Pronunciation of word final "a" in Sanskrit

[Allen W Thrasher]

Could the Hindiwallas on this list confirm or disconfirm my impression
that in Hindi (including Awadhi etc.) verse sometimes the final "a"
that would be present in the corresponding Sanskrit word but is lost
in ordinary speech is actually pronounced metris causa?  And is this
true of other "a"s lost between Sanskrit and Hindi?  Is this true in
some of the other modern Indo-Aryan languages If so, does that mean
that they have been there all along and are usually deleted but in
some deep sense retained?



Allen



Allen W. Thrasher, Ph.D.
Senior Reference Librarian
Southern Asia Section
Asian Division
Library of Congress
LJ-150
101 Independence Ave., S.E.
Washington, DC 20540-4810
U.S.A.
tel. 202-707-3732
fax 202-707-1724
email: athr at loc.gov

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