Topics in Sanskrit Phonology

A. M. Zwicky Jr., 1965

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A set of ordered rules accounting for a wide variety of Sanskrit sandhi phenomena are presented and defended.  It is demonstrated that these phenomena, which have traditionally been considered as quite separate and unrelated processes, are in fact intimately connected.

Chapter 1 contains a brief formal account of the linguistic principles underlying the analyses in the following chapters.

In Chapter 2 the rules of vowel sandhi are examined.  It is shown that these rules must apply cyclically.

In Chapter 3 the traditional rules for the retroflexion of s and n and for assimilation of retroflexion are restated in terms of distinctive features.

Chapter 4 deals with the relationship of the retroflexion rules to other morphophonemic processes – to internal sandhi rules for roots in ks and to general spirant sandhi rules.  Another set of cyclic rules is discovered, and the traditional treatment of these rules is examined and criticized.

Chapter 5 is concerned with the features of aspiration and voicing.  Grassman’s Law and Bartholomae’s Law are formulated as synchronic rules of Sanskrit, and evidence for considering voiceless aspirates as clusters is adduced.

In Chapter 6 the relationship of sandhi rules for r and s to the rules in the preceding chapters is examined.

Thesis supervisor:         Morris Halle

Title:                             Professor of Modern Languages

Table of Contents

1          Introduction                                                                                                      1         

            1          Purpose and scope                                                                               1

            2          Sources                                                                                                1

            3          Linguistic framework                                                                             3

                        1          The input ot the phonological component                                   3

                        2          The classificatory distinctive features                                          6

                        3          Phonemes and segments                                                           7

                        4          The operation of the phonological component                9

                                    1          The form of the rules                                                     10

                                                1          General conventions                                          10

                                                2          Abbreviatory notations                          12

                                    2          The ordering of the rules                                               19

            4          Organization                                                                                         22

            5          Transcription                                                                                        23

                        1          The retroflex consonants and r                                      27

                        2          Stridency                                                                                  30

                        3          Tenseness                                                                                 31

                        4          The glides                                                                                 34

                        5          The syllabic liquids                                                                    35

2          Vowel Sandhi

            1          Internal and external sandhi                                                                   36

            2          Internal vowel sandhi                                                                            37

            3          Cyclical rules                                                                                        43

            4          External vowel sandhi                                                                           47

3          Retroflexion                                                                                                      57

            1          The retroflex spirant s                                                                           57

            2          The retroflex nasal n                                                                              61

            3          The retroflex oral stops                                                             65

            4          Assimilation of retroflexion                                                                    70

4          Roots in s, s, and ks                                                                                          75

            1          Internal sandhi                                                                                      75

                        1          The problem                                                                             75

                        2          Spirant-shift rules                                                                      77

                        3          Cyclical rules                                                                            78

                        4          Roots in ks                                                                               83

            2          Some assimilations of position                                                   90

                        1          Internal palatality assimilation                                         90

                        2          External palatality assimilation                                        93

                        3          External spirant assimilation                                                       96

                        4          The sàch rule                                                                          96

                        5          Spirant insertion                                                                        97

                        6          Visarga rules                                                                             99

            3          Excursus on relative ordering                                                                 100

                        1          Types of ordering                                                                     100

                        2          Whitney and ordering                                                                104

5          Aspiration and voicing                                                                           109

            1          Grassmann’s Law                                                                                 109

            2          Bartholomae’s Law                                                                              112

            3          Reformulation                                                                                       115

            4          Evidence                                                                                              120

                        1          The union vowel                                                                       120

                        2          Consonants of reduplication                                                      125

                        3          The roots jaks                                                                          127

            5          Voicing assimilation                                                                               131

                        1          Internal voicing assimilation                                                       131

                        2          External voicing assimilation                                                      132

            6          Appendix                                                                                             132

6          The sandhi of r and s                                                                                         137

            1          External sandhi                                                                         137

                        1          Sandhi after noncompact vowels                                               138

                        2          Sandhi after a and a                                                                  142

            2          Internal sandhi                                                                                      148

Appendix: summary of rules and ordering                                                                      151