Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s9.1250

v2.c4.s9.1250

Svara denotes in the Upaniṣads¹ the sound of a vowel: these are described² as being *ghoṣavant*, ‘sonant,’ and also as *balavant*, ‘uttered with force.’ The precise word for a mute is *sparśa*,³ ‘contact,’ while *ūṣman* denotes a ‘sibilant,’ and *svara* a ‘vowel,’ in the Aitareya and Śāṅkhāyana Āraṇyakas.⁴ The semivowels are there denoted by *anta-sthā* (‘intermediate’)⁵ or *akṣara*.⁶ Another division in the Aitareya Āraṇyaka⁷ is into *ghoṣa*, *ūṣman*, and *vyañjana*, apparently ‘vowels,’ ‘sibilants,’ and ‘consonants’ respectively. *Ghoṣa* elsewhere in that Āraṇyaka⁸ seems to have the general sense of ‘sounds.’ The Taittirīya Upaniṣad⁹ refers to *mātrā*, a ‘mora’;¹⁰ *bala*, ‘force’ of utterance, and *varṇa*, ‘letter,’ an expression found elsewhere¹¹ in the explanation of *om*, as compacted of *a + u + m*.