Vedic Metre in its Historical Development c14.62

c14.62

The *subnormal* forms after an early caesura are || – ◡ –, || ◡ ◡ ◡, || – ◡ ◡; that is, the remaining possible forms with short sixth syllable. Of these the cretic break || – ◡ – is found in about one-seventh of the instances in the earlier groups: but in the hymns of Viśvāmitra and of the later periods it is about twice as common. Occurrences of forms with short seventh syllable are about one-third as frequent in every period as the corresponding forms in which that syllable is long. With a late caesura the only ‘subnormal’ form is ◡ || ◡ ◡: in the archaic period this is almost as common as the normal form, but in the later periods it is only half as common.