Wilson Philological Lectures on Sanskrit and the Derived Languages c9.82

c9.82

The phonetic changes which the words of a living language undergo involve, as a general rule, economy of exertion in its widest sense; but there are some which do not, or which require increased effort. Economy may sometimes be effected in more ways than one. For instance, the assimilation of vowels to consonants may be effected by changing अ to ओ and thence to उ, or to ए and इ. Some people have a predilection for the former, others for the latter. Again, one mode of change may be economical to some, and another opposed to it to others.