Page:Sanskrit Grammar by Whitney p1.djvu/46

 tip of the tongue thrust well forward against the upper teeth, so that these sounds get a slight tinge of the quality belonging to the English and Modern Greek th-sounds. The absence of that quality in the European (especially the English) dentals is doubtless the reason why to the ear of a Hindu the latter appear more analogous with his linguals, and he is apt to use the linguals in writing European words.

The dentals are one of the Indo-European original mute-classes. In their occurrence in Sanskrit they are just about as frequent as all the other four classes taken together.

Labial series: प्, फ् , ब् , भ् , म्. These sounds are called labial by the Hindu grammarians also. They are, of course, the equivalents of our p, b, m.

The numerical relations of the labials are a little peculiar. Owing to the absence (or almost entire absence) of b in Indo-European, the Sanskrit also is greatly exceeded in frequency by, which is the most common of all the sonant aspirates, as  is the least common of the surd. The nasal (notwithstanding its frequent euphonic mutations when final: 212 ff.) occurs just about as often as all the other four members of the series together.

From an early period in the history of the language, but increasingly later, and  exchange with one another, or fail to be distinguished in the manuscripts. Thus, the double root-forms and,  and , and so on. In the Bengal manuscripts, is widely written instead of more original.

Semivowels: य्, र् , ल् , व्.

The name given to this class of sounds by the Hindu grammarians is standing between — either from their character as utterances intermediate between vowel and consonant, or (more probably) from the circumstance of their being placed between the mutes and spirants in the arrangement of the consonants.

b. The semivowels are clearly akin with the several mute series in their physical character, and they are classified along with those series — though not without some discordances of view — by the Hindu grammarians. They are said to be produced with the organs slightly in contact, or in imperfect contact.

52. The र् is clearly shown by its influence in the euphonic processes of the language to be a lingual sound, or one made with the tip of the tongue turned up into the dome of the palate. It thus resembles the English smooth r, and, like this, seems to have been untrilled.