A Comparative Grammar of the Modern Aryan Languages of India v1.c7.90

v1.c7.90

The G. forms with ड are to be accounted for by the already described proclivity of dentals to turn into cerebrals; but why this tendency should exhibit itself in this particular instance it is difficult to say, the only thing at all cognate to it is the र in H. सरसठ, which would be more correctly written सडसठ; in this place it is easy to see that the cerebral arises from the influence of the ठ in सठ. G. has accordingly सडसठ. What makes the matter more obscure is that the cerebral letter occurs precisely in those two series where we should least expect it, namely, in those which begin with a dental, and where, accordingly, it would be natural that the त of सात should assimilate itself to the following homogeneous consonant. It must be remembered that Gujarati has emerged from the position of a Hindi dialect closely akin to Marwari, and that it still retains traces of its rustic origin in the sometimes inexplicable irregularity of its forms.