Pronunciation of short a

[Srini Pichumani]

Balaji Hebbar wrote:

>
> In  fact,  two  decades  ago  when  I  learnt  Pali  under  the  late
> Venerable  Dr.  PiyAnanda  MahAthero  (a  Sinhalese  monk),  the
> Venerable  would  laugh  at  the  the  Indian  prounuciation  of  the
> final  positioned  Sanskrit  visarga.  For  example,  the  Indian
> tendency  is  to  pronounce  "rAmaH"  as  "rAmaHa".  Ven. PiyAnanda
> would  say,  why?  and  laugh.  Prounounce  it  as  exactly  as  it  is
> "rAmaH"  and  nothing  more.

This feature can be observed in the Vedic recitation of the Nambudiris
too... whether the visarga occurs after a short or long vowel,  there is no
extra vowel attached to the "H".   You can listen to several examples on the
recording "The Four Vedas" made by Prof.Staal for Asch Records (1968)..

> I  have  praised  the  Sinhalas  in  front  of  a  whole  panapoly  of
> Tamilian  savants.  I  only  hope  I  come  out  of  this  one
> unscathed  and  in  one  piece!

Except for this unwarranted nonsense,   you did pretty OK on this post.  I
suppose the Venerable is yet to teach you vinaya...  after Dharma,  eh ?

-Srini.