Page:Atharva-Veda samhita.djvu/133

Rh the authority of the mss., nor do there occur any instances in which this is wavering and uncertain. ⌊The matter is fully discussed in W's note to ii. 26, and the 67 cases of insertion and the 28 cases of non-insertion are given on p. 417. Cf. also note to AV. i. 11. 2.⌋

Final -t before ç-: as in asmac cliaravas.—By the strict letter of rules ii. 13 and 17, the ç- is converted into ch- and the preceding final -t is then assimilated, making -cch-. In such cases, however, we have always followed rather the correct theory of the change, since the -t and ç- by their union form the compound -ch-, and have written simply -ch-, as being a truer representation of the actual phonetic result. The mss., with hardly an exception, do the same. ⌊The procedure of the edition and of the mss. is, I believe, uniformly similar also in cases like ṛchāt, gacha, yacha, etc.⌋

Abbreviation of consonant-groups: as in pan̄kti and the like.—By ii. 20 a non-nasal mute coming in the course of word-formation between a nasal and a non-nasal is dropped: so pan̄ti; chintam and rundhi instead of chinttam and runddhi; etc. The mss. observe this rule quite consistently, although not without exceptions; and it has been uniformly followed in the edition. At xii. 1. 40, anuprayun̄ktām is an accidental exception; and here, for once, the mss. happen to agree in retaining the k. ⌊Cf. the Hibernicisms siren'th, len'th, etc.⌋

Final -m and -n before l-: as in kaṅ lokam and sarvāṅ lokān.—Rule ii. 35 prescribes the conversion of -m and of -n alike into nasalized -l. In either case, the resultant combination is therefore, according to the prescription of the Pr., nasalized -l + l-, or two l ' s of which the first is nasalized. Thus kam lokam becomes ka + nasalized l + lokam, a combination which we may write as kal lokam or as kaṅl lokam or as kaṅ lokam.

⌊It is merely the lack of suitable Roman type that makes the discussion of this matter troublesome. In nāgarī, the nasalized l should properly be written by a l with a nasal sign over it. In Roman, it might well be rendered by an l with a dot as nearly over it as may be (thus l̇; in practice, a ṅ is made to take the place of the dot alone or else of the dot + l, so that for the sound of "nasalized l" we find either ṅl or simply ṅ.⌋

For the combination resultant from -m l-, the mss. are almost unanimous in writing ⌊not what the Pr. ordains, but rather⌋ a single l with nasal sign over the preceding vowel, as in kaṅ lokam at xi. 8. 11; this usage is followed by the Berlin text.

For the resultant from -n l-, the mss. follow the Pr., not without exceptions, and write doubled l with nasal sign over the preceding vowel, as in sarvāṅ lokān, x. 6. 16, etc., asmiṅ loke, ix. 5. 7, etc.; this usage also has been followed in the Berlin text (but not with absolute uniformity).—It would probably have been better to observe strictly the rule of the Pr. and to write both results with double l and preceding nasal sign.