Krishnamurti Bhadriraju. The Dravidian Languages

Подождите немного. Документ загружается.

3.2 T

elugu

–Kanna

da script 81

able 3.2a.

Primary

vowels

and consonants of

Telugu

@ A B C D E ÊVVV F G H

a¯ai¯ıu¯u

re¯eai

IJ K @L @M

o¯oaua

NR Å gR xmn v Ã

kkhggh

¿R ¿Rn Ç x¸ nv Ä

c ch j jh ˜n

È hR ²R ²nR ß

»R ´R µR µnR qR

t th d dh n

xm xmn Ë ËnR mR v

n ph b bh m

¸x v LR Ì mR aR xt xq x¤ à ÎR

yrlw´s

sshr

Table 3.2b. Primary vowels and consonants of Kanna

@ A BCDE GHIJKL @M@N

a¯ai¯ıu¯u

re¯eaio¯oaua

OÚ R VÚ YÚ \

kkhggh

^Ú aÚ d ÁÚhá j

cchjjh˜n

lÚ pÚ sÚ vÚ y

}Ú ¢Ú ¥Ú ¨Ú «Ú

t th d dh n

®Ú ±Ú ¶ ºÚ ÈÚá

p ph b bh m

MáÚá ÁÚ Ä ÈÚ

yrlv

ËÚ ÎÚ ÑÚ ÔÚ ×Ú

´s

ssh

5. The vowel diacritics are added to the consonant symbol to the top or right, but the

secondary consonants are not allowed to touch the body of the consonantal symbol.

One clear exception to this rule is vocalic <

r> which is treated as a consonant

phonologically i

n Telugu and Kanna

da. In Kanna

da the diacritic for

vowel length is

a separable symbol.

82 The writing

systems of

the literary langua

ges

Table 3.3a. Combination of primary consonants with secondary vowels in Telugu

a ¯a i ¯ı u ¯u

e ¯e ai o ¯o au

k NR NS Nz N U NR V NR W NR X lN lN [ lN \ N ] N ¡ N f

kh Å ÅØ Å T Å U Å V Å W Å X ÛÅ ÛÅ [ ÛÅ

Å ] Å ¡ Å f

g gR gy gj gk gR V gR W gR X Û g Û g [ Û g \ g ] g

g f

gh xmn V xmn V Ø mnz V mnU V xmn VV xmn VW xmn V X Ûmn V Ûmn [V Ûmn V

xmn V ] Ûmn W xmn V f

c ¿R ¿Ø À Àd ¿R V ¿R W ¿R X Û¿ Û¿ [ Û¿ \ ¿] ¿ ¡ ¿f

ch ¿Rn ¿nØ Àn Ànd ¿nR V ¿nR W ¿nR X Û¿n Û¿n [ Û¿n

¿n] ¿n ¡ ¿nf

j Ç I

Ñ Ç Ù Ñ

Ç Ú Ç X ÛÇ Ç } ÛÇ \ Ç ] Ç

Ç f

jh R ¸ nV R ¸ nW ¸ nV2 ¸ nV3 R ¸ nVV R ¸ nVW R ¸ nVX ¸ Û nV ¸ } nV ¸ Û nV

R ¸ nV ] R ¸ nV

R ¸ nV f

È ÈØ Èz È U È V È W È X Û È } È ZÈ\ È ] È

È f

hR hy hz hU hR V hR W h X Û h } h Û h \ h] h ¡ h f

²R ²y ²z ² U ² R V ² R W ² R X Û² Û² [ Û² \ ² ] ²

² f

²nR ²ny ²nz ²n U ²n R V ²n R W ²n R X Û²n Û²n [ Û²n \ ²n ] ²n

²n f

ß ßØ ßz ß U ß V ß W ß X Ûß } ß Ûß \ ß ] ß

ß f

t » R »y »z » U » R V » R W » R X Û» } » Û» \ »] »

» f

th ´R ´y ´j ´k ´ R V ´ R W ´ R X Û´ Û´ [ Û´

´ ] ´

´ f

d µR µy µj µk µ R V µ R W µ R X Ûµ Ûµ [ Ûµ \ µ ] µ

µ f

dh µnR µny µnj µnk µn R V µn R W µn R X Ûµn Ûµn [ Ûµn

µn ] µn

µn f

n qR qy ¬ ¬d qR V qR W qR X q } q Ûq \ q ] q

q f

p xm Fy zm Um xm o xm p xm X m } [ m Û m \ ö

ph mn R rny zmn Umn mno mnp mnX Û mn Û [ mn Û mn

b Ë ËØ Õ Õd Ë V Ë W Ë X ÛË } Ë ÛË \ Ë ] Ë

Ë f

bh Ën R ËnØ Õn Õnd Ën R V Ë Rn W Ën R X ÛËn } Ën ÛËn

Ën ] Ën

Ën f

m mR V mR V Ø − V −d V mR VV mR VW mR VX Ûm V Ûm [V Ûm \ V Ûm VV Ûm w mR Vf

y ¸x V ¸x V Ø ¸ V ¸ V Ø ¸x VV ¸x VW ¸x VX Û ¸ V ¸ } V Û ¸ \ V Û ¸ VV Û ¸ Vw ¸x Vf

r LR Ly Lj Lk LR V LR W LR X ÛL ÛL [ ÛL \ L] L

L f

l Ì ÌØ Ö Öd Ì V Ì W Ì X âÌ Ì} âÌ \ Ì ] Ì

Ì f

v mR my − −d mR o mR p mR X âm } m Ûm \ m ] m

m f

´s aR ay b bd aR V aR W aR X } a âa Û a \ a ] a

a f

xt uy zt Ut xt V xt W xt X Û t } t Û t \ u

]

s xq ry zq Uq xq V xq W xq X Û q } q Û q \ r

]

r ¡ r

h x¤ x¤

[

z¤ U¤ x¤ Ù x¤ Ú x¤ X Û ¤ } ¤ Û ¤ \ x¤ ] x¤

x¤ f

Îx Î Ø z Î U Î Îx

Îx

Îx X ÛÎ } Î ÛÎ \ Î ] Î

Î f

3.2 T

elugu

–Kanna

da script 83

Table 3.3b.

Combination

of primary

consonants

with secondary vo

wels in Kannada

a ¯a i ¯ı u ¯u

e ¯e ai o ¯o au

k OÚ OÛ P PÞ OÚß OÚà OÚä Oæ OæÞ Oæç Oæà OæàÞ Oè

kh R RÛ T TÞ Rß Rà Rä Ræ RæÞ Ræç Ræà RæàÞ Rè

g VÚ VÛ W WÞ VÚß VÚà VÚä Væ VæÞ Væç Væà VæàÞ Vè

gh YÚ YÛ YÚß YÚà YÚä Yæ YæÞ Yæç Yæà YæàÞ Yè

c ^Ú ^ÚÛ _ _Þ ^Úß ^Úà ^Úä ^æ ^æÞ ^æç ^æà ^æàÞ ^è

ch aÚ aÛ b bÞ aÚß aÚà aÚä aæ aæÞ aæç aæà aæàÞ aè

j d dÛ f fÞ dß dà dä dæ dæÞ dæç dæà dæàÞ dè

jh ÁÚhá ÁÚháÛ Âhá ÂháÞ ÁÚháß ÁÚháà ÁÚháä Áæhá ÁæháÞ Áæháç Áæhà ÁæhàÞ Áæhè

l mÛ l lÞ lß là nä n nÞ nç nà nàÞ mè

pÚ pÛ q qÞ pÚß pÚà pÚä pæ pæÞ pæç pæà pæàÞ pè

sÚ sÛ t tÞ sÚß sÚà sÚä sæ sæÞ sæç sæà sæàÞ sè

vÚ vÛ w wÞ vÚß vÚà vÚä væ væÞ væç væà væàÞ vè

y yÛ yæ yæÞ yß yà yä zæ zæÞ zæç zæà zæàÞ zè

t }Ú }Û ~ ~Þ }Úß }Úà }Úä }æ }æÞ }æç }æà }æàÞ }è

th ¢Ú ¢Û £ £Þ ¢Úß ¢Úà ¢Úä ¢æ ¢æÞ ¢æç ¢æà ¢æàÞ ¢è

d ¥Ú ¥Û ¦ ¦Þ ¥Úß ¥Úà ¥Úä ¥æ ¥æÞ ¥æç ¥æà ¥æàÞ ¥è

dh ¨Ú ¨Û © ©Þ ¨Úß ¨Úà ¨Úä ¨æ ¨æÞ ¨æç ¨æà ¨æàÞ ¨è

n «Ú «Û ¬ ¬Þ «Úß «Ú «Úä «æ «æÞ «æç «æà «æàÞ «è

p ®Ú ®Û ®Ú ®Ú ®Úä ®æ ®æÞ ®æç ®æã ®æãÞ ®è

ph ±Ú ±Û ±Ú ±Ú ±Úä ±æ ±æÞ ±æç ±æã ±æãÞ ±è

b ¶ ¶Û ¸ ¸Þ ¶ß ¶à ¶ä ¶æ ¶æÞ ¶æç ¶æà ¶æàÞ ¶è

bh ºÚ ºÛ » »Þ ºÚß ºÚà ºÚä ºæ ºæÞ ºæç ºæà ºæàÞ ºè

m ÈÚß ÈÚáÛ Éß ÉßÞ ÈÚßß ÈÚßà ÈÚßä Èæß ÈæßÞ Èæßç Èæà ÈæàÞ ÈÚáè

y MßÚß MßÚßÛ ¿ß ¿ßÞ MßÚßß MßÚßà MßÚßä Mßæß MßæßÞ Mßæßç Mßæà MßæàÞ MßÚáè

r ÁÚ ÁÛ Â ÂÞ ÁÚß ÁÚà ÁÚä Áæ ÁæÞ Áæç Áæà ÁæàÞ Áè

l Å ÅÛ Æ ÆÞ Åß Åà Åä Åæ ÅæÞ Åæç Åæà ÅæàÞ Åè

v ÈÚ ÈÛ É ÉÞ ÈÚâ ÈÚã ÈÚä Èæ ÈæÞ Èæç Èæã ÈæãÞ Èè

´s ËÚ ËÛ Ì ÌÞ ËÚß ËÚà ËÚä Ëæ ËæÞ Ëæç Ëæà ËæàÞ Ëè

ÎÚ ÎÛ ÎÚß ÎÚà ÎÚä Îæ ÎæÞ Îæç Îæà ÎæàÞ Îè

s ÑÚ ÑÛ Ò ÒÞ ÑÚß ÑÚà ÑÚä Ñæ ÑæÞ Ñæç Ñæà ÑæàÞ Ñè

h ÔÚ ÔÛ Õ ÕÞ ÔÚß ÔÚà ÔÚä Ôæ ÔæÞ Ôæç Ôæà ÔæàÞ Ôè

×Ú ×Û Ø ØÞ ×Úß ×Úà ×Úä ×æ ×æÞ ×æç ×æà ×æàÞ ×è

84 The writing

systems of

the literary langua

ges

3.2.1 Writing vs. pronunciation

1. The vocalic <

r> is written but is not pronounced as a syllabic; it is pronounced as

[ru/ri] in Te.

ÊVV

»V Rªo

rtuwu [rutuwu], Ka. F â }Úâ

rtu [ritu] ‘season’.

2. The anusv¯ara <o> transliterated as [

m] is used as a cover symbol of all nasals

before homorganic stops where it is pronounced like the homorganic nasal, e.g. Te.

<ga

mga>

Rg L Rg , Ka. <ga

mge> VÚ 0

V, Te. <pa

mpa> xª L xª , Ka. <pa

mpa> ®Ú 0 ®Ú.In

Telugu it also occurs in the word-ﬁnal position and before /w s ´s h/ of loans from

Sanskrit, with the phonetic value of [m].

3. The Sanskrit visarga <

>, transliterated <

h>, is pronounced as a voiceless [

h] after

a long vowel, and as [

hV] after a short vowel; the ﬁnal vowel has the same quality

as the preceding vowel, e.g. <muni

h> = Te.

ªR VV ¬ M [munihi] ‘an ascetic’, Ka.

®Úâ «Ú N

[punəha] ‘again’.

4. In loanwords beginning with <j˜n> the palatal is pronounced like a stop and <˜n> as

[ny]; Te.

ìI

qR L [ana

m], Ka.

« j

n¯ana [ana], ‘knowledge’.

5. In standard Telugu, the contrast between /¯a/ and / ¯æ/ is not indicated in writing. It is

represented by long <¯a> in verbs

¿Û FSö L [ceppæm] ‘we said’.

6. In Telugu /c j/ are pronounced as palatal affricates [tʃ d] before front vowels

/i e æ/ and as alveolar affricates [ts dz] before non-front vowels /a u o/:

ÀÍNx

cilaka [tʃilk] ‘parrot’, ¿S ÍS c¯al¯a [tsala] ‘much’. In Sanskrit loanwords <c j>

are pronounced as palatal affricates even when followed by a low vowel,

¿RxNxûL

ʃakrm] ‘wheel’. The

vowel following the palatal

is however fronted

and becomes indistinguishable from [e].

Tables 3.2a, b show the primary forms of vowels and consonants of Telugu and

Kanna

da, respectively. Tables 3.3a, b show combination of primary consonants with

secondary vowels in Telugu and Kanna

da. Note that the combinations given in the tables

are the possible ones and only some of those (over 50 per cent) are the actual ones.

3.3 Tamil and Malay¯a

lam scripts

Certain new symbols were innovated and added to the A´sokan Br¯ahm¯ı to represent the

sounds peculiar to Tamil like [

n]. The innovation consisted in the use of diacritics

added to the symbols representing l, t,

t, and n. One can see in this the phonetic similarity

between the old and new symbols – alveolar l and retroﬂex

l (both laterals with place

difference), dental t and alveolar

t (both stops with place difference), retroﬂex stop

and continuant

z (same place with manner difference), dental n and alveolar

n (place

difference, but actually allophones of the same phoneme). The adapted script is now

called the Tamil Br¯ahm¯ı. This script was used in seventy-six cave inscriptions in the

Madurai–Tirunalveli districts. These inscriptions were dated to the second century BC.

The language of these inscriptions was clearly Tamil with a mixture of Prakrit words.

They described grants made to Jaina and Buddhist monks by the kings and chieftains of

3.3 T

amil and Malay

¯a

lam scripts 85

the Pandyan era. Later this script spread to the entire Tamil-speaking area. By the seventh

to eighth centuries, a transitional variety called Va

zuttu had evolved which became

the parent of Tamil and Malay¯a

lam scripts. Mahadevan (1971) has thoroughly described

the language of the Tamil-Br¯ahm¯ı inscriptions and shown how the new symbols had

been innovated.

zuttu was replaced by another Tamil script from the seventh century AD in

the Pallava court, by simplifying the Grantha script (which itself was derived from the

Southern Br¯ahm¯ı) and adding to it necessary symbols from Va

zuttu. This continued

in the Tamil country as the Tamil script from the eleventh century onwards. On the west

coast, in Malay¯a

lam, Va

zuttu continued for a much longer period by adding symbols

from the Grantha script to represent Indo-Aryan loanwords. This eventually developed

into the present-day Malay¯a

lam script.

Tamil and Malay¯a

lam are genetically closer than Telugu and Kanna

da, but the writing

systems of Telugu and

Kanna

da are much closer than

those of Tamil and Malay

¯a

lam. This

is a good case to show that orthographic proximity does not imply genetic proximity.

Other differences are:

1. Unlike in Kanna

da and Telugu, in Tamil and Malay¯a

lam vowel diacritics are gen-

erally added to consonantal symbols in a linear order and not above or below the

consonantal letter:

Tamil Malay¯a

lam

pa ð pa ]

p¯a ð£ p¯a ]m

pi H pi ]n

p¯ı d p¯ı ]o

pu ¹ pu ]p

p¯u Ì p¯u ]q

pe ªð pe s]

p¯e «ð p¯e t]

pai ¬ð pai ss]

po ªð£ po s]m

p¯o «ð£ p¯o t]m

pau ªð÷ pau ]u

I am grateful to Iravatham Mahadevan for suggesting some changes regarding the history of

Tamil and Malay¯a

lam scripts.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Government of Andhra Pradesh made efforts through committees to

recommend changes in the writing systems of Telugu and Kanna

da so that they could be printed

in the same script. There were many at that time who thought that, by bringing the scripts together,

the differences between the two languages would get submerged. Fortunately, these efforts have

not succeeded. The talk of reform of a script is an anachronism now with the emergence of the

computer as a printing tool.

86 The writing

systems of

the literary langua

ges

Table 3.4a. Combination of primary consonants with secondary vowels in Tamil

a ¯a i ¯ı u ¯u e ¯e ai o ¯o au

k è è£ A W ° Ã ªè «è ¬è ªè£ «è£ ªè÷

c ê ê£ C Y ² Å ªê «ê ¬ê ªê£ «ê£ ªê÷

ì ì£ ® ¯ ´ Ç ªì «ì ¬ì ªì£ «ì£ ªì÷

í E a µ È ªí «í ªí÷

t î î£ F b ¶ É ªî «î ¬î ªî£ «î£ ªî÷

n ï ï£ G c ¸ Ë ªï «ï ¬ï ªï£ «ï£ ªï÷

p ð ð£ H d ¹ Ì ªð «ð ¬ð ªð£ «ð£ ªð÷

m ñ ñ£ I e º Í ªñ «ñ ¬ñ ªñ£ «ñ£ ªñ÷

y ò ò£ J f » Î ªò «ò ¬ò ªò£ «ò£ ªò÷

r ó ó£ K g ¼ Ï ªó «ó ¬ó ªó£ «ó£ ªó÷

l ô ô£ L h ½ Ö ªô «ô ªô£ «ô£ ªô÷

v õ õ£ M i ¾ × ªõ «õ ¬õ ªõ£ «õ£ ªõ÷

ö ö£ N j ¿ Ø ªö «ö ¬ö ªö£ «ö£ ªö÷

÷ ÷£ O k À Ù ª÷ «÷ ª÷£ «÷£ ª÷÷

r ø P l Á Ú ªø «ø ¬ø ªø÷

ù Q m Â Û ªù «ù ªù÷

û û£ S o û§ û¨ ªû «û ¬û ªû£ «û£ ªû÷

s ú ú£ R n ú§ ú¨ ªú «ú ¬ú ªú£ «ú£ ªú÷

j ü ü£ T p ü§ ü¨ ªü «ü ¬ü ªü£ «ü£ ªü÷

s þ þ£ V r þ§ þ¨ ªþ «þ ¬þ ªþ£ «þ£ ªþ÷

h ý ý£ U q ý§ ý¨ ªý «ý ¬ý ªý£ «ý£ ªý÷

2. Tamil is much more conservative than Malay¯a

lam. It has only one set of symbols for

each stop, the voiceless one, without marking voice and aspiration. But Malay¯a

lam

has separate symbols for voiced stops and also for aspirated consonants in voiced

and voiceless series. The combination of primary consonants with secondary vowels

in Tamil is illustrated in table 3.4a.

3. The underlined letters in table 3.4a have been reformed, at the initiative of the

Government of Tamil Nadu, to fall in line with the other letters in their shapes and

modern Tamil writings have switched to new spellings, namely:

n¯a,

nai,

no,

n¯o

lai

r¯a, ro, r¯o

n¯a,

nai,

no,

n¯o

old form(s)

new form(s)

í£ , ¬í , ªí£ , «í£

¬ô

¬÷

ø£ , ªø£ , «ø£

ù£ , ¬ù , ªù£ , «ù£

3.4 Writing

in non-liter

ary languag

4. In the case of consonant clusters also linearity is more widely the pattern than

combining the diacritics with the body of the ﬁrst member of the cluster. Tamil

exploits the linearity principle more than Malay¯a

lam, e.g.:

Tamil

rril CŸP™ ‘small house’

y¯a

tu ò£í¢´ ‘year’

c¯erntu «ê£¢ï¢¶ ‘having joined’

t¯onruvan «î£¡Áõ¡ ‘the one who appears’

Malay¯a

lam

niyantricci

tum \nb

{´n¨n«pw

‘despite

controlling

’

vy¯ay¯amam hymbmaw ‘exercise’

rdr¯oga

m lyt{ZmKw ‘heart disease’

5. Earlier Tamil used ﬁve Grantha letters to represent some spellings of Sanskrit:

j ü

s ú

s û

h ý

s þ

6. In Modern Tamil they use the ancient symbol for ¯aytam by combining it with other

symbols to indicate fricative sounds; thus ¯aytam + < p> = [f], e.g. çd

[f¯ıcu]

‘fees’.

Table 3.4b gives the

Malay

¯a

lam primary consonants with

secondary vowels. Table

3.5

shows the combination of primary consonants with secondary consonants, for three

languages. More details on south Indian scripts can be found in Bright (1998).

3.4 Writing in non-literary languages

We do not

have clear data on the non-literary languages. But we know

that no special

scripts have evolved in these. Tu

lu and Ko

dagu use Kanna

da script. Some Tu

lu speakers

in Kerala may be using the Malay¯a

lam writing system. In the Nilgiris Tamil is used as a

language of literacy. In Andhra Pradesh Telugu script is used to teach the Gonds, Kolam

and Konda Doras. Gondi is spread in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh where they use

the scripts of the dominant languages. It appears that Oriya script is used for Kui–Kuvi

and Devanagari for Ku

rux and Malto. Brahuis use different

scripts in different countries,

but, certainly, the Urdu writing system in Pakistan. It would be interesting to know how

the sounds for which symbols are not available in the dominant regional languages are

represented in writing in teaching literacy to the tribal children. At least for Ko

da I

have proposed new symbols for the voiceless and voiced alveolar trill and the glottal

stop based on Telugu /R

r ʔ/ = à

à ʔ.

88 The writing

systems of

the literary langua

ges

Table 3.4b. Combination of primary consonants with secondary vowels in Malaya

lam

a ¯a i ¯ı u ¯u

e ¯e ai o ¯

k I Im In Io æ æ I sI tI ssI sIm tIm sIu

kh J Jm Jn Jo J J J sJ tJ ssJ sJm tJm sJu

g K Km Kn Ko K sK tK ssK sKm tKm sKu

gh L Lm Ln Lo L L L sL tL ssL sLm tLm sLu

c N Nm Nn No N N N sN tN ssN sNm tNm sNu

ch O Om On Oo O O O sO tO ssO sOm tOm sOu

j P Pm Pn Po P P P sP tP ssP sPm tPm sPu

jh Q Qm Qn Qo Q Q Q sQ tQ ssQ sQm tQm sQu

S Sm Sn So S S S sS tS ssS sSm tSm sSu

T Tm Tn To T T T sT tT ssT sTm tTm stu

U Um Un Uo U U U sQ tQ ssQ sQm tQm sQu

V Vm Vn Vo V V V sV tV ssV sVm tVm sVu

W Wm Wn Wo W W W sW tW ssW sWm tWm sWu

t X Xm Xn Xo X sX tX ssX sXm tXm sXu

th Y Ym Yn Yo Y Y Y sY tY ssY sYm tYm sYu

d Z Zm Zn Zo Z Z Z sZ tZ ssZ sZm tZm sZu

dh [ [m [n [o [ [ [ s[ t[ ss[ s[m t[m s[u

n \ \m \n \o \ \ \ s\ t\ ss\ s\m t\m s\u

p ] ]m ]n ]o ] ] ] s] t] ss] s]m t]m s]u

ph ^ ^m ^n ^o ^ ^ ^ s^ t^ ss^ s^m t^m s^u

b _ _m _n _o _ _ _ s_ t_ ss_ s_m t_m s_u

bh ` `m `n `o ` ` ` s` t` ss` s`m t`m s`u

m a am an ao a a a sa ta ssa sam tam sau

y b bm bn bo b b b sb tb ssb sbm tbm sbu

r c cm cn co c c sc tc ssc scm tcm scu

l e em en eo e e e se te sse sem tem seu

v h hm hn ho h h h sh th ssh shm thm shu

´s i im in io i i i si ti ssi sim tim siu

j jm jn jo j j j sj tj ssj sjm tjm sju

s k km kn ko k k k sk tk ssk skm tkm sku

h l lm ln lo l sl tl ssl slm tlm slu

f fm fn fo f f sf tf ssf sfm tfm sfu

g gm gn go g g sg tg ssg sgm tgm sgu

r d dm dn do d d sd td ssd sdm tdm sdu

Table 3.5. Combination of primary consonants with secondary consonants for Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam¯

Telugu Kannada

Malayalam¯

NR k NR ä kk, É ä

tk,

Rq ä sk OÚ k OÚ Q kk, }ÚQ tk, ÑÚ Q sk

Å kh NR

Æ Æ

kkh,

Rq skh

R kh OÚ

kkh, ÑÚ

skh

I k ¡ kk, ¦ ˙nk, e

lk, k

gR g gRæ gg, ²Ræ

VÚ g VæÚ gg, sÚæ

K g ¤ gg

mnvgh µRç dgh YÚ gh ¥

[

Ú dgh

M ˙n § ˙n˙n

¿R c NR è kc, ¿R è cc, aR è ´sc ^Ú c O`Ú kc, ^`Ú cc, Ë`Ú ´sc

¿Rn ch NR è

kch, ¿R è

cch

aÚ ch OÚc kch, ^Úc cch

O ch Ñ cch

Ç j Ç

jj d j dg jj

P j P

jjh

˜n˜Ç jn j ˜n dk j˜n R ˜n ª ˜n˜n

Éí

tt,

tí

tt,

ÎÚ

t «

tt,

−

nt,

tî

sth

pÚ

ÎÚr

sth

d Í

²R

²Rï

sÚ

sÚu

d W

n S

n, ®

²Rn

²R

vÚ

sÚx

dh X t I

kt, ¯ tt, ´ nt, k

Éñ

ßñ

n Y th Ù tth, Ø sth

»R t NR ò kt, »R ò tt, Rq ò st }Ú t OÚ¡ kt, }Ú¡ tt, ÑÚ¡ st Z d Z

´R th »Ró tth, Rqó sth ¢Ú th }Ú¤ tth, ÑÚ¤ sth [ dh ² ddh

µR d µRô dd

¥Ú d ¥Ú§ dd

\ n L

ghn, ¶ nn

µRn dh Êô

bdh

«Ú n OÚ− kn, YÚ− ghn, }Ú− tn, «Ú− nn, ÑÚ− sn

¨Ú dh Ê

bdh ] p ¸ pp, ¼ mp, j

]

sp, k

]

qR n NR õ kn, mn võ ghn, »R õ tn, qR õ nn, Rq õ sn

®Ú p ®Ú° pp, Ä° lp, ÎÚ°

_ b _ bb

m p möpp, Ì ö lp, tö

±Ú ph ÑÚµ sph

a m ½ mm, i

´sm, j

sm, k

mn ph q

sph

¶ b ¶¹ bb

b y Iy ky, Jy khy, `y bhy, ¿ yy

Ê b Ê ÷ bb

ºÚ bh ¥Ú¼ dbh

c r I kr, K gr, a mr

Ên bh µR

÷ dbh

ÈÚß m OÚ½ km, VÚ½ gm, ÈÚß½ mm, ÑÚ½ sm

e l I kl, ] pl, e ll

mRvm NR ø km, gR ø gm, mRvømm, qøsm

MáÚß y OÚÀ ky, RÀ khy, ºÚÀ bhy, MáÚßÀ yy, ×ÚÀ

h v Iz kv, ez lv, Æ vv

¸ v y NR ù ky, Æ khy, Ên ù bhy, ¸ vùù yy

ÁÚ r OÚÃ kr, VÚÃ gr, ®ÚÃ pr, ÈÚßÃ mr

i ´s È ´s´s

LR r NR û kr, gR û gr, mûpr, mRvûmr

Ä l OÚÇ kl, ®ÚÇ pl, ÈÚßÇ ml, ÄÇ ll

s £ k

Ì l NRý kl, mý pl, mRvý ml, Ìý ll

ÈÚ v OÚÊ kv, ÄÊ lv, ÈÚÊ vv

s ] ps, Ê ss

v NR * kv, Ì * lv, F

* vv

ËÚ ´s ËÚÍ ´s´s

l Å

aR ´s aR + ´s´s

ÎÚ

OÚÐ k

s, ÎÚÐ

r ä rr

s, t

ÑÚ s }ÚÓ ts, ÑÚÓ ss

s »R = ts, Rq = ss

×Ú

×ÚÙ

Phonology: historical and

comparative

4.1 The phonemes of Proto-Dravidian

Proto-Dravidian (PD) had ten vowels (ﬁve short with a co-vowel of length, or ﬁve short

and ﬁve long) and seventeen consonants (Krishnamurti 1961:

§4.3) (see tables 4.1 and

4.2).

The low vowels pattern with the ones marked [+Back]; they can be called either central

or back in phonetic terms. They carry the features [+Back, −Rounded, +Low]. /a ¯a/ do

not cause palatalization of a velar or a dental found in several of the Dravidian languages.

Only unrounded vowels occur

after word-initial /w/ and this

provides a grouping of low

and front vowels together. There are no diphthongs in Dravidian. Traditional grammars

treat ai au as diphthongs but they can be treated as sequences of a + glide y/w. There

are sequences of iy uy ey oy and iw uw ew ow which are not treated as diphthongs in

traditional records, but are treated as (C)VC. By also writing ai au as ay aw, we would

be normalizing the writing system and bringing about phonological symmetry for Proto-

Dravidian. Roots of (C)Vy type, e.g.

∗

kay ‘hand’,

∗

koy ‘to cut’, pattern with (C)VC-type

where the ﬁnal segment is a sonorant, e.g.

∗

man ‘live’,

∗

cal ‘go’. Not much is known

about the phonetics of the Proto-Dravidian vowels beyond what is already indicated in the

table.

4.2 Phonotactics

A Proto-Dravidian root is monosyllabic and is either open or closed; open: V

,CV

; closed: V

. All these eight canonical forms can

be captured in the formula (C

)

) in which the elements in brackets have optional

occurrence; the v

owel may be long or short. Extended stems are formed by

the addition

of formative sufﬁxes of the type -C (V), -CC (V) or -CCC (V) to open syllable roots

without any change. Closed syllable roots take a vowel (V

), i.e. /i u a/, as the ﬁrst layer

of formative sufﬁxes; V

may be followed by -C -CC, or -CCC. C = an obstruent P (one

of the stops) or a sonorant L (nasal, lateral, ﬂap/approximant, a glide). CC = PP, NP

(N = nasal), CCC = NPP. If the stem ends in a stop, it is followed by a non-morphemic

or enunciative vowel /u/. Roots of (C)VC- and (C)VCC- contrast when followed by