[INDOLOGY] Sandhi examples in the english language

Thu Aug 4 22:35:12 UTC 2022

A few that I use in teaching:

t > Ø before suffix -en:
haste + -en > hasten
soft + -en > soften

v devoiced before suffixed -th:
five + th > fifth
twelve + -th > twelfth

ex- + pert > expert           unvoiced > unvoiced before unvoiced (positional voicing of x)
ex- + ist > exist   unvoiced > voiced before vowel

suffixed  -s > -z after vowels and voiced consonants

past-participial –(e)d > -t after unvoiced consonants
                e.g.
leaped / leapt
hopped
slept (< sleep)
wrecked
                versus:
ribbed
egged
grieved

little > pron. (American) liddle or (Cockney) li’le or (slang) lil
cattle > Am. pron. caddle, etc.
sitter > Am. pron. sidder, etc.
kitten > Am. pron. ki’en
written > Am. pron. wri’en

External Sandhi in English

contraction (prakṣipta!):

it is > it’s (or, archaically: ’tis)
they are > they’re
I have > I’ve
they have > they’ve

also:
is not > isn’t
are not > aren’t
am not > ain’t (slang, often now usually for be not in any person or number)

p.s.
All the rules of liaison in French I think would count as external sandhi.

Best,
Tim

Timothy Lubin
Jessie Ball duPont Professor of Religion, and Adjunct Professor of Law
Head of the Law, Justice, and Society Program
204 Tucker Hall
Washington and Lee University
Lexington, Virginia 24450
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From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of "Pecchia, Cristina" <Cristina.Pecchia at oeaw.ac.at>
Date: Thursday, August 4, 2022 at 5:17 PM
To: Harry Spier <vasishtha.spier at gmail.com>
Cc: INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Sandhi examples in the english language

Examples of spelling change from Italian: una ombra → un’ombra; quella opera → quell’opera. Furthermore, the vowel [i] can be added at the beginning of a word, as in per ischerzo (from per scherzo), or in ispalla (from in spalla).

(from: https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/sandhi_%28Enciclopedia-dell%27Italiano%29/)

Cristina Pecchia

Von: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> Im Auftrag von Harry Spier via INDOLOGY
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 4. August 2022 22:54
An: Howard Resnick <hr at ivs.edu>
Cc: Indology List <indology at list.indology.info>
Betreff: Re: [INDOLOGY] Sandhi examples in the english language

Thank you all for these great replies. Howard Resnick gives an example of a spelling change for internal sandhi.  Can someone give me an example of a spelling change for word junction (external) sandhi in a non-Indian language (if such a thing exists?).
Harry Spier

On Thu, Aug 4, 2022 at 4:01 PM Howard Resnick <hr at ivs.edu<mailto:hr at ivs.edu>> wrote:
English sandhi, n -> m before a labial consonant:

Examples: in-justice but im-possible; in-scrutable, but im-mature.

etc.

Good luck,
Howard

> On Aug 4, 2022, at 12:51 PM, Harry Spier via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info<mailto:indology at list.indology.info>> wrote:
>
> Dear list members,
> I need to give a brief introductory talk to english speakers, not linguistic or sanskrit students, but english speakers who chant sanskrit mantras and shlokas.
> I thought I'd briefly talk about and give examples of:
> 1) How sanskrit is very independent of word order.
> 2) How sanskrit uses case endings
> 3) How sandhi is widespread in sanskrit andi is also part of the spelling in sanskrit .
>
> I'd like to give examples of sandhi in english to to make the concept of sandhi more clear.  The examples I know of are:
> 1) final "s"
> "books" pronounced as "books" but "bags" pronounced as "bagz".
> 2) final "d"
> "glazed" pronounced as "glaizd" but "placed" pronounced as "plaist"
>
> It would be helpful if someone could give me other examples of sandhi in english. Not final "s" or final "d"
>
> Also is it true that most (all?) languages have sandhi ?
>
> Is sandhi expressed in the spelling (and not just the pronounciation) of any non-Indian languages?
>
> Thanks,
> Harry Spier
>
> Thanks,
> Harry Spier
>
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