Similar sounds

The previous lesson described how the Shiva Sutras let us refer to different sound groups concisely. But we still have some lingering questions that are worth answering:

• In the Shiva Sutras, why does the sound a refer to both short a and long ā?

• What is an it letter, really?

This lesson will answer the first question, and the next lesson will answer the second question. As we answer these questions, we will also see some actual rules from the Ashtadhyayi and enter the system more deeply.

A new problem

To start the discussion, here is a small sandhi change:

The vowels ā and a combine to a single shared vowel ā. And there are other combinations possible, too:

We can generalize all four of these combinations to a general idea: if any two ”a” vowels combine, the result is ā:

How can we refer to the category of “a” vowels concisely? More generally, some sounds are similar to each other in an important way. How can we concisely refer to similar sounds?

Our first rule

To address the question above, we need several rules. Panini starts by introducing this rule:

This is the first rule we've seen, so let's dwell on it for a moment:

• The numbers 1.1.9 mean that this is chapter 1, part 1, rule 9. There are eight chapters, and each chapter has four parts.

• First, we show the original rule. But the original rule has had sandhi changes applied to it. These changes can make it hard to understand the rule. So we wrote the rule again after removing these changes.

• In the translation, the words in [brackets] must be provided from context and are not explicitly mentioned in the rule. You can get a sense of the sutra style here.

Now, what does the rule actually mean?

• āsya refers to one of the points of articulation in the mouth: the soft palate (where we pronounce ka), the hard palate (ca), the alveolar ridge (ṭa), the teeth (ta), or the lips (pa).

• prayatna refers to how these sounds are pronounced: with full contact between points of articulation (as with ka), with partial contact (ya), or with no contact (a).

So, sounds with the same āsya and prayatna are called savarṇa, which means “similar.” This rule defines the term savarṇa, which can then be used in the rest of the system.

However, this rule is too general. By 1.1.9, the sounds i and śa could be counted as savarṇa with each other. This definition will cause many problems later. Has Panini made a mistake?

Counteracting a rule

Panini has not make a mistake. To counteract the overapplication of 1.1.9, we have rule 1.1.10:

Again, notice how many words come from the the context of 1.1.9. There are principles for defining this context, but for now, let us focus on understanding this rule. As for ac and hal, we learned what they mean in the previous lesson: ac refers to all vowels, and hal refers to all consonants.

With the extra context and these two definitions in mind, the meaning of the rule is clear. Rule 1.1.10 prevents sounds like i and śa from being savarṇa with each other.

Together, 1.1.9 and 1.1.10 give us a complete, useful definition of savarṇa.

Defining groups of sounds

Now that we have a complete definition of savarṇa, we can go back to our original problem: how can we concisely refer to similar sounds?

To make this possible, Panini provides these two rules:

Rule 1.1.68 does not define a term or counteract a rule. Instead, it is an instruction for us as we read the grammar. Suppose we see some rule about the word agni, which means “fire.” The point of rule 1.1.68 is that a rule about the word agni is specifically about the form agni, and not about any other word that might mean “fire.”

Rule 1.1.69 borrows this context, and it also uses two interesting terms:

• aṇ has two interpretations, as we learned in the previous lesson. Here, it is the aṇ that includes all vowels and semivowels.

• udit will be explained in the next lesson. For now, treat “udit sounds” as meaning “sounds followed by u.”

With these terms defined, we can see what 1.1.69 does for us:

• In the grammar, a will refer to both itself and ā, which is savarṇa to it.

• Likewise for i, u, and so on.

• In the grammar, ku will refer to the five sounds ka, kha, ga, gha, and ṅa, all of which are savarṇa to ka.

• Likewise for cu, ṭu, and so on.

So with these four rules, we now have a simple, concise, and well-defined way to refer to groups of similar sounds.

But this system also creates a new problem. What if we want to refer to short a but not long ā? It seems that we can't do that anymore. Has Panini made a mistake?

Referring to short and long vowels

Panini has not made a mistake. We have one more rule to consider:

Rule 1.1.70 follows right after rule 1.1.69, which we saw above. Note that it continues to use context provided from 1.1.69.

What does the rule actually mean? It means that at refer to the short vowel a but not to ā. It means that āt refers to ā but not to the short vowel a. With this new rule, we can always tell these vowels apart.

This rule also explains part of the term udit, which we saw in 1.1.69 above. udit is ut-it: a term that has the vowel ut (short u) as an it letter. (But what is an it letter, really?)

Different kinds of vowels

As a closing thought, perhaps you are wondering: rule 1.1.70 seems like a lot of extra work just to tell two sounds apart. Is this rule really necessary?

Yes. Sanskrit vowels make many important distinctions. They can differ in length:

accent:

And nasality:

So in the context of grammar, a refers to eighteen variants (three lengths × three accents × two options for nasality). And even at refers to six variants (3 accents × 2 nasality options).

Review

With the Shiva Sutras and the rules above, we now have a powerful framework for referring to different Sanskrit sounds. This raises the question: now that we have this framework, what do we do with it?

But before we answer that question, let's revisit an earlier one: what is an it letter, really? The next lesson answers this question and starts to explain the core of the Paninian system.