TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
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§6.5 Ṛgvedic and Taittirīya súvar and later Vedic svàr; anaptyxis.<br />
It is well known that the Ṛgvedic group consonant + uv- (Cuv), which is also<br />
found in some other early texts (ŚS, etc.) developed to Cv- in later texts. The<br />
recent study of F.B.J. Kuiper (IIJ 30, 1-8) underlines the fact that we must<br />
deal here with two sets of Cuv groups, one without laryngeal (*Cuv, as in<br />
*kúua) and one with laryngeal (*CúHa, as in *súHar > svàr, or CuHá as in:<br />
*tanuHám > tanvàm, *tuHám > tvám, *tuaHám > tvm).<br />
While in the Ṛgveda, svar is always counted as dissyllabic, 197 the 'Śaunaka'<br />
(better: Vulgate) version of the AV has, according to Whitney, 27 cases of<br />
[súuar] but 11 cases of [svàr], if the repetitions are disregarded. 198<br />
As far as *CúHa and *Cuhá are concerned, the change to Cvà seems to be in<br />
progress in the Mantra period, as AV evidence indicates. A comparison with<br />
PS and other Mantra texts (VS, Mantra portions of MS, KS, TS) should be<br />
undertaken, but could not be included here.<br />
As for non-laryngeal cases, Kuiper counts [kúua] 32 times in RV, while [kvà]<br />
occurs only 3 times. 199 A similar picture emerges from the Śaunaka AV:<br />
[kúua] appears 12 times, [kvà] twice. The change from Cuv > Cv thus seems<br />
to be post-Mantra in these cases. Note also the evidence from Śākalya's RV<br />
text (late Br. period, probably Eastern: Videha), where the Middle/Late Vedic<br />
pronunciation of the group -ḍiy- had already become -ḍy- ; intervocalic -ḍ- > ḷ<br />
as in īḍe > īḷe, but *īḍiya- was already pronounced īḍya, see above § 6.3.<br />
Additional evidence can be found in the counting of the syllables of some<br />
words involving the cluster Cv < * Cu(H)a made by the authors of some Vedic<br />
texts. Such countings involve both Ṛgvedic and post-Ṛgvedic verses, as well<br />
as prose Mantras, certain lists of words (like the lists of parts of the body of<br />
the "canonical creature"), and even incidental mention of singular words like<br />
tvac-. This has recently been studied by S.Jamison (IIJ 29, 161-181), who<br />
295, and 16, 261 sq.). Paiśāca = Vetāla may thus be an old nickname for persons of this<br />
area, cf. also ŚB asurya for Eastern aboriginals; but cf. Vesālīa, etc., Weber, loc. cit.<br />
197 Oldenberg, RV Noten, 1909, p. 218.<br />
198 Whitney, AV Index, 1881, p.332, Kuiper IIJ 30, 1; Whitney, in his AV index: always<br />
suarvíd, mostly súarga-; mostly suastí, always kúa, exc. once 15.11.2-3; cf. also: both svastí-<br />
and suásti- (RV su-astí, 3x svastí); svhā (AV once, RV 1x sú-āha 3.32.19), kvà once,<br />
otherwise like RV: kúa;<br />
199 Once in book 1, twice in book 2, Kuiper, IIJ 30, 1.<br />
70