Sanskrit Spelling

[Ashok Aklujkar]

> From statements such as gaur ity atra ka/h ;sabda/h?
gakaaraukaara-visarjaniiyaa.h ( ;Sabara etc.), it would seem that a word's
spelling, if necessary, was specified by adding -kaara after its
constituent sounds (with some additional terms such as repha for select
sounds or signs). The occasions to spell, however, must have been far fewer
than in, say, English, because, as most students of Sanskrit know, given
the almost perfect fit of most Indic scripts to the sounds of Skt, one
either knows a Skt word or one does not; the 'problem' of spelling as such
does not exist.



>I womder if anybody knows about Sanskrit "spelling".  What I mean is,
>how would Sanskrit words traditionally be spelt out aloud.  Perhaps
>such exists but it is never mentioned in any of the standard Western
>grammars of Sanskrit.   Some subscribers may know of the Tibetan
>method where each element is spelt out and pronounced cumulatively.  I
>am wondering if this was a native Tibetan innovation or had Indian
>antecedents.
>
>Best wishes,
>Stephen Hodge