--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "shivkhokra" <shivkhokra@...> wrote:
> Next question is how it would be represented in a syllabic script. The "rt" would sound like english "rut" and hence the "u". Similarly the "i" could either be a "u" as in english "sun" or "i" as in english "sin" based on the dialect of the speaker.
Remember that _siMha_ 'lion' shows a contrast between _saM_ and _siM_, so it is unlikely that saM was anciently pronounced with an /i/ vowel.
If the /rt/ were sounded like English "rut", one would expect it to be written RA or just possibly RO, not RU.
As to how _saMhartR_ would be spelt in a syllabic script, SA-HA-TA would be my expectation. However, /har/ might get represented as HA-RA, and the oblique cases could have two syllables for the -tr-.
The Indic scheme of writing saM-ha-rtR is fairly unusual, and actually has not travelled well. In many non-Indic languages, the orthographic split in Indic scripts tends to become the equivalent of saM-ha-r-tR or saM-har-tR for non-Indic words.
Richard.