Tamil Pronunciation

[Palaniappa]

In a message dated 98-03-05 08:54:55 EST, rbalasub at ECN.PURDUE.EDU writes:

<< But, there is no "sa" in thamiz. Is there some rule for changing ca to sa
also?
 The most common example is paci (hunger). I have never heard it being
 pronounced as paci. And isn't it an original thamiz word, I mean not a loan
 from the Sanskrit? >>

Intervocalically (if you look in the word "paci", "c" occurs between the
vowels "a" and "i"), "ca" is pronounced as "sa" all over Tamilnadu except in
some brahmin dialects where it is pronounced as "za". The alternation between
"ca" and "sa" occur only in the word-initial position.

Regards

S. Palaniappan