Hello Harry,

     In a sandhi sequence like devān+tatra, according to P 8.3.7 (naśchavyapraśān), the word final n changes into ru, which changes into visarga and ultimately into s.  The vowel before the n becomes optionally nasalized by P 8.3.2 (atrānunāsikaḥ pūrvasya tu vā), and in the alternative that it does not become nasalized, it is followed by an anusvāra by P.8.3.4 (anunāsikāt paro 'nusvāraḥ).  The rule P 8.3.36 (vā śari)  says that a word-final visarga optionally remains a visarga before ś, ṣ, and s, while the Vārttika (kharpare śari vā lopo vaktavyaḥ) stipulates that if the following ś, ṣ and s are followed by a khaR sound (i.e. kh, ph, ch, ṭh, th, c, ṭ, t, k, p, ś, ṣ, or s, then the visarga is optionally deleted.  Your example अमुष्मिं स्तवे, and the observations of Whitney, MacDonell and Coulson seem to relate to the variation noted by these rules of Pāṇini and the Vārttika.  There are quite a few options involved, and they reflect the variation in the usage.  Best,

Madhav

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus
Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan
[Residence: Campbell, California]


On Tue, Aug 14, 2018 at 5:21 PM Harry Spier via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote:
Dear list members,
1) Both Whitney and MacDonell and Coulson's sandhi chart say that word final "n" remains unchanged before "s".

But checking three different printed editions of the Daksinamurtistotram, they all have:
 अमुष्मिं स्तवे

What do the grammarians say about word final "n" before "s"?  Is it optional to change a word final "n" to anusvara before "s" or  Is the anusvara in this case merely a typographical convenience?  

Thanks,
Harry Spier

_______________________________________________
INDOLOGY mailing list
INDOLOGY@list.indology.info
indology-owner@list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing committee)
http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list options or unsubscribe)