Re: [tied] Sanskrit v- > S.E. Asian b-

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "P&G" <petegray@...> wrote:

> > Skt.: _viha:ra_ 'temple'
> > Pali: _viha:ra_ 'temple'
> > Malay: _biara_ 'monastery'
> > Thai: _phiha:n_ "biha:ra" 'temple'
> > Thai: _wiha:n_ "wiha:ra" 'shrine, abbey'
> (etc)
>
> The change of Skt /v/ to modern /b/ is regional. It is found in

Hindi,

> Eastern Rajasthani, Kumauni, Nepali, the Bihari group, Bengali,

Oriya and

> Assamese, but not found in Marathi, Gujarati, Sindhi, Kashmiri.

Very

> roughly, it is found in the central-eastern area.
>
> So one thought that leaps to mind is that Thai forms with /#w-/

are either

> from dialects that retained /#w-/, or else direct borrowings from

Skt at a

> later date, giving a doublet in Thai. Worldwide, such doublets are
> commonplace.

I'm pretty confident that the Thai words in w- are borrowed directly
from Sanskrit, or if not, adjusted to accord with Sanskrit, as with
many loans from Latin in English.

The problem with the words in ph- is that they generally correspond
pretty well with Pali (apart from the initial consonant), though
some show signs of being partially adjusted towards Sanskrit,
especially where it has little or no effect on the Thai
pronunciation.

There may be a parallel in Javanese - I asked Austronesianists how
common such doublets are.

Richard.