Chapter:   [ Contents | 1. Alphabet | 2. Sandhi | 3. Assimilation | 4. Strengthening | 5. Declension | 6. Feminine | 7. Adjectives | 8. Numerals | 9. Pronouns | 10.1 Verbs | 10.2 Verbs | 10.3 Verbs | 11. Indeclinables | 12. Compounds | 13. Derivation | 14. Syntax | 15. Prosody ]

A Practical Grammar of the Paali Language
Chapter 15

PROSODY

626. Prosody is that part of Grammar which treats of the laws of versification.

A gaathaa in Paali poetry, is a stanza.
A paada is the fourth part of a stanza, called also a quarter verse.
A va.n.na is a syllable in a paada.
A short syllable is termed lahu.
A long syllable is called garu.
A foot is termed ga.na.

627.

The mark represents a short syllable, and

the mark a long syllable.

A foot containing two long syllables is termed gaa, that is, ga + ga, the initial syllable ga of the word garu being used to represent a long syllable.

A foot of two short syllables is termed la, that is la + la, the initial syllable of the word lahu being employed to represent a short syllable.

628. The following are the four varieties of a dis-syllabic foot.

SyllablesPaaliEnglish
la la or laaPyrrhic
ga ga or gaaSpondee
la gaLambus
ga laTrochee

629. The eight-syllable feet, known in Paali as the a.t.thaga.na are as follows:

SyllablesPaliEnglish
maMolossus
naTribach
bhaaDactyl
yaBacchic
jaAmphibrach
saAnapaest
raCretic
taAntibacchic

Short and Long Syllable s

630.

The short vowels in Paali are a, i, u,

the long vowels are aa, ii, uu, e, o.

When a, i or u is followed by a double consonant, it is prosodically long. For instance, the first as well as the second a in cakka~nca, is long because followed by kk and ~nc respectively.

Before niggahita (.m) a short vowel is also always prosodically long. Thus in sacca.m, the a before .m is long.

In poetry, a naturally short vowel is occasionally lengthened and a naturally long one shortened to meet the exigencies of the metre. In order to make a short vowel long, the consonant following it is sometimes doubled.

Varieties of Meters

631. There are three classes of metres, termed

sama,
addhasama, and
visama.

When the syllables in all the paadas are exactly alike the metre is called sama;
when those in the first and third and those in the second and fourth paadas are alike it is addhasama; and
when all the paadas or verses are different, the metre is termed visama.

1. The Sama Class

632. In gaathas of this class, the syllables in each paada may range from six up to twenty-two. The names of the seventeen kinds of metres are as follows:

gaayatti6 syllablesatisakkarii15 syllables
u.nhi7 syllablesa.t.thi16 syllables
anu.t.thubha.m8 syllablesatya.t.thi17 syllables
brahati9 syllablesdhuti18 syllables
panti10 syllablesatidhuti19 syllables
tu.t.thubha.m11 syllableskati20 syllables
jagati12 syllablespakati21 syllables
atijagati13 syllablesakati22 syllables
sakkarii14 syllables

633. These are again subdivided according to the kind of feet employed in each stanza; as the four paadas are similar, the scheme of only one paada is given for each kind of metre:

1. gaayatti, having paadas of six syllables. There is one variety:

tanumajjhaa |

2. u.nhi having paadas of seven syllables. There is one variety:

kumaaralatitaa | |

3. anu.t.thubha.m having paadas of eight syllables. There are five varieties.

(i)citrapadaa | |
(ii)vijjummala | |
(iii)maa.navaka.m | |
(iv)saama.nika | |
(v)paama.nikaa | |

4. brahati having paadas of nine syllables. There are two varieties.

(i)halamukhii | |
(ii)bhujagasusu | |

5. panti having paadas of ten syllables. There are seven varieties.

(i)suddhaviraajitam | | |
(ii)panavo | | |
(iii)rummavati | | |
(iv)matta | | |
(v)campakamala | | |
(vi)manorama | | |
(vii)ubbhasakam | | |

6. tu.t.thubha.m having paadas of eleven syllables. There are eleven varieties.

(i)upa.t.thitaa | | |
(ii)indavajiraa | | |
(iii)upavajiraa | | |

Remark. When the quarter-verses of indavajiraa and upavajiraa are mixed together in a stanza in any order, the stanza is them called upajaati.

(iv)sumukkhii | | |
(v)dodhaka.m | | |
(vi)saalinii | | |
(vii)vaatummissaa | | |

Remark. There are pauses after the fourth and seventh syllables.

(viii)surasasirii | | |
(ix)rathoddhataa | | |
(x)svaagata | | |
(xi)bhaddikaa | | |

7. jagati having paadas of twelve syllables. There are fourteen varieties.

(i)vasama.t.tha | | |
(ii)indava.m | | |
(iii)to.taka | | |
(iv)dutavila.m | | |
(v)pu.ta | | |

Remark. There are pauses after the fourth and twelfth syllables.

(vi)kusumavicittaa | | |
(vii)bhuja"ngappayaata | | |
(viii)piyamvada | | |
(ix)lalitaa | | |
(x)pamitakkaraa | | |
(xi)ujjalaa | | |
(xii)vessadevii | | |

Remark. There are pauses after the fifth and twelfth syllables.

(xiii)taamarasa.m | | |
(xiv)kamalaa | | |

8. atijagati having paadas of thirteen syllables. There are two varieties.

(i)pahaasinii | | | |
Remark. There are pauses after the third and thirteenth syllables.
(ii)ruciraa | | | |
Remark. There are pauses after the fourth and thirteenth syllables.

9. sakkarii having paadas of fourteen syllables. There are three varieties.

(i)aparaajitaa | | | |
Remark. There are pauses after the seventh and fourteenth syllables.
(ii)pahara.nakalikaa | | | |
Remark. There are pauses after the seventh and fourteenth syllables.
(iii)vasantatilakaa | | | |

10. atisakkarii fifteen syllables. There are four varieties.

(i)sasikala | | | |
(ii)ma.nigunaanikaro | | | |
Remark. There are pauses after the eighth and fifteenth syllables.
(iii)malinii | | | |
Remark. There is a pause after the eighth syllable.
(iv)pabhaddaka.m | | | |

11. a.t.thi having paadas of sixteen syllables. There is one variety.

(i)vaaninii | | | | |

12. atya.t.thi having paadas of seventeen syllables. There are three varieties.

(i)sikharinii | | | | |
Remark. There are pauses after the sixth and seventeenth syllables.
(ii)harinii | | | | |
(iii)mandakkantaa | | | | |
Remark. There are pauses after the fourth, tenth and seventeenth syllables.

13. dhuti having paadas of eighteen syllables. There is one variety.

(i)kusumitalataavellitaa | | | | |

14. atidhuti having paadas of nineteen syllables. There are two varieties.

(i)meghavipphujjitaa | | | | | |
Remark. There are pauses after the sixth and thirteenth, and nineteenth syllables.
(ii)sadduulavikkiiitii | | | | | |
Remark. There are pauses after the twelfth and nineteenth syllables.

15. kati having paadas of twenty syllables. There is one variety.

(i)vutta | | | | | |

16. pakati having paadas of twenty-one syllables. There is one variety.

(i)saddharaa | | | | | |

17. akati having paadas of twenty-two syllables. There is one variety.

(i)bhaddaka | | | | | | |

2. The Addhasama Class

634. In the addhasama class of metres, the first and the third, and the second and fourth paadas are similar. The following table shows eleven kinds of metres that come under this head:

Name of MetreOdd quarter-versesEven quarter-verses
1st.-3rd.2nd.-4th.
upacitta - - - -- - - - -
ratamajjhaa- - - - - - - - -
vegavati - - - -- - - - -
bhaddaviraaja - - - - - -- - - - - - -
ketumati - - - - - - - - - -
akhyaanikaa- - - - - - - - - - - - -
viparitapubba - - - - - -- - - - - - -
hari.napaluta - - - - - - - -
aparavutta - - - - - - -
pubbittaggaa - - - - - - - - -
yavaadikaamatii - - - - - -- - - - - - -

Remark. The aparavutta corresponds to the vetaaliya explained, referred to lower down.

(HL: 635-640, not available in original pdf file.)

641.

In the first of these, the ariyaa,

the first two paadas of half a gaathaa contain seven and a half feet;
in the even, that is, in the second, fourth, and sixth feet, any of the following, namely,
ba, ja, sa, gaa, or
four short syllables may be employed,
but ja must not be used in the odd feet, that is,
in the first, third, and fifth.
The sixth foot may be la or four short syllables.

The second-half stanza must fulfil the same conditions. It is necessary to observe that
in the jaati metre a foot consists of four syllabic instants, the time taken up in pronouncing
a short syllable being taken as an instant of time; thus
a long syllable being taken equal to two short ones,
each foot used in the ariyaa is equal to four syllabic instants.

The following is an illustration of an ariyaa stanza:

1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th foot
First half stanza- -- - - - - - - -
Second half stanza -- - - - - - - - -

642. The vetaaliya is so formed that it usually consists of

fourteen syllabic instants in the odd quarters and
sixteen in the even, while the mattaasamaka consists of
sixteen syllabic instants in each quarter.

The metres of the jaati class furnish many varieties, but it is not within the scope of this work to treat of them in detail. As, however, the vetaaliya is of rather frequent occurrence, we give below the scheme of it.

Each paada is divided into three seats;
the first seat in the first and
third paadas must have six syllabic instants;
the first seat of the second and
fourth paadas must contain eight syllabic instants;
the second seat must be a cretic foot and
the third a lambic foot:

Number1st seat2nd seat3rd seat
of syllabic instants.CreticLambus
1st paada6 six syllabic instants- - -
2nd paada8 eight syllabic instants- - -
3rd paada6 six syllabic instants- - -
4th paada8 eight syllabic instants- - -

Remarks.
(a) The above is a perfect ve.taaliya. In the third seat, the following feet may be found instead of the lambus:

pyrrhic
- - spondee
- -bacchic
- amphibrac

(b) the sign of the long syllable (-) must be counted as 2 since it is equal to two short syllables.

Finis.


(Original file downloaded from www.tipitaka.net/pali/grammar/. Tabulation follows the pdf file located at www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/paligram.pdf .)