Page:Hindi grammar (Greaves).djvu/41

 SECT. 11. PRONUNCIATION. 17

सम्भालना, to support. Compare the English impossible, impolite, immoderate. In English, however, the " n " is frequently not changed to "m" before a labial, e.g., unpolished, unborn, unburnt.

In Hindi, before the labials, there is often only a nasalization, e.g., साँप, a snake; सौँपना, to commit to the care of.

With reference to the other letters. It will be found from the classification of letters to which group any letter belongs, the Anusvâr before a letter commonly assumes the nasal belonging to that group. No rigid rule, however, can be formulated : sometimes Anusvâr is used, sometimes the Anunâsik. As examples of the use of Anunâsik take the following : — ^|4| breath ; *^JM tears ; ^T^, bamboo ; ^T^, arm ; ^nR^TT, brown or dark colon red. But it is the Anusvar in the following : — ^vl| |4| |, a devotee ; (c/. English o«/o«j ; ^T^rn^ theuniverse;{cf.E.nglsh unsafe) ; ^f^T, a portion; (cf. bunch); T%1S', dlion ;{cf. English unholy). This word f^3 is not uncommonly pronounced as though written

The exact pronunciation of these nasals must be acquired from an Indian ; as a matter of fact, however, if the pronunciation of the following letter be already acquired, there is no great difficulty as in anticipation