Skt. preta, drav. pEtu, and vaitaraNi

[Stephen Hodge]

N. Ganesan wrote:

> Tamil-Kannada words pEy/pEtu ('spirit of the dead') are rooted
> in sounds like bE/pE (shouting when people get fear or become
> afraid).

Nice to see you are back !
It may be completely coincidental and unconnected but do you know of
the mantra syllable "pha.t" used in Buddhist tantra,  primarily to
dispel internal or external negativity ?  Curiously, the Tibetans,
following Tibetan pronunciation, say it as "phey".

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge