by a consonant: thus, श्च śca, श्न śna, श्व śva, ** śya**. The same change is usual when a vowel-sign is added below: thus śu, śṛ.

f. Other combinations, of not quite obvious value, are ण्ण ṇṇa, ल्ल lla, द्ध ddha, द्भ dbha, ष्ट ṣṭa, ष्ठ ṣṭha; and the compounds of ह h: as ह्ण hṇa, ह्न hna.

g. In a case or two, no trace of the constituent letters in recognizable: thus, क्ष kṣa, ज्ञ jña.

14. The semivowel र r, in making combinations with other consonants, is treated in a wholly peculiar manner, analogous with that in which the vowels are treated.

a. If pronounced before another consonant or combination of consonants, it is written above the latter, with a hook opening to the right (much like the sign of the vowel ṛ, as written under a consonant: 10 e): thus, र्क rka, र्ष rṣa, र्त्व rtva, र्म्य rmya, र्त्स्न rtsna.

b. Then, if a consonant-group thus containing r as first member is followed by a vowel that has its sign, or a part of its sign, or its sign of nasality (anusvāra: 70, 71), written above the line, the r-sign is placed furthest to the right: thus, र्के rke, र्कं rkaṅ, र्कि rki, र्की rkī, र्को rko, र्कीं rkīṅ, र्कों rkoṅ.

c. If r is pronounced after another consonant, whether before a vowel or before yet another consonant, it is written with a straight stroke below, slanting to the left: thus, प्र pra, ध्र dhra, ग्र gra, स्र sra, ddhra, न्त्र ntra, grya, srva, न्त्र्य ntrya; and, with modifications of a preceding consonant-sign like those noticed above (13), त्र tra, द्र dra, श्र śra, ह्र hra.

d. When र r is to be combined with a following ऋ ṛ, it is the vowel which is written in full, with its initial character, and the consonant in subordination to it: thus, rṛ.

15. Further combinations, of three, four, or even five consonant-signs, are made according to the same rules. Examples are:

of three consonants, त्त्व ttva, द्ध्य ddhya, द्व्य dvya, द्र्य drya, ध्र्य dhrya, प्स्व psva, श्च्य ścya, ष्ठ्य ṣṭhya, ह्व्य hvya;

of four consonants, क्त्र्य ktrya, ङ्क्ष्य n̄kṣya, ष्ट्र्य ṣṭrya, त्स्म्य tsmya;

of five consonants, र्त्स्न्या rtsnya.

a. The manuscripts, and the type-fonts as well, differ from one another more in their management of consonant combinations than in any other respect, often having peculiarities which one needs a little practice to understand. It is quite useless to give in a grammar the whole series of possible combinations (some of them excessively rare) which are provided for in any given type-font, or even in all. There is nothing which due familiarity with the simple signs and with the above rules of combination will not enable the student readily to analyse and explain.

16. a. A sign called the avagraha (separator) — namely ऽ — is occasionally used in the manuscripts, sometimes in the manner of a hyphen, sometimes as a mark of hiatus, sometimes to mark the elision of initial अ a after final ए e or ओ o (135). In printed texts, especially European, it is ordinarily applied to use the last mentioned, and to that alone: thus, ते ऽब्रुवन् te 'bruvan, सो ऽब्रवीत् so 'bravīt, for te abruvan, so abravīt.

b. If the elided initial-vowel is nasal, and has the anusvāra-sign (70, 71) written above, this is usually and more properly transferred to the eliding vowel; but sometimes it is written instead over the avagraha-sign: thus, for so 'ṅśumān, from so aṅśumān, either सों ऽशुमान् or सो ऽंशुमान्.

c. The sign ॰ is used in place of something that is omitted, and to be understood from the connection: thus, वीरसेनसुतस् ॰तम् ॰तेन vīrasenasutas -tam -tena.

d. Signs of punctuation are । and ॥.

At the end of a verse, a paragraph, or the like, the latter of them is ordinarily written twice, with the figure of enumeration between: thus, ॥२०॥

17. The numeral figures are

१ 1, २ 2, ३ 3, ४ 4, ५ 5, ६ 6, ७ 7, ८ 8, ९ 9, ० 0

In combination, to express larger numbers, they are used in precisely the same way as European digits: thus, २५ 25, ६३० 630, ७००० 7000, १८९६ 1896.

18. The Hindu grammarians call the different sounds, and the characters representing them, by a kāra (maker) added to the sound of the letter, if a vowel, or to the letter followed by a, if consonant. Thus, the sound or character a is called akāra; k is kakāra; and so on. But the kāra is also omitted, and a, ka, etc. are used alone. The r, however, is not called rakāra, but only ra, or repha snarl: the sole example of a specific name for an alphabetic element of its class. The anusvāra and visarga are also known by those names alone.