6 



ALPHABET. 



[§§ 7-10. 



sound exactly equivalent to it in any language with which I am acquainted. 

 The best way of describing it is by sajang that it is half way between the 

 in not, and the in nut, when preceded by a hard guttural check, and fol- 

 lowed by a soft labial check. It thus may be said to be the u in cub, 

 rounded, or the o in cob, neutralized. 



§ 7. In tvords of more tJian one si/Uahle, — the short vowels w a, 

 % i, and ^ tt, when final and preceded by consonants are not pronounced in 

 prose and conversation. This is absolute in the case of ^ a. E.g., if^, 

 is pronounced pJial, and not pJiala. With respect to ^ i and ^ u, the sound 

 of the vowel, when written, does not entirely disappear. It however is 

 pronounced very slightly indeed, being little more than an aspirate with the 

 colour (timbre, tonfarbe ) of the vowel.* When ^ i and ^ u are thus pro- 

 nounced, I shall throughout this grammar represent them (in transliteration) 

 by a simple apostrophe, and not by i or u, in order to prevent a tendency 

 to mispronunciation. E.g. will be written hunW It must be 



remembered however that this apostrophe must, in pronunciation, be coloured 

 by the omitted vowel. Thus the pronunciation of the apostrophe in }iunh\ 

 for , is very different from that of the apostrophe in oK for '^Tf. In 

 the first it is coloured by the tone of the palatal vowel i, while in the second 

 it is coloured by the tone of the labial vowel u. This final apostrophe can 

 be nasalized by anunasika. E.g. ^rft naJin. 



As in High Hindi , ^ a, when unaccented and falling between two 

 consonants, is frequently omitted in pronunciation in prose and conver- 

 sation. This is especially noticeable in the conjugations of verbs. Through- 

 out this grammar, I shall represent this unpronounced, unaccented =?r a, in 

 transliteration, by an apostrophe, ', which in this case -will have a slight 

 colom- of the tone of the guttm-al vowel ^ a. E.g. f ^1%^, delcliliai. 



§ 8. It will thus be seen that I shall employ this apostrophe(') to 

 represent three distinct colom-s of tone, a guttural colom*, when medial and 

 representing a medial ^ a, and a palatal or labial colour, when final and 

 representing a final or nasalized final i; i or ^ ?f, respectively. And logi- 

 cally, I ought to represent the inert final ^ a also by a guttural apostrophe, 

 but this is neither customary nor necessary and would only tend to confusion. 

 It is simpler to remember that medial apostrophe stands for guttural '^r a, 

 and that a final apostrophe or a final apostrophe nasalized, stands for a 

 palatal t i or a labial ^ u, either simple or nasalized, respectively. 



§ 9. \ai is pronounced like the English word " I," and never like oi. 

 It thus differs from ay which has a broader sound. E.g. f ^ liail is pro- 

 nounced very differently from f liay'h. 



§ 10. {" )Anunasi1ca is pronomiced like the nasal sound in the French 

 word " hon". It will, throughout this grammar, except when final after a 



* A simikir peculiarity is observed ia Siudhi aud Telugvi- 



