[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [Vedic Index of Names and Subjects](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912) › v2.c4.s9.1250 # Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s9.1250 Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s9.1250 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c4.s9.1250](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.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\*. - [Previous: v2.c4.s9.1249](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s9.1249) - [Next: v2.c4.s9.1251](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s9.1251) - [Up: v2.c4.s9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s9) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s9.1250](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.macdonell-keith-1912.v2.c4.s9.1250) · Pramāṇa