Page:An introduction to Dravidian philology.djvu/94

Rh cal difficulty. To explain a change as being due for euphonic purposes would be on the same par with saying that it came about for purposes of laziness or ease or any of those general causes which affect the phonetic character of any language There is no language that does not pay regard to euphony or that wilfully resorts to harsh and jarring sounds, Again, it is uncientificeunscientific [sic] to say that certain consonants come in between vowels to prevent hiatus. This would be no philological explanation but only an empirical statement of an observed fact. It is not possible according to this principle to say why a particular consonant should have been employed to prevent hiatus and not any other, for example, why Katti + a should in certain places become Kattiya and Kattina in certain others, why in Telugu 'h' should come in in Padihenu, padahaidu &c, 'n' in padunenu &c and none intervenes in dadaidu, padenu and pada, Ru &c, and