Kh instead of S in Yajur Veda

[Madhav Deshpande]

I have not heard the recitation of Kaa.nva YV and cannot make a comment.
However, all the references to this peculiarity of pronunciation (kh for
.s) relate only to the Maadhyandina YV.  This peculiarity as well as the
j-like pronunciation of initial y are noted in the two versions of the
Kezaviizik.saa included in the Zik.saasa.mgraha and these texts make it
clear that this happens only in the Maadhyandina YV.
                                            Madhav Deshpande

--On Sunday, March 3, 2002 10:44 AM -0500 Fred Smith
<frederick-smith at UIOWA.EDU> wrote:

> Madhav,
>
> I have heard this change among the SYVedins of Nasik as well as of
> Varanasi. But, as you say, it is of the Maadhyandina "saakhaa. I have not
> heard it among the Kaa.nva pa.n.ditas of Pandharpur. Have you?
> regards
> Fred
>
>> Just to be more specific, the change of .s to kh takes place in the
>> Maadhyandina trandition of the Zukla-Yajurveda, where the passage i.se
>> tvaa is recited as ikhe tvaa.  The Maadhyandinas are found mostly in
>> north India, their southernmost expansion reaching the region of northern
>> Maharashtra.  I think there is a likely regional/dialectal connection of
>> this pronunciation with northeastern regions, where in Prakrits/Pali one
>> often finds kh for Sanskrit .s, for instance lakkha.na for
>> lak.sa.na/lak.sma.na.  This mode of recitation in the Maadhyandina YV is
>> probably a relatively late development, as I see no reference to it
>> either in the Vaajasaneyi-Praatizaakhya or the Yaajnavalkya-zik.saa.
>> Best,
>>
>>
>> Madhav Deshpande
>>
>> --On Sunday, February 24, 2002, 1:13 PM -0500 Madhav Deshpande
>> <mmdesh at umich.edu> wrote:
>>
>>> This happens in the Zukla Yajurveda recitation, where the RV line
>>> sahasraziir.sa.h puru.sa.h is pronounced as ...ziirkha.h purukha.h.  I
>>> am responding to this email away from home, and don't have access to my
>>> books, but if I remember correctly, the Zukla-YV Praatizaakhya deals
>>> with this feature.
>>>                               Madhav Deshpande
>>>
>>> On Fri, 22 Feb 2002, Dean Anderson wrote:
>>>
>>>> Madhav Deshpande mentions in "Genesis of Rgvedic Retroflexion..." that
>>>> some branches of Yajur Veda show 'kh' where the retroflex 's' is
>>>> normally expected. Where is this found? Is is associated with a
>>>> particular Shakha or geographical location? Are there any other
>>>> aspects of the vedic literature that show this?
>>>>
>>>> Dean Anderson, PhD
>>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ***************************************************************
>> Madhav M. Deshpande
>> Professor of Sanskrit and Linguistics
>> Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
>> 3070 Frieze Building
>> The University of Michigan
>> Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1285, USA
>> ***************************************************************
>
>
> Frederick M. Smith
> Associate Professor of Sanskrit and Classical Indian Religion
> School of Religion                    Dept. of Asian Languages
>                               & Literature
> 314 Gilmore Hall                              681 Phillips Hall
> University of Iowa                    University of Iowa
> Iowa City, IA  52242  U.S.A.          Iowa City, IA  52242  U.S.A.
>         + 319-335-2178 (O)      + 319-338-7193 (H)
>                + 319-353-2207 (Fax)
>                     frederick-smith at uiowa.edu
>
> "Insanity is doing the same old thing, the same old way, while expecting
> different results." Albert Einstein