Page:Vedic Grammar.djvu/52

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I. Allgemeines und Sprache. 4. Vedic Grammar.

the Samhitas of the YV.; a. g. atatayln- (VS.) beside atatavin- (TS.) 'having one's bow drawn''.

50. The semivowel v. — This sound was, at the time of the Prati- sakhyas^, a voiced labio-dental spirant Hke the English v or the German w. Within Vedic it is very frequently derived from u^. It seems otherwise always to be based on IE. u; there is no evidence that it is ever derived from an IE. spirant v which was not interchangeable with «t.

a. This semivowel is sometimes found interchanging with b^, with y^, and according to some scholars, with mi.

b. In two roots in which v is followed by r, an interchange of sonantal and consonantal pronunciation, together with metathesis takes place, vr becoming ru: hence from dhvr- 'bend' are derived both -dhvr-t- and -dhru-, -dhru-t-, dhru-H-; from hvr- 'go crooked', -hvr-t-, -hvr-ia-, -hvr-ti- and hru- ni-ii, 3. sing., hru-t-, -hru-ta-. The root rudh- 'grow', may be a similar variation of vrdh- 'grow'^-

51. The semivowel r. — The liquid sound r must originally have been a cerebral, as is shown by its phonetic effect on a following dental « (47 A). By the time of the Pratisakhyas?, it was, however, pronounced in- other phonetic positions also. Being the consonantal sound corresponding to r before vowels (like y v .o i v), it is in that position correspondingly graded with ar; e. g. d-kr-an, d-kr-ata, beside d-kr-thas : d-kar-am, aor. of kr- 'do'; dr-ii- : ddr-u- 'wood'.

a. r generally corresponds to r in the cognate languages, but not infrequently to / also; and where these languages agree in having /, the latter may in these instances be assumed to be the original sound. As old Iranian here invariably has r, there seems to have been a tendency to rhotacism in the Indo-Iranian period'". Words in which Vedic r thus represents IE. / are the following:

1. initially: raks- 'protect'; rag/i-t'i- 'swift'; ramhate 'speeds'; rabh- 'grasp'; ramb- 'hang down'; ra- 'bark'; ric- 'leave', rip- 'smear'; rih- 'lick'; rue- 'shine', ruj- 'break'; rudh- and ruh- 'grow'.

2. medially: dngara- 'coal'; ajird- 'agile'; aratni- 'elbow'; arh- 'be worthy'; iydrti 'sets in motion'; ir- 'set in motion'; Urna- 'wool'; urmi- 'wave'; garutmant-, a celestial bird; gardabhd- 'ass'; gdrbha- 'womb'; cakrd- 'wheel'; car- 'move'; caramd- 'last'; cird- 'long'; chardis- 'protection'; dharu- (AV.) 'sucking'; parasu- 'axe'; piparti 'fills'; pi'tr- 'fort'; puri'i- 'much'; prath- 'spread out'; -pru-t- 'swimming', -pruta- part, 'floating', pravate ^V2isit^ ; mdrdhati 'neglects'; -marsana- (AV.) 'touching'; inurdhdn- 'head'; vard- 'suitor', and various forms of vr- 'choose'; vdrcas- 'light'; iarand- 'pro- tecting'; sdrman- 'protection'; sdrkara- 'gravel'; Usira- (AV.) 'cold season'; sri- 'lean'; iru- 'hear'; sroni- 'buttock'; sar- in forms of sr- 'run', and sarird- (VS.) 'flood'; sarpis- 'clarified butter'; sahdsra- 'thousand'; svar- 'heaven'; surya- 'sun'; harit- and hdrita- 'yellow'; hiranya- 'gold'; hradi'mi- 'hail'".

1 Cp. Benfey, GGA. 1852, ii4f.; Webek, IS. 2, 28; Wacicernagel I, 188 I,.

2 See Whitney on APr. 1. 26.

3 See above 48 a..

4 Cp. Wackernagel I, 196; Beugmann, KG. I, 148 and 155.

5 See 45 a, 3.

6 49 c. 1 46 c.

8 For some other possible instances see Wackernagel i, 18 |. b, note.

9 See Whitney on APr. i. 20, 28.

1° It seems as if the Vedic relation of r to / could only be accounted for by assum- ing a mixture of dialects; one dialect having preserved the IE. distinction of r and /; in another IE. / becoming r (the Vedic dialect); in a third r becoming / throughout (the later Magadht). See Brug- MANN, KG. I, 175, note.

" See Wackernagel i, 189.