Wilson Philological Lectures on Sanskrit and the Derived Languages c7.19

c7.19

The heavy or close pronunciation of य, is favoured by a preceding dental. In pronouncing letters of this class the tongue is nearly horizontal. Consequently, when after the formation of the dental mute it is moved upwards to form य, the force with which it separates from the teeth carries it nearer to the palate than it should be. In the cerebral position, in which the tongue forms a curve with the concave side inwards, the force with which its tip separates acts downwards; hence if a ण् has to be pronounced afterwards, the effort is in no way aided, but, if possible, hindered. In this case, therefore, the ण् is always light; and for a similar reason it is so when preceded by a guttural. It is also light when preceded by the dental न, since a large portion of the obstructed breath passes through the nose, and the tongue is not separated from the teeth with any force. Thus in the word वैय in the passage I have placed before you, and in अय, पय, &c., the य being heavy does not glide or merge into द्, and, being the latter of two successive consonantal sounds, acquires greater distinctness; and the preceding sound must in virtue of the laws we have been examining communicate all its elements to it, except of course the organic position. The element that is communicated in this case is the complete contact, wherefore the heavy य becomes a complete ज्, and this, when pronounced like a conjunct, becomes ज्ज्. In such words as मध्य, वध्य, उपाध्याय &c., the preceding has got its heaviness of nāda or tone to communicate besides the complete contact, and thus the ज् becomes श् and thence ज्श; and so we have मज्झ, वज्झ, उपज्झाय &c. In मृत्यु, प्रेत्य, सत्य &c., to the ज् formed as above must be added the hardness or s'vāsa of त्, i. e. the letter ज् must be pronounced not with the glottis contracted but stretched, wherefore we have त् and, with the conjunctal characteristic, च्. Those words therefore become मच्चु, पेच, and सच्च. If य precedes instead of त्, the heavy s'vāsa required for its pronunciation is transferred to ज्, and so it becomes छ्, and thence च्छ; as in रच्छा for रथ्या, नेपच्छ for नेपथ्य &c. The semi-vowel व् is also heavily pronounced when it forms a conjunct with another semi-vowel, and thus we have पुब्ब for पूर्व, सब्ब for सर्व, &c. There are also instances of this pronunciation when व् is preceded by a dental mute as in उब्बेग for उद्वेग, सब्भि for सद्भिः &c. In ऊर्ध्व the preceding ध्, as in मध्य, transfers its heavy nāda or tone to व्, and makes it म्, and so we have उम्भ; but ऊर्ध्व is changed to उद्ध also.