* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
LINGUIST List logo Eastern Michigan University Wayne State University *
* People & Organizations * Jobs * Calls & Conferences * Publications * Language Resources * Text & Computer Tools * Teaching & Learning * Mailing Lists * Search *
* *
LINGUIST List 19.2595

Sat Aug 23 2008

Qs: Vedic L

Editor for this issue: Dan Parker <danlinguistlist.org>

We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually best posted to the individual asking the question. That individual is then strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list. This policy was instituted to help control the huge volume of mail on LINGUIST; so we would appreciate your cooperating with it whenever it seems appropriate.

In addition to posting a summary, we'd like to remind people that it is usually a good idea to personally thank those individuals who have taken the trouble to respond to the query.

To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.html.
Directory
        1.    Peter Scharf, Vedic L
Message 1: Vedic L
Date: 21-Aug-2008
From: Peter Scharf <scharfbrown.edu>
Subject: Vedic L
E-mail this message to a friend

Dear Colleagues,

I'm describing the phonetic features of Sanskrit sounds for the appendix
of LInguistic Issues in Encoding Sanskrit my colleague Malcolm Hyman and I
are putting the finishing touches on. One I'm a bit uncertain about it the
so-called Vedic l, sometimes called Marathi l, which occurs
intervocalically in Rgvedic dialect for retroflex d. I'm unsure whether
this is an approximant (like l) or a flap like .d (that is the Devanagari d
with a dot below as in Modern Hindi la.dakaa). Gujarati also has
intervocalic flap developing from .d. These flaps are not l's bur r's.
The question is, ''Is (or was) the Vedic l a lateral flap or a lateral
approximant?

Although Allen mentions flap-articulation, his references are not probative.

Allen (1953: 73) ''they [our authorities] take note, however, of the
especially brief and light flap-articulation of intervocalic voiced
retroflex stops. Note 2
[Note 2:SESirIya-SikzA 22. duspfzwaS ceti vijYeyo qa-QayoH svara-maDyayoH
(in the RP (see 1.110 above) duHspfzwa = Izatspfzwa and is used to describe
the articulation of the semivowels). Cf. also VP 4.146 qa-QO La-LAv
ekezAm; RP 1.52. For a kymographic study of this feature in Gujarati see
t. N. Dave BSOAS 6.673ff.

I checked the reference:
Dave, T. N. 1931. ''Notes on Gujarati Phonology.'' Bulletin of the School
of Oriental and African Studies, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 673-678. Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/607202

Dave says only that
Gujarati M.I. .d > G. tapped r.

It seems to me Allen's references weigh against his conclusion that Vedic l
is a flap, but are not absolutely conclusive. It may not be that all the
ancients identified duHspfzwa with Izatspfzwa and the former could indicate
tap or flap versus approximant. Alternatively, even if the two terms are
identical, they need not distinguish tap and flap from approximant.

One bit of evidence that might settle the question concerns whether there
are cases in Indic of the retroflex lateral approximant occuring
particularly in the intervocalic environment. Is the Tamil retroflex l
exclusively or particularly intervocalic?

Your help would be appreciated.
Peter

Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics
                            Phonetics
                            Phonology
Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue



Please report any bad links or misclassified data

LINGUIST Homepage | Read LINGUIST | Contact us

NSF Logo

While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed
on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.