Re: [INDOLOGY] Khotanese Sīysā-/Sīysaā-: th/dh MIA and NIA versions of the name of Sītā?

[Stefan Baums]

Dear Diego,

> The Khotanese form could be made sense of by postulating a
> source form **Sīthā* or **Sīdhā* (or **Sīthakā*/**Sīdhakā*) for
> a hypothetical Gāndhārī *<*sisa*>=*/*si:za:*/

it is true that regularly in G between vowels, OIA th and dh
develop to [z], while OIA t and d develop to [ð]. Note, however,
also Brough, Gāndhārī Dharmapada, § 43, where he suggests that the
development th, dh > [z] proceeded via [ð], and that palatal
environments (as in Sītā) may have accelerated it.

There are some few words in G proper where we have a [z] for
expected [ð], such as samughasa- < (apparently) OIA samudhghāta-
in line 11 of the Senavarma inscription:

   https://gandhari.org/corpus/CKI0249

> " Turner's *Comparative Dictionary* mentions a form *sihā*
> 'furrow' from the Bhalesi language spoken in central Kashmir

That is interesting.

All best,
Stefan

-- 
Stefan Baums, Ph.D.
Institut für Indologie und Tibetologie
Ludwig‐Maximilians‐Universität München