saṁdhi rules - avagraha mark
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté
saṁdhi rules - using the avagraha mark
There is a mantra sound called so'ham. It is said this word comes to us via the grammatical rules of saṁdhi¹ or when sounds come together.
I wish to offer what I do understand, but ask questions of what I do not comprehend.
This word-sound so'ham comes from of saḥ + ahaṁ. How does this occur? This so'ham looks like this सोऽहं in saṃskṛtam ( or saṃskṛtā).
The rule is that of an exception to the basic saṁdhi rule:
A basic rule of saṁdhi
When two 'a's come together long (dīrgha) or short (hrasva ) doesn't matter, then we end up with a long a sound ā.
So we can write the rule like this:
- a + a = ā
- a + ā = ā
- ā +a = ā
- ā + ā = ā
The exception to the rule
It says when 'e' or 'o' is followed by an 'a' , the 'a' is replaced by avagraha. What is this avagraha ? Consider It an apostrophe or '
In the word so'haṁ = सोऽहं - note the symbol that looks like an 'S' ... that is the avagraha mark, or apostrophe. So the rule may be written like this:
Now this says : when an 'e' or an 'o' is followed followed by a short 'a' (this is called hrasva¹ then that letter 'a' at the beginning of the following word is omitted¹ and replaced with avagraha or apostrophe.
Let's apply the rule
In the case of saḥ + ahaṁ we first drop the 'ḥ' before attaching these two words to begin the process ( not part of the rule, but we will address that later). We now have sa + ahaṁ.
Here is where my brain cramp begins:
If we started with so + ahaṁ I can easily apply the rule just offered o + a = o' and end up with so'haṁ as the 'a' in ahaṁ has been dropped.
Yet we are not starting in that condition. We are starting with sa + ahaṁ.
In this case the rules of saṁdhi say the following:
When two 'a's come together long (dīrgha ) or short (hrasva ) doesn't matter, then we end up with a long a sound ā. Hence sa + ahaṁ should equal sāhaṁ.
Can anyone offer an insight as how we end up with so'haṁ ?
praṇām
words
- saṃdhi , some write sandhi - In general, containing a conjunction or transition from one sound to another .
- More specifically according to the Monier-Williams Saṃskṛt Dictionary, saṃdhi is a junction of final and initial letters in grammar
- hrasva = dwarfish, small; as opposed to dīrgha or a long a or ā
- Omitted = elision = the omission of a vowel, consonant, or syllable in pronunciation.
Last edited by yajvan; 23 March 2011 at 10:35 PM.
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
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