>>My point in bringing it up in the context of second-syllable rhyme (SSR) was just that ER (in its specific form reconstructible to Proto-SouthDravidian) and SSR (as amply attested in the oldest surviving Dravidian literature) work exactly alike phonologically in that they decouple quantity correspondence (which is required of the initial vowel) from quality correspondence (which is not required of the initial vowel), a property not shared by most ER systems of farther north and elsewhere in the world. I see this specific parallelism in phonology as adding somesupport to a Dravidian origin of SSR, though like I said, it's only suggestive.
Can you please elaborate 'decoupling' mentioned by you with examples ?
quantity correspondence : long vowel to long vowel , short vowel to short vowel; required of the initial vowel.
quality correspondence : glottal may correspond with palatal
pATa -gITa ; puli -gili ; (Telugu)
'A' to 'I' quantity correspondence but no quality correspondence. u to i quantity correspondence but no quality correspondence
khAnA -vAnA; pEn-vEn; (Hindi)
A to A , E to E both quantity and quality correspondences.
Is this what you are pointing at?
1. SSR and ER of Dravidian while sharing some similarities as pointed out by you, have many dissimilarities too. ER has the same consonant as the initial consonant in the reduplicate string always for a given language. 'g' for Telugu and 'v' for Hindi for example. SSR does not have this feature. The initial consonant of the rhyming second half may differ from case to case.
2. Semantic and/or semiotic significance is identified for the initial consonant in the reduplicate string, in certain idiomatic usages of the ER. for example, communication of the pejorative or angry mood discussed in
for English seems to hold good for Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and Punjabi too. SSR does not have such a specific mood communication associated with it though it is considered to be auditorily ornamenting to the poetic expression.
3. SSR can be considered to be a tool of oral tradition, a memorising tool for orally preserved verbal forms. ER does not have this function. ER is part of speech pragmatics of day to day communication but not a structural feature of verbal forms. SSR is a structural feature of verbal forms.
4. For a Dravidian 'origin' of SSR to be considered the following are the hurdles:
a. SSR of Dravidian verse and lyrical meters is intra-line and the SSR of Sanskrit meters either as used in languages of the south or in cases such as gOpIgItam of Sanskrit, is inter-line.
b. In intra-line situation, the two parts of the line with an SSR are very short and the rhyming occurs within a short gap after the first occurrence. In the case of inter-line of SSR in Sanskrit meters such as S'ArdUlavikrIDita, the rhyming occurs after a very long gap after the first occurence. This difference has implications for the difference function and effects of SSR in the two situations:inter-line and intra-line.
c. SSR of Dravidian verse-meters is seen in relation to FSR, as an alternative to FSR, at least in native Telugu verse meters. The inter-line SSR of Sanskrit meters is not related to FSR.
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Prof.Nagaraj Paturi
Hyderabad-500044