Page:Vedic Grammar.djvu/54

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

44 I. ALLGEMEINES UND SPRACHE. 4. VEDIC GRAMMAR. of the YV. also show an increased number of words with / as compared with the RV.; thus babhlusá- (VS.) 'brownish' beside babhrú- 'brown'; kilala- (VS.) 'potter' beside cari- 'pot'. The MS. has a special predilection for 7¹; thus pulitát 'pericardium' beside purītát (AV. VS.). The SV. has pāmsulá- 'dusty', for pamsurá- in the corresponding passage of the RV. In a certain number of words interchanges with in the same period: thus purú- and pulú- ‘much'; miśrá- and -misla- 'mixed'; jargur- and jalgul-, intv. of gr- 'swallow'; in the AV.: -girá- and -gilá- 'swallowing', ksudrá- and kṣullaká- (— *kṣudla-ka) 'small', tiryà- and tilá- 'sesamum'. The above considerations render it probable that the Vedic dialect was descended from an Indo-Iranian one in which rhotacism had removed every 7. But since the oldest parts of the RV. contain some words with IE. 7, and in its later parts as well as in the other Samhitas predominantly inter- changes with representing IE. , there must have been another Vedic dialect in which IE. r and 7 were kept distinct; from the latter 7 must have found its way into the literary language to an increasing extent ². b. In the oldest parts of the RV. there are no verbal forms which preserve IE. /, and only a few nouns, viz. (u)loká- 'free space', ślóka- 'call', and -misla- 'mixed'. A few other words containing have no IE. cognates and may therefore be of foreign origin: nila- 'dark-coloured', jálasa- 'healing', tilvila- 'fertile', and the denominative tilvilayáte. In the latest parts of the RV. / represents IE. / in: 1. verbal forms and primary derivatives: lebhire, lebhāná-, labdhá-, from labh- ‘grasp', layantām, from li- 'cling'; alipsata, aor. of lip- 'anoint'; lobháyantī- part. from lubh- 'desire'; cala-calá-, -cacali- 'swaying' (also pums-cali- 'whore', AV. VS.), from cal- 'move'; plávate, plavá- 'boat', from plu- 'swim'. 2. the following nouns: logá- 'clod'; luka- 'owl'; ulká- 'meteor'; úlba- 'membrane'; kalása- 'jar'; kalá- 'small portion'; kála- 'time'; kalyána- 'fair'; kúla- 'family'; gálda- 'trickling' (VS. gal- 'drop'); palitá- 'grey'; pulu- (in compounds) 'much'; phalgvà- ‘weakly'; bála- ‘strength'³; balí- ‘tax'; mála- 'dirty garment'; salilá- 'surging'; hládaka- and hladikavant-"refreshing'; also words with the suffix -la 4, especially with diminutive sense; e. g. vṛṣa-lá- ‘little man', śiśú-la-‘little child' 5. a. In the later Samhitas / represents IE. in the following words: -kulva- (VS.) ‘balď; klóman- (AV. VS.) 'lung'; gláhana- (AV.) ‘dicing'; gláu- (AV. VS.) 'excrescence'; tulá- (VS.) 'balance'; paláva- (AV.) ‘chaff'; pula-sti- (VS.) 'smooth-haireď'; plīhán- (AV. VS.) 'spleen'; phalgú- (VS.) 'reddish'; laghi- (AV.) 'light'; lap- (AV.) ‘prate' (= rap- RV.). c. On the other hand, to some extent represents IE. also6. I. In the RV. this value of is rare and occurs only in the neigh- bourhood of labial sounds (u, o, p, m, v): ulúkhala- 'mortar' beside uri- ‘broad'; jalgul, intv. of gr- 'swallow'; plusi-, a kind of insect, beside prus- 'squirt'; klósa- 'call' beside króśant- ‘calling', krośaná- 'crying'; -lohitá- 'red', lodhá, a kind of red animal, beside rohit-, rohitá- 'red'; lopāśá- jackal', lup- (AV.) ‘break', beside rup- 'break'; pala- 'upper millstone' beside upári 'above'; jálpi- 'muttering'; pippala- 'berry'; mla- 'fade' beside mr- 'die'; valá- 'cave' beside várate 'encloses'. = 2. In the later Samhitãs the use of this / IE. extends further than in the RV.; thus álam (AV.) 'enough': áram; lis (VS.) 'tear': ris-; -luñcá- (VS.)

  • L. V. SCHROEDER, ZDMG. 33, 196.

2 See WACKERNAGEL I, 192 b, and cp. above p. 42, note 10. 3 Cp. above p. 36, note 10. 4 See ARNOLD, Festgruss an Roth 147. 5 See WACKERNAGEL I, p. 218. 6 Cp. above 51 a.