Miscellaneous Topics – 2486
e.g. in
santa
(
sa-anta
): the short-sounding syllable,
sa
, becomes
san
here, which is then a weighty syllable (
garu-akkhara
).
6. All other short-sounding syllables
(
lahu-akkhara
or
rassa-akkhara
)
with no conjunct-consonants following.
7. Nasal sounds uttered with a closed mouth
(
niggahīta-akkhara
): the
sound being produced by closing the mouth letting the sound escape
through the nose is called
niggahīta
, and is represented by ṁ.
8. Sounds uttered with the mouth opened
(
vimutta-akkhara
): e.g. kā, gā,
etc.
9. Two successive sounds with a connected sound
(
sambandha-akkhara
):
e.g. in
upasampadāpekkho
, no pause is to intervene between
dā-
and -
pek
, but the whole word is to be uttered without a break in between.
10. Separated sounds
(
vavatthita-akkhara
): e.g. in
suṇātu me
, there must be
a pause between
suṇātu
and
me
.
The above ten rules are called the ten discernments of syllables (
vyañjana-
buddhi
). They are summarized in a verse in a Vinaya commentary:
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Sithila-dhanitañ-ca dīgha-rassaṁ,
lahuka-garukañ-ca niggahītaṁ;
sambaddhaṁ vavatthitaṁ vimuttaṁ:
dasadhā vyañjana-buddhiyā pabhedo.
Unstressed, stressed, long, short, light, heavy and nasal; connected,
separated, open: this is the analysis of the tenfold discernment of syllables.
Syllables (
vyañjana
) means the words that are uttered as vocal expressions of the
mind. Discernment of syllables
(
vyañjana-buddhi
) means the mind and mental
concomitants that cause the utterance of words. The words thus uttered also are
called discernments of syllables (
vyañjana-buddhi
) in a metaphorical sense.
It is not all the languages that conform to the above ten rules of enunciation. For
instance, in Tamil only one or two of the rules are met with. In Kirāta, the
language of a mountain people, there are no labial sounds. In Yun (?) every
367
[I have been unable to find the verse. I have included a translation for ease of
understanding.]