Narapatijayacarya 2.16

2.16

ṣeḍaśākṣare'vargaḥ syāditi | avagau akārādārābhya aḥ paryantaṃ ṣoḍaśākṣaraḥ ṣoḍaśasaṃkhyākāḥ | kādivargāḥ kavargādārabhya pavargapayaintaṃ pratyekaṃ pañcasaṃkhyakāḥ | yaśau yavagraśavargī pralṛyekaṃ caturakṣarau vargedhviyaṃ saṃkhyā prakīrttitā ||28||nānnīti | nāmri varṇasvarāḥ kavargādiṣveva svarā akārādārabhya aḥ paryantā vargāṇāṃ varṇasaṃkhyayā grāhmāḥ | evaṃ saṃkhyāḥ piṇḍitāḥ ekīkṛtya pañcabhirbhaktāḥ śeṣaṃ tasya jīvasvaraṃ viduḥ ||

"The a-class has sixteen phonemes" and so on. In the a-class, starting from the letter *a* up to *aḥ*, there are sixteen phonemes having the number sixteen. The groups beginning with *ka*, from the *ka*-class up to the *pa*-class, have the number five each. The ya- and śa-classes, that is, the *ya*-class and the *śa*-class, have four phonemes each; this numerical value is proclaimed for the classes. (28) "In the name" and so on. In a name, the consonants and vowels—the vowels from *a* up to *aḥ* placed upon the *ka*-class and so forth—are to be taken according to the numerical value of the phonemes of the classes. Thus, having aggregated these numbers, uniting them, and dividing by five, the remainder is known as his life-sound.