[INDOLOGY] a i and ai

[dermot at grevatt.force9.co.uk]

Dear Christophe,

The usual practice in roman script is to separate the two vowels with a space, showing that 
they are not a diphthong but belong to two different syllables. E.g.

 mana + indriya- = mana indriya-

I don't think that looks strange. You can see it for instance in Edgerton's Bhagavadgita 
(Harvard U. Press, 1952) ch 2 verse 9c: na yotsya iti govindam (na + yotsye + iti).

By the way, what distinguishes the separate vowels from the diphthong in nagari is not the 
space (which isn't always marked in manuscripts) but the fact that the second vowel (in your 
case the i) is written with a character, not with a stroke added to a consonant character. This 
makes a space possible, though not necessary. Indeed, such hiatus can occur within a word, 
which is rare in Sanskrit (e.g. pra'uga "the forepart of the shafts of a chariot; triangle"), but 
common in Prakrit. Here, it would be very odd to write a space, since it's within a word. I've 
marked the hiatus with an apostrophe, but Monier-Williams does it with diaeresis/tréma (two 
superscript dots).

I hope that solves your doubts quicker than Arjuna's.

With best wishes,

Dermot

On 27 Apr 2016 at 10:59, Christophe Vielle wrote:

Dear List,
is there a way in Roman script for distinguishing in a compound the result of -a + vowel other 
than a which could be i =  a i, with hiatus, from the diphthong ai resulting from a/a + e/ai ?
ex. mana + indriya- = manaindrya- (?) beside manasa + aindriya = manasaindriya
In nâgarî script I find written mana indrya- with a space put between the two members, but it would 
look strange in Roman script. 
Any suggestion welcome.
Best wishes,
Christophe Vielle



-------------------
Christophe Vielle
Louvain-la-Neuve


-- 
Dermot Killingley
9, Rectory Drive,
Gosforth,
Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 1XT
Phone (0191) 285 8053



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